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FutureProof You is a team comprised of: Career Pivot Expert Dan Yu, Recruiting Master John Lovig, and AI Consultant Aaron Makelky. Listeners will hear discussions of job trends, career advice, and actionable tips for making sure their careers are future proof!
EP 23 New Year New Career FutureProof You Podcast #fu
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[00:00:00] John Lovig: Hello everyone and welcome to another episode of Future Proof Use podcast. Go f yourself. I'm your host, John [00:00:10] Lovig, and I'm joined by my co-hosts Dan Yu. Say hello, Dan
[00:00:14] Dan Yu: Hey there.
[00:00:16] John Lovig: Aaron Makelky.
[00:00:17] Aaron: Welcome listeners.
[00:00:19] John Lovig: Thanks for [00:00:20] joining us. We're gonna talk about some topics that you might be in interested in, uh, joining the new year and thinking about what's next for you in your career. Uh, so Dan, we've [00:00:30] got some labor news, uh, to start with. What, uh, what do people have to look forward to
[00:00:36] John Lovig: from a labor perspective? What's going on?
[00:00:38] Labor Market Statistics
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[00:00:38] Dan Yu: some of the stats have come out this [00:00:40] Um, the jobless claims that, uh, increased by 8,000 to 208,000. So [00:00:50] people are still, you know, getting laid off. They're still looking. Those are the new claims. Um, the continuing claims, you know, increased by 50,000, so, you know. [00:01:00] There's still 1.9 people that are within that six month window of, of having unemployment claims, and that's a rolling number.
[00:01:08] Dan Yu: So, there's [00:01:10] still a lot of people that are out. Um, the, uh,
[00:01:13] John Lovig: Percentage wise, though, still relatively low, right? Like it's not crazy high, a little higher than it had been.[00:01:20]
[00:01:23] Dan Yu: correct, um, job openings... the, you know, the jolts number, job openings decreased by 300,000. Right.
[00:01:28] John Lovig: Oh wow.
[00:01:29] Dan Yu: our. [00:01:30] Companies just hiring less.
[00:01:33] Dan Yu: out that, uh, maybe they just, you know, don't need to, um, hire as many people, you know, still [00:01:40] TBD, right?
[00:01:40] Dan Yu: That whether or not AI has had that impact, right? You know, it seems like a headline news item, but do we really see that, uh, impacting [00:01:50] job openings? you know, hi new hires, you know, dropped, you know, again, so 250,000. So these are the numbers that, that we're, that we're [00:02:00] seeing, you know, from, um, from a macro perspective.
[00:02:04] John Lovig: Yeah. Uh, some of the, some of the news that I've read too is you see the biggest [00:02:10] hit, it really has been white collar jobs, um, more than anything. but I think, you know.
[00:02:18] Emerging Job Titles & AI Impact
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[00:02:18] John Lovig: hope on the horizon. Dan, you had a great post this week about of emerging job titles and, and where the industry is moving. Uh, and I saw a similar one on LinkedIn, uh, about emerging job titles. Spoiler alert, many of them involve AI in some way, shape, or form.
[00:02:39] Aaron: And, and [00:02:40] usually around implementation, integration, scaling ai, bringing our team into the ecosystem versus, you know, [00:02:50] building an AI product.
[00:02:52] John Lovig: Correct. Although I will say, uh, what I'm seeing and I'm, I don't know how much Dan is seeing this, 'cause we do recruit [00:03:00] slightly different things these days, but I'm recruiting for product or any product design, people who are building SaaS applications, uh, the [00:03:10] common thread is everybody is investing in AI in some way, shape, or form. Um. one of my clients is AI first. [00:03:20] Um, both from, they want their, their team to be AI focused, but then they're also hiring someone uh, is going to be [00:03:30] purely focused on implementing AI for the team so that they are following best practices. Um, so really interesting [00:03:40] time to say the least. And obviously a good time to start, know. Taking some courses, looking at some, uh, new areas that [00:03:50] you can brush up on so that you can improve your skillset and be more marketable, in the 2026 job world.[00:04:00]
[00:04:01] Dan Yu: growing titles, job titles that I, that I posted about, uh, I do still see a lot of them being, you know, uh, [00:04:10] requiring, requiring a human interaction, right? So, you know, sales, um, strategic advisors, right? So field marketing representatives, [00:04:20] right? So there's still a lot of jobs that are being. are the hot jobs for this year. Um, nurse practitioners, right? You know, the, [00:04:30] these are the jobs that, um, that require a human right. And,
[00:04:33] John Lovig: Yeah.
[00:04:34] Dan Yu: need, you need EQ and empathy for that. So.
[00:04:37] John Lovig: Well, and look at, I mean, nurse, nurse practitioners, I think [00:04:40] about if I'm in a healthcare environment, who has the best bedside manner, it's rarely the doctor, it's usually the nurse practitioners who have the best [00:04:50] bedside manner.
[00:04:52] Aaron: That's what my nurse practitioner's spouse would, uh, jump in and high five you, John, because I hear that all the time. And whenever we take, when we take our [00:05:00] kids or someone in our family to a doctor, that's always the first comment is not about their knowledge or intelligence or diagnostic skills. It's [00:05:10] always oh, the bedside manner of that orthopedic surgeon.
