after the company was sold<\/a>.<\/p>\n\u201cAt the end of the day, loyalty doesn\u2019t mean anything because when the company got sold, they eliminated my department just like that,\u201d Skok said.<\/p>\n
Skok had a complicated job search process that wasn\u2019t helped by the COVID pandemic, which put some promising roles on hold. She did find a chief of staff position with a fitness influencer, but left after questions of financial problems. After that was a year with a small equity firm, but she was let go after a major investor dropped out.<\/p>\n
To keep her finances on track, Skok sold her home in northern New Jersey \u201cto put money in the bank\u201d and took up residence in Easton to continue the job search.<\/p>\n
Skok said she\u2019s applied to a \u201cwho\u2019s who\u201d of local companies and nonprofits since she moved back to the Lehigh Valley.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cSome were flat-out rejections,\u201d she said. \u201cAt some point, I got an interview and it seemed to go well, and then I\u2019m either ghosted or If I inquire, I\u2019ll find out that the position is no longer available.\u201d<\/p>\n
One that stood out for Skok was an interview for a manager\u2019s position at a local bookstore that paid between $11 and $19 an hour. Two months later, the position still was not filled, highlighting her frustration with even finding a lower-wage position.<\/p>\n
Cathy Rychalsky, who recently took over as executive director at Workforce Board Lehigh Valley, said there is a lot of frustration among job seekers, many of whom never hear back about their applications.<\/p>\n
She also said some employers are overwhelmed by the number of applications because many are people who apply to jobs not within their skillset to satisfy unemployment requirements. They simply don\u2019t have the staff to review every application and are forced to use things as AI for screening purposes.<\/p>\n
Another factor is changes in the labor market since the pandemic as employers can be pickier with the applicant pool.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe pendulum has shifted post-pandemic,\u201d Rychalski said. \u201cDuring the pandemic, people were able to write their job description and how much they wanted to get paid. Today it doesn\u2019t look like that, and it shifted fairly quickly. It has shifted back where the employer is really driving the car.\u201d<\/p>\n
What to do?<\/p>\n
Rivera said that even during the search, job seekers should take command of their growth and development.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is something that is within their span of control. They can guide that,\u201d he said. \u201cThey need to be taking an active approach. If they\u2019re taking a passive one, they really run the risk of having other employees outgrow them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rivera said earning another college degree isn\u2019t necessