Hi Beautiful,
Three takeaways this week, in plain words:
The US lost 23,000 jobs in July, and revisions erased another 100,000+ from spring reports. Competition per opening is up.
A flawless AI-polished resume now works against you. Recruiters read perfection as automation.
The advantage moved to people who know their own facts and can talk about them live.
The details, and what to do with them, below.
Job market
23,000 jobs lost in July, and the revisions look worse
July was the first negative month since February. Revisions quietly erased another 100,000+ jobs from May and June, so the three-month average of job gains collapsed from 111,000 to just 20,000.
Unemployment fell to 4.1%, which sounds like good news until you see why: almost a million people left the labor force in two months. Fewer people looking is not the same as more people hired. Hiring is weak in leisure, hospitality and finance, and even healthcare added fewer jobs than usual.
In short: fewer openings, more applicants per opening, and a market that rewards being memorable.
Three-month average of monthly job gains fell from 111,000 to 20,000 after revisions. Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, via Axios.
Hiring
The perfect resume is now a red flag
70% of applicants polish resumes with AI, flawless text stopped standing out, and some recruiters reject an obviously generated application on the spot.
Forbes' core recommendation is the one we'd frame and hang on the wall: be human. The resume race between writing robots and reading robots has no winner, and the only move left is the one a machine can't copy.
Three practical rules from the piece:
Tune AI to your own voice. Use it for formatting and brainstorming from your notes, never for inventing your story.
Get specific. "Improved team efficiency" reads as a machine. "Cut churn by 19% in Q3" reads as a person who was in the room.
Run the out-loud test. If you wouldn't say the sentence in a networking conversation, cut it from your resume.
Out-loud test
September Networking
Speaking of networking conversations: our next networking session is on September 8, and this one is open to everyone. Members, friends, colleagues, women who are just curious about the community: all welcome. Come practice answering "tell me about yourself" with real people, and bring someone who needs it too.
Inside tech
What "be human" looks like from inside
One engineer at a large tech company describes her year: half the team cut, targets raised "because AI", days spent reviewing machine-generated code instead of building anything.
“Problems get fed into a model without anyone really understanding them. Fast beats understood. Protect your sanity, and don't dismiss industries that look boring. Boring right now often means sane.”
Inside companies the same shift is happening as in hiring: output became cheap, understanding became the thing companies struggle to find. The person who knows what she's doing, and can explain why it matters, is getting more valuable.
Starting September 2
Know your story. Own it.
All three stories this week land in the same place: your facts, told by you, are the asset. Collecting them and truly owning them is exactly what The Red Thread is for.
The Red Thread is a three-part program by Maria Gordienko running in SNTAP this fall. Part 1 builds the foundation: your values and your Point B. Part 2 gathers the evidence: the facts of your past that prove you are ready for that goal. Part 3 repackages you: the thread that connects them becomes a resume or an offer the market understands. Every part ends with an artifact you keep.
Part 1 starts September 2: 8 weekly group sessions, capped at 8 women, $111. Five exercises you may have met at marathons or with coaches, this time with instructions that make them work, and personal attention to your situation in every session.
Not sure it fits? Bring your case to a call with Maria.
Upcoming events
Tue, Aug 25 · 6:00 PM ET · English Speaking Club
A speaking club, not an English class. No grammar drills, just real conversation on real-life topics in a judgment-free space. Mistakes are part of the process, and everyone is welcome.
Thu, Aug 27 · 6:00 PM ET · GTM Minds: Group Session
Bring your challenge, leave with a plan. Part group supervision, part strategy lab: we pick one real case from the group and work it together, from strengths and blind spots to concrete next steps. Azhar moderates. Held in Russian, reserved for Pro Members.
Fri, Aug 28 · 6:00 PM ET · Business English Practice Circle
A structured practice space for how you communicate at work. You present something real from your job for 10 minutes, the group gives 5 minutes of feedback on clarity, presence and word choice. Limited to 4 members per session.
That’s it for this week.
Know your story, own it, and keep cheering each other on.
Azhar & Maria
Founders, She's NTAP (New to America Pro)
P.S.
New here? Hit reply and tell us where you are in your U.S. journey. We read everything.