[00:05:13] Aaron: You know, we're just a bone to them versus. The nurse practitioner, it's really, it's soft skills, an EQ that [00:05:20] differentiates them, not
[00:05:22] Aaron: knowledge and understanding.
[00:05:23] John Lovig: Yeah, it's, it's very true.
[00:05:27] Dan Yu: you, you,
[00:05:28] Dan Yu: really good with like,[00:05:30]
[00:05:30] Dan Yu: And,
[00:05:31] John Lovig: Mm-hmm.
[00:05:32] Dan Yu: you were, you were just saying before the call that you
[00:05:37] Dan Yu: couple of the indicators, right? That, that you always kind of [00:05:40] notice, you know, from your seat being a product recruiter.
[00:05:43] John Lovig: Yeah. Yeah.
[00:05:44] Hiring Indicators & Recruiter Insights
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[00:05:44] John Lovig: Product openings have been pretty high. Um, so. Uh, you know, I think it was over 11,000 in the United States, which is pretty high. I mean, it's higher than recruiter openings, that's for sure. Uh, I think recruiter openings are hovering somewhere between five and 6,000. and again, yeah, that's, I always worry when it goes below five, when it starts to go below five, then I start to notice that the market's slowing down. Um, but you know, back in 2021 it was like, I think it was like 97,000. It was insane. It was like a ton. I, that might be a high, it was probably 9,000, but whatever it was, it was really high,
[00:06:26] John Lovig: uh, compared to normal.
[00:06:29] Dan Yu: openings though, [00:06:30] are building, right? They're
[00:06:33] John Lovig: Yeah.
[00:06:33] Dan Yu: new, stuff. New things, right? So product managers,
[00:06:38] Dan Yu: of course that should lead to. [00:06:40] Other roles as they, as they build out, you know, whatever,
[00:06:44] John Lovig: Yeah. I think. If product hiring is happening now, marketing hiring usually [00:06:50] happens later if it's, you know, if it's an earlier stage company at least. So usually they wanna find product market fit first, then they'll invest in more deep marketing [00:07:00] strategy. They might have marketers on the team, but they'll have a, an individual contributor or, they'll have a high level. Um, marketer who is maybe going [00:07:10] to, uh, who's in the interim working there or they're fractional, um, advising on it. And then once, once there's an MVP, they'll really start pushing, go to market much [00:07:20] more. sales usually comes that. Usually before product even, they start selling ideas and then building it. [00:07:30] So that's, that's what I tend to see. I think, again, when I tell, talk about the recruiter openings that are open. Uh, they're mostly tech. [00:07:40] see some go to market as well, but mostly tech, I don't see, I don't see a ton of business. if you're looking for a more corporate kind of [00:07:50] central office job, I think those are the roles that are really seeing the impact. And I also think that's, I, I heard one of my colleagues today talk about [00:08:00] job hugging. he didn't know. You actually know, uh, uh, my British friend, he, uh, he was, he didn't know, he didn't use the term job hugging, but I was [00:08:10] like, oh, you're describing
[00:08:10] Job Hugging & Bonus Season
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[00:08:10] John Lovig: job hugging. And that's absolutely what's happening still.
[00:08:14] John Lovig: Um,
[00:08:17] Dan Yu: people are gonna be
[00:08:18] Dan Yu: right now, you know, [00:08:20] early January because it's bonus season. Right. And so
[00:08:23] John Lovig: yeah.
[00:08:24] Dan Yu: going to, they're going to hold on as tight as possible to make sure
[00:08:28] Dan Yu: not laid off [00:08:30] before bonuses get paid out.
[00:08:31] John Lovig: Yeah, I mean, March is usually the payout time,
[00:08:36] John Lovig: or in between now and March typically. [00:08:40] so that makes a lot of sense and that makes it harder to negotiate. I had someone, had a negotiation fall through, unfortunately. Um, it's very rare, but it happened [00:08:50] and it was someone who had 20 weeks of. Of paternity leave and was to start a new job [00:09:00] when having a kid in Feb and wanted the 20 weeks.
[00:09:05] John Lovig: It's like, you can't, a new company's not gonna be able to do that.
[00:09:08] Dan Yu: yeah,
[00:09:09] John Lovig: [00:09:10] Um, you know, you're, you're starting fresh. It's like, oh, I just got here. Bye. I'll see you in 20 weeks. That doesn't work well. So I was like, I get it. I understand that's hard to [00:09:20] walk away from. But, uh, very similar kind of scenario. We, we've find ourselves trying to educate clients on getting, um, [00:09:30] you know, getting sign-on bonuses approved and, and having that as part of the process if you're trying to land someone.
[00:09:36] John Lovig: Now, I.[00:09:40]
[00:09:40] Dan Yu: services world, I had a tough time just even in October, in November, looking for [00:09:50] a few of these roles. And then all of a sudden people get visibility towards their bonus number. And now it's like, wow, that was really [00:10:00] easy to, to, to find candidates for a couple of these roles.
[00:10:04] Dan Yu: It's because they got visibility, right? And they know that, okay, you know what, this is a good time for, for me to look [00:10:10] and, you know, you know, Q1, Q1, right? Like that's where a lot of the churn happens. So,
[00:10:16] John Lovig: Yeah, I mean,
[00:10:18] Dan Yu: um.
[00:10:18] John Lovig: a lot of churn happens [00:10:20] Q1, beginning of Q2, end of Q3, and into Q4. The middle of like Q2, Q3 is kind of the quiet zone a little bit. [00:10:30] I also find, I mean, in environments where there's equity involved, so usually like a lot of the companies I work with are, you [00:10:40] know, they haven't had an IPO, they may not have had many major money events.
[00:10:44] John Lovig: They might even be, you know, series B and um, those companies rarely give out [00:10:50] bonuses, so I have a less challenging time with that unless they feel like they have a good potential equity stake. Um, and then at that point it's [00:11:00] like, well, unless they're close to a money event.
[00:11:02] John Lovig: That's funny. Money.
[00:11:05] Dan Yu: It's, it's paper. But
[00:11:08] John Lovig: Yeah.
[00:11:08] Dan Yu: in, Q1, you know [00:11:10] what we've also seen right? Is
[00:11:12] Dan Yu: do get, uh, unlocked. Right. Um, and so, uh,
[00:11:18] John Lovig: I, we had it with some [00:11:20] clients.
[00:11:20] Dan Yu: yeah,
[00:11:21] John Lovig: We had literally searches that. At the end stage and they're like, Hey, right before the holidays, we're not gonna hire until Q1, but then they [00:11:30] hired immediately. So we already placed like a couple people this week for that reason.
[00:11:37] Advice for Job Seekers
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[00:11:37] Aaron: So what does all this mean [00:11:40] for like the job seeker career pivot, or
[00:11:43] John Lovig: Great way to jump in with that.
[00:11:45] Aaron: like historically. So even if it's not 2026, 'cause you guys have [00:11:50] seen lots of Q ones, this one. Might be distinct for some reasons, but overall there's trends I'm looking to to pivot, so I should think about my equity or my [00:12:00] bonus payout and the timing on that.
[00:12:01] Aaron: That's one for me. What else? What does the job seeker need to know and distill from this? That's[00:12:10]
[00:12:11] Dan Yu: to the title of this episode, new Year, new Career. So thank you Aaron for that.
[00:12:17] Aaron: what I'm here for.
[00:12:19] Dan Yu: mean, [00:12:20] right. So know, the, the job seeker, you know, has to realize that. You know, when budgets get unlocked, that [00:12:30] means they can, that job can move very quickly.
[00:12:32] Dan Yu: Right. if you're not involved, if you, if you're just, [00:12:40] online, This is a, a terrific time to actually step up your efforts, right, and really get after it. I mean, there's, there's no more [00:12:50] holiday parties. You can, you can start networking again and not have the fear of, you know, getting canceled.
[00:12:56] Dan Yu: You know, like last minute canceled, oh, I have a holiday party. Oh, I gotta get home for, [00:13:00] you know, something. you know, even host a networking event Right. And really get out and, um, make your efforts really count. This is the time, [00:13:10] this is a perfect time to do it.
[00:13:12] Aaron: The low effort version of that that we're trying to avoid is easy apply on LinkedIn, just sort of mass [00:13:20] applying, probably having AI write my cover letters or my resumes and, and playing the volume game. And what you're saying is that's not good enough and [00:13:30] now's the time to take it up a notch in terms of networking, meeting people going to events.
[00:13:37] John Lovig: Yeah, for sure. And it's also, I mean, to kind [00:13:40] of also highlight what we already already talked about is it's also a really good time to start thinking about you gonna enrich yourself because the, the market [00:13:50] is shifting and there are things that are not likely to come back or be as common as they were in the past. [00:14:00] Um. And so how can you get out there and really, you know, figure out what's next? And it's like those [00:14:10] lists that we talked about, you know, Annotator is one of the top five new jobs, data annotator. [00:14:20] No one, uh, you know, unless you've been in library sciences or some sort of other kind of high taxonomy type of, [00:14:30] profession before, you probably haven't heard of that title. And so, like, you know, that being a big one. And for those who don't know, are the people who [00:14:40] are trying to make the AI sound more human
[00:14:45] John Lovig: and have better, more organic.
[00:14:47] Dan Yu: AI trainers is another,[00:14:50]
[00:14:52] Aaron: Yep.
[00:14:52] Dan Yu: which, which we saw a, a huge spike last year, John. Right. You know,
[00:14:56] Dan Yu: when we had,
[00:14:57] John Lovig: We hired a huge spike.[00:15:00]
[00:15:00] Dan Yu: Yep.
[00:15:02] Aaron: And to, to me, for the job seeker, what that means then is there's these growing new roles that either haven't existed [00:15:10] or don't have enough people already in them. Somebody's gonna have to retool, reskill, relearn into those roles. [00:15:20] Right. Or they're not gonna get hired.
[00:15:22] John Lovig: I mean, would even say more than
[00:15:27] John Lovig: represent opportunity,
[00:15:29] Dan Yu: [00:15:30] Mm-hmm.
[00:15:30] John Lovig: of the first ones on the list is AI engineer. you're an engineer. That's been ignoring ai, chances are you are not gonna make it [00:15:40] long term. You maybe have a year, two years left to be viable. It's like as if you're still programming in C, you know?
[00:15:48] John Lovig: And so [00:15:50] it's about adapting to that. But then it's also okay if you don't know what to do with your career and you, you know, an AI annotator does not take. [00:16:00] As much of a specific skillset as it does detail orientation, strong grasp of the English language, ability to write natural language. know, [00:16:10] that's something you could do if you'd never thought of it before, and it doesn't necessarily, a lot of companies will train you on how to do it.
[00:16:18] John Lovig: You just need to look for [00:16:20] it. And so right now that's an opportunity. Um, the, the rest of it's more about like what we've talked about before, Aaron. It's like, all right, if you're a recruiter, well, you better be the [00:16:30] AI expert recruiter on your team. You better be the AI expert,
[00:16:35] John Lovig: accountant, et cetera.
[00:16:38] Dan Yu: Yeah. [00:16:40] so the, um, uh, the data annotators, right? It's, it, it's one of those interesting roles because you actually have to bring EQ to an, to an [00:16:50] environment where it's all about, you know, right? It's the opposite of that. But that's what they're, that's what they're hiring for, right?
[00:16:57] Dan Yu: And so you gotta go where, you know, [00:17:00] where the trends are. and the trends are in growth industries. And so, you know, we, we talk about that all the time.
[00:17:06] Dan Yu: I'm gonna quickly plug, um, this is a perfect opportunity, [00:17:10] you know, for everybody, you know, in the new year, new career mode. That, uh, you can, uh, check out our class, the LinkedIn Quickstart Guide, which [00:17:20] will be at, on our website@futureproof-yu.com. Uh, we also have a coupon code for 50% off New Year. [00:17:30] It'll be one word, N-E-W-Y-E-A-R. And so, you know, go to our website and, uh, check out the downloadable class LinkedIn Quickstart Guide.
[00:17:39] John Lovig: [00:17:40] Will that be Dan, on just that course or, or the other, uh,
[00:17:44] John Lovig: downloadables as well?
[00:17:47] Dan Yu: The will be available for [00:17:50] all of our downloadable classes, including Ace, to interview networking at scale with content, and uh, we also have career pivots for educators. [00:18:00] So all of our downloadable classes will be up, um, of, uh, as of the release of this podcast.
[00:18:07] John Lovig: Imagine, uh, Aaron, we taught that [00:18:10] class when you, after you already made your pivot, not when you were still in process.
[00:18:15] Aaron: Yeah, it's interesting.
[00:18:16] John Lovig: true though.
[00:18:18] Aaron: And, and that's what's funny. And, and in a [00:18:20] way, my company loves the term dogfooding. Uh, we at future proof you have been dogfooding our own teaching that is using our own product. If [00:18:30] you're not, if you're not in tech, it does not mean we go home and eat dog food out of a bowl every night.
[00:18:34] Aaron: It just means we practice what we preach. On the podcast and in the trainings, uh, and I've [00:18:40] career pivoted and, um, largely through taking my own advice because the advice matters, but more importantly is doing the work consistently and showing up and following it. [00:18:50] That's, that's really what makes the difference.
[00:18:52] Aaron: Uh, and I still get to work with educators and teachers. I have a. A session tonight with a group of 'em, and I get asked all the time, what should I do? [00:19:00] Especially January, I got this text over Christmas break from a close friend who's still in education, but this is true of any career. And they just go, I know I need a change.
[00:19:09] Aaron: How? [00:19:10] Like, what do I do though? What's the blueprint? What's the path to follow? And. January's the best time. I mean, everybody else is. Some people it's [00:19:20] stop a bad habit, get more sleep, lose weight, whatever. But for a lot of you, especially if you listen to this show and, and follow our personalities online, it's about careers, jobs, [00:19:30] companies maybe completely pivoting into a new field, not just going to a different company to do the same role.
[00:19:36] Aaron: And it's a good time to hit reset on your [00:19:40] networking, your content creation, your learning new things. I tell people all the time. You have the, the one hour at night to [00:19:50] unwind. Maybe it's before, uh, you go to bed and, and the dishes are done, or you put your kids to sleep or you walk your dog, whatever it is.
[00:19:58] Aaron: Do you watch Netflix [00:20:00] or do you take a class? Um, do you, do you read something to upskill in a new area or do you play video games? I mean, we all have time somewhere, so just that will [00:20:10] compound over the year. If you can get that into your habit stack in January. And one of the things I think about when John's talking about these new roles is who's gonna [00:20:20] pivot into them?
[00:20:21] Aaron: It's not gonna just get dropped on somebody's lap. Hey, you'd be a good data annotator. Rather, someone who was not a data [00:20:30] annotator in 2025 is gonna position themselves to get in front of the right person. And get offered a role to do that through their content, who they meet, what they write, their [00:20:40] portfolio, their YouTube, their TikTok, whatever it is, and put themselves out there to capitalize it when the timing comes through later in the year.[00:20:50]
[00:20:50] John Lovig: It's, uh, people that we place in those roles. There was not necessarily a common thread for what they did, except you looked for [00:21:00] essentially signal potential success. Like, okay, did this person study something in the humanities? Did they likely have to write a lot of papers for their job [00:21:10] for their work or class rather, Maybe they took linguistics. Right. That's super helpful. And then now it also starts to change [00:21:20] a little bit because as they're trying to train AI to do so many things. What AI can do now is black and white. What it's lacking in a lot of cases is extreme [00:21:30] context. And so now you take people who are experts in different areas.
[00:21:35] John Lovig: So if you have an existing expertise, might be sought after for that [00:21:40] because of that expertise. 'cause you could provide context, um, folks, people who are in the legal space, psychology, healthcare, [00:21:50] recruiters are training. Uh, AI that are being used that are gonna start to be used by the applicant tracking systems at some point, uh, or some of [00:22:00] those tools.
[00:22:00] John Lovig: And so that's where you have to think about, okay, well maybe I can get a part of this. You know, I found a, we found a lot of times there were some writers that would be like, no. [00:22:10] I'm not doing it because AI is gonna create this void of, of content and creativity and, and it's trying to displace us and all this stuff.
[00:22:19] John Lovig: [00:22:20] And it's like. It's gonna do it whether you're a part of it or not. So would you like to be a part of it and try and be the [00:22:30] guardrail around a more, a, a better practice of it? Or do you just want to distance yourself until you're obsolete? I,
[00:22:38] Aaron: Yep. I think about the wave [00:22:40] analogy. The wave is coming, so do you wanna sit there in your little canoe and complain about it or do you want to get a surfboard and ride it? 'cause not that AI is inevitable, but like you [00:22:50] can harness it or fight it. We all have that choice.
[00:22:53] John Lovig: Yeah.
[00:22:56] Aaron: Let's, let's pick this.
[00:22:58] Best Habits for Career Success
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[00:22:58] Aaron: What do you think is the single best habit that someone could adopt or get rid of if it's, it's a negative one. Like, stop doing this or start doing this to set them up for a new career in 2026.
[00:23:13] Aaron: Dan, you go first.
[00:23:16] Dan Yu: The habit pick up [00:23:20] is, uh, is to say yes and. Yeah. it's to, it's to say yes to potential because there's so many new [00:23:30] things that are coming out people get stuck in their own job title or their own industry. Like, oh, I want to be X in Y industry, [00:23:40] and I think that's the most dangerous thing you can do. So saying yes. To learning about opportunities [00:23:50] in growth industries. That's the, you know, I think that's the new habit, right? You have to say yes, and you have to be improvisational about [00:24:00] how you, you take care of yourself on, you know, long term in your career. Because the way that these industries are growing, growth industry, uh, [00:24:10] uh, uh, kind of like cycle used to be like seven to 10 years, now it's five. And that's not just me saying it, that's Wall Street saying it. [00:24:20] So you gotta get a move on every four years, every five years. and, and this is, this dynamic's been around for already about five, five to seven years. [00:24:30] So new stuff is gonna pop up all the time. And so you could even be in one industry, whatever it is, in, in, for a year. [00:24:40] then, oh my gosh, here's this really cool thing that's developing, let's say later this year. Say, say yes and I'm gonna learn something about it,[00:24:50]
[00:24:51] John Lovig: I mean, if you really think about it. In our lifetimes, we've already seen two equivalents of the industrial revolution [00:25:00] that we're likely to see a third in the next. Less than 10 years, maybe with robotics being such a huge area that's being invested in now, [00:25:10] you know, the AI will probably start to be at a point where it's usable in that space as well.
[00:25:15] John Lovig: 'cause it does kind of require both. And so, you know, with, [00:25:20] with that happening, it's not like, now, you know, what, what was the analogy that you said a while back, Aaron? Uh,
[00:25:28] John Lovig: the horse and the.[00:25:30]
[00:25:30] Aaron: The farmers that see
[00:25:31] Dan Yu: Yeah.
[00:25:32] Aaron: the tractor coming by,
[00:25:34] John Lovig: Yeah,
[00:25:36] Aaron: I mean it's Do you want to be the. I think the analogy was, do you [00:25:40] wanna be the type of farmer that sees the first tractor show up and say, I can outproduce that tractor and just buy more horses? Or do you wanna be the type who gets curious and [00:25:50] says, how does that thing work and how could I use it?
[00:25:53] John Lovig: I think it was more the horse
[00:25:55] Aaron: Oh, was it,
[00:25:57] John Lovig: I.
[00:25:58] Aaron: was it about the horses being [00:26:00] replaced by tractors and like, don't worry, the horses will get job striving the tractors. Okay. There's versions of that.
[00:26:08] John Lovig: that was the AI analogy though, [00:26:10] I guess technically, but you know, it, it, it is an exciting time and it's like, but you have to think innovation is scary in a lot of [00:26:20] ways, but it's also. Opportunity and you can it now. It's not like uncovering the wild west and trying to, you know, [00:26:30] look for gold.
[00:26:31] John Lovig: It's, you've getting more and more opportunities before to be able to find something new and dive into a niche before anyone else does and [00:26:40] really, you know, hold it.
[00:26:46] Dan Yu: kind of mindset, it has to be reframed, right? People say, oh, I [00:26:50] want to go into this industry. Oh, I'm gonna be in there for the next 15 years. Right? And that you gotta reframe it so that it's, you know, think of it as just be [00:27:00] open to the potential of an idea that maybe a few months after you go into an industry that you have, that you have an opportunity to switch again, which is
[00:27:08] John Lovig: Well, I mean, [00:27:10] look, we may talk futurist, right? And it's title of our company and everything is future proof you, but we still use the term career. [00:27:20] Which implies a steady, common thing that is over a duration of time. It's more like micro careers, right? Or it's more [00:27:30] like, uh, uh, employment legacy
[00:27:33] John Lovig: anything else.
[00:27:36] Aaron: So what's your habit, John?[00:27:40]
[00:27:40] Dan Yu: what's
[00:27:41] John Lovig: Oh, my habit. That's right. I forgot. Um. At least it's, I hope, I hope what we're talking about is helpful when we [00:27:50] deviate. Um, I think for me it's, it's one, and I see this across both people who are looking for work and people who are in jobs, [00:28:00] not looking, but, you know, let's face it, most of our jobs are in some way, shape or form a version of sales. Talk to the people, you know. Reach [00:28:10] out to your network and say, hi, how's it going? What have you been up to? Let's check in. Because your, your network is that web of [00:28:20] information and the first line of defense for being able to either move to a new job or pivot. if you're not [00:28:30] regularly talking to them, then you're making an ask when you need something instead of making an ask. As part of your regularly scheduled communication, [00:28:40] you know, and think a lot of people forget to just say, happy New Year. How's it going? Do you have a few minutes to chat? [00:28:50] Love to catch up and hear what's going on in your life. And that's personal and work relationships.
[00:28:58] Aaron: And the way that I've tried to [00:29:00] avoid the awkwardness of if they got laid off or they're taking a break and you don't wanna say like, how's that job going? And then they say, I don't have that job anymore. My [00:29:10] new phrase, especially through text, is what are you working on? Because that doesn't have to be a W2 at a firm.
[00:29:17] Aaron: They could take that as, oh, I'm landscaping my [00:29:20] backyard. I have a shovel right now in, in hand, and I'm moving dirt. That's what I'm working on. Cool. It's what you're passionate about. It's not just your, your job. Um, yeah. I, I [00:29:30] went through a phase. This was well before ai, but some, someone might automate this, which is.
[00:29:35] Aaron: Not high eq, but I would set a schedule on my lunch break every [00:29:40] weekday to send a reach out text to former colleagues and clients. Just, Hey, how's Austin, Texas since you moved down there? What are [00:29:50] you up to? Where are you at? How's your wife and kids? How's that new role, whatever. And making that a habit of every day at lunch, you have 30 seconds to send a text or an email.
[00:29:59] Aaron: You should do [00:30:00] that. I think that's a great one. Uh, paired with the the yes and habit. So I'll end with mine. This will be shocking to everyone listening, but mine's gonna be [00:30:10] pick a medium. So that could be video, it could be visual, it could be audio, or it could be text and create content consistently, and [00:30:20] one that you enjoy.
[00:30:21] Aaron: So if you don't enjoy being on camera editing videos, maybe you write a substack or you write. Text-based posts on LinkedIn. If [00:30:30] you're more of a visual creative designer, you do carousels, graphics, whatever, but pick one that you enjoy. Pick a platform and put your thought [00:30:40] process, your work, your questions, your problems.
[00:30:43] Aaron: Out onto someplace where people can see your own blog, LinkedIn, Spotify, YouTube, [00:30:50] Twitter, TikTok. It doesn't matter not just to get views. It is a way of networking, but also a way to clarify your own [00:31:00] thoughts and approaches. I think that process for me is like the distillation phase of, I have all these ideas, but if I have to write an article or condense 'em to a tweet or a [00:31:10] short video, it helps me work through that.
[00:31:13] Aaron: That is just as important to me as any sort of analytics or views or comments or money that you make from that. [00:31:20] Just pick one that you enjoy post on it regularly. I've never met anybody who did that for a year
[00:31:27] Aaron: could honestly say it didn't change their life.[00:31:30]
[00:31:31] Dan Yu: So, habits. I was improv, John was networking and yours content. [00:31:40] It pretty much, it's, it's what we teach, isn't it?
[00:31:43] John Lovig: Yeah, pretty much. And that was not by.
[00:31:47] Dan Yu: that
[00:31:47] Aaron: And here's what's, [00:31:50] what's funny is they all connect too. It's not like three different distinct habits in broad categories. Some of your checking in might turn into [00:32:00] content because how many times have you guys had this on LinkedIn? A person you don't normally see post. Has a piece of content come into your feed or tag you and you go, oh, I forgot about [00:32:10] Bobby.
[00:32:10] Aaron: Bobby's in Seattle doing this thing for that company that turns into a check-in. Uh, and then you send him a DM or talk to him and that [00:32:20] turns into a yes and habit. And then you wanna start creating or sharing your ideas. 'cause you saw how that worked for Bobby and
[00:32:27] Aaron: now you're posting things regularly too.[00:32:30]
[00:32:31] Dan Yu: So, uh, a couple days before the new year. I got a [00:32:40] text from an acquaintance who I had only met one time and he said, Hey, by the way, I'm gonna be a couple hours from you. You wanna meet up [00:32:50] sometime for lunch? I thought, okay, sure. What day works for you? And he goes, how about New Year's Day? I thought. Sure, why not? [00:33:00] You know? And so each drove an hour to meet at, you know, kind of halfway point. so that was improv, [00:33:10] new Year's Day, had a lunch, you know, had to find a place that was open New Year's Day. That was a, that was a, that was a little bit of a challenge, but networking. And then afterwards I actually created a post [00:33:20] about it. So, which I sent to him and he goes, oh, you, you, you slick charmer you. Which he thought it was pretty funny, but Right. Why [00:33:30] not? Right? Why not
[00:33:31] Aaron: But it it, if he knows you very well, he can't be surprised that lunch with you turned into content on your LinkedIn. 'cause that's just what you do.[00:33:40]
[00:33:44] Dan Yu: so.
[00:33:45] Aaron: Oh. He, he,
[00:33:47] John Lovig: at this point I'm surprised Dan doesn't have a tattoo [00:33:50] that says, we just created content.
[00:33:52] Aaron: yeah.
[00:33:53] Aaron: on his hand and he just holds it up on the screen so he doesn't have to say it out loud anymore.
[00:33:59] John Lovig: It is gonna be [00:34:00] on your tombstone. I'm gonna make sure of it if you go before me.
[00:34:08] Dan Yu: All [00:34:10] right.
[00:34:11] John Lovig: ~Well, it's almost four o'clock ~
[00:34:11] Dan Yu: ~It is almost four o'clock. Yeah. So,~
[00:34:11] John Lovig: ~I, I know. Sorry. That was a lame joke.~
[00:34:11] What We're Working On
---
[00:34:11] Dan Yu: what are you working on guys? What's new?
[00:34:14] Aaron: Uh, so I'll take the yes and habit. I mean, I've had some [00:34:20] things come up that I haven't done before or I'm not confident in, and I've tried to train my brain to say, sure, I'll handle that, or be responsible for it, even though I [00:34:30] don't know how to do it, or it's not my skillset yet. Um. A big one, universally high level is AI has been [00:34:40] trickling into teams and enterprise.
[00:34:44] Aaron: With what I call AI pioneers. We all have that person like John on his team, that's the [00:34:50] AI go-to person. If you have a question, you wanna know how to automate something or what model or what app or whatever. You just ask him. 'cause he knows we all have those in our orgs. [00:35:00] Now it's a matter of how do we get everybody on the same page and really using this stuff collaboratively.
[00:35:05] Aaron: So it's not in John's GPT account, he has all this stuff, but it could [00:35:10] help 12 people on his team if they only had access to it. And knew how to use it. I think that's one of the big 2026 questions is how does it scale [00:35:20] in a collaborative team setting versus a pioneer on their own desktop doing it alone in the corner?
[00:35:25] Aaron: I.
[00:35:26] John Lovig: It's also because there's so many disparate tools, right? [00:35:30] So like, you know, we, we've tested most of them ourselves. and, you know, w. Some of my other colleagues use them [00:35:40] too, some sometimes, for the reasons I wouldn't suggest, like, make this email better. I'm like, no turn, don't make email better. [00:35:50] Train. Train the AI to be very critical of your emails and make it ask you questions based on what you said so that you can [00:36:00] be better poised to communicate to someone versus, Hey, copy, edit my email to be more effective. I was like that. I don't really find value in as much, right? [00:36:10] Like or even write the email.
[00:36:13] Aaron: And that's what I would call a superficial use of AI with something you copy and paste over from chat, GPT or [00:36:20] Claude. Yep. Versus what is reimagining email with an AI agent already in your inbox look like. It's definitely not. Hey, make this good. 'cause that's how a lot of [00:36:30] people are using it.
[00:36:31] John Lovig: Yeah, it's, well, I find it interesting, so. Part of like what I'm up to, obviously I'm working on a few really [00:36:40] interesting product searches. Um, but currently I am, we're talking to a few different companies about agen [00:36:50] AI tools that we could potentially use. And so today I am coming up with a couple use cases for our particular industry, uh, that we're gonna send to them and they're gonna walk us through. [00:37:00] Like how their platform could potentially resolve those things, uh, including integrating with some of the tools we're already using. also have [00:37:10] been working on, uh, to figure out a better new biz development process for our business. We get a lot of business, [00:37:20] but our new businesses. in terms of a process.
[00:37:24] John Lovig: And so trying to help inform that, uh, and create best practices [00:37:30] around that, or at least some playbooks, uh, that can be used. So that's another thing I'm working on. What about you, Dan? What are you working on?[00:37:40]
[00:37:42] Dan Yu: Uh, I am, uh, uh, I am, yeah. Uh, no, definitely not. Uh, I am
[00:37:48] Dan Yu: So, uh, [00:37:50] yeah, I'm learning Spanish. So we are going to Spain
[00:37:53] Dan Yu: a, in a few months, uh, for, for a little vacation. And so I am on ol [00:38:00] lingo and I started before the new year, and it's January 8th and I'm on day 10 right now.
[00:38:08] Dan Yu: So 10 days in a row learning, [00:38:10] uh, Spanish and
[00:38:11] John Lovig: I have an app I like better. I have an app I like better than Duolingo.
[00:38:15] Dan Yu: Oh,
[00:38:18] John Lovig: Speak.[00:38:20]
[00:38:20] Dan Yu: Okay. Speak.
[00:38:23] John Lovig: Yeah, it tailors it to you. So it'll ask you questions like, where do you live? So then [00:38:30] when you're talking about describing where you live, it's not a place that you don't live. It's where you actually live. So you know how to say it within the [00:38:40] right context. It's as if you're gonna be talking to a real person. And then also, um.
[00:38:47] John Lovig: does mostly speaking back and forth, [00:38:50] and then there's a lot of also like text messaging back and forth,
[00:38:54] John Lovig: that it's almost like real communication.
[00:38:57] Dan Yu: We [00:39:00] on, uh, the F Yourself podcast, so
[00:39:04] John Lovig: that's what I'm using for Spanish.
[00:39:05] Dan Yu: Oh, look at that. All right. Excellent.
[00:39:09] Dan Yu: out. [00:39:10] Thank you for the recommendation.
[00:39:11] Aaron: Yeah.
[00:39:12] Aaron: new year, new languages, apparently for you guys.
[00:39:15] John Lovig: Yeah. What, uh,
[00:39:18] Closing Thoughts
---
[00:39:18] John Lovig: closing thoughts before we close this episode out? Aaron? Anything? Uh.
[00:39:25] Aaron: Yeah, I'd say I'm anti New Year's resolutions. I'm pro [00:39:30] habits and Dan taught me this, and it's been very true for myself in my own career. Timing is the one variable you just can't control. [00:39:40] And if you're one of those people who wants to make a pivot, a change, reinvent yourself. The timing of that happening or not is largely beyond your control.
[00:39:49] Aaron: But the [00:39:50] habit you can use to set yourself up for the opportunity when it comes to be ready and to be known, and to be connected is entirely in your control. [00:40:00] I think a lot more about how can I practice and get reps at the thing so I'm ready when the time comes versus I just wish it would happen for me 'cause it's [00:40:10] not, and wanting it to only makes you frustrated.
[00:40:13] Aaron: So I would focus more and I'm giving this advice to myself. This isn't me preaching to, you know, [00:40:20] use the muscle a lot before you get the opportunity to sort of show it off or make the the change or get offered the new role.
[00:40:28] Aaron: And let the timing [00:40:30] be what it is.
[00:40:31] Dan Yu: Yeah, Um, uh, my, my advice, um, which
[00:40:39] Dan Yu: a little bit [00:40:40] similar, it's which on uh, Louis Pastore chance favors the prepared mind theme is. That, uh, everybody sucks something new, [00:40:50]
[00:40:51] Aaron: Yep.
[00:40:51] Dan Yu: right? So don't let it stop you. Don't
[00:40:56] Dan Yu: Like, and it goes back to actually [00:41:00] me, uh, talking about yes.
[00:41:01] Dan Yu: And so, right. Just go and try it, right? And even maybe take an improv class, What do you have to lose? [00:41:10] You got, you have an opportunity to actually network with people in improv class. So.
[00:41:16] John Lovig: I mean, everything's an opportunity network board game group, [00:41:20] video game group. I, I've, uh, looked at resumes of people I play a video game with. So,
[00:41:26] Dan Yu: That's great.
[00:41:27] John Lovig: um. Mine would be, uh, uh, [00:41:30] it's sort of similar. It's gonna take the, the approach that Aaron loves, that I take, the psych approach that is, in absence of control, you [00:41:40] really have to let it go.
[00:41:42] John Lovig: You cannot fixate and turn something about you that isn't, you don't have, you [00:41:50] only have so much emotional bandwidth and mental bandwidth. create negatives that aren't. That don't involve you. You can't control [00:42:00] what a hiring manager does. You can't control. You can only control how you show up. And if you are doing well, then if you don't get the job, [00:42:10] it's not your fault. There's some other factor. Sometimes people don't even get the job. No one gets it. Sometimes it gets canceled. You don't [00:42:20] always get that information, unfortunately. So in absence of that, um, if you need to keep a journal. Because writing things out is [00:42:30] really, really therapeutic.
[00:42:32] Dan Yu: Yeah, great advice.
[00:42:34] John Lovig: Excellent. Well, uh, this has been another episode in the first one of 2026 ~of Future Proof You Fruit~ [00:42:40] Future Proof Use Podcasts. Go f yourself. Uh, if you'd like to look at any of our classes, uh, or any of our content will, will be. Probably starting to get some [00:42:50] of our live classes up again soon. Uh, it is futureproof-you.com I've been John Lovig, and joined by Dan Yu [00:43:00] and Aaron Makelky. see you next time. I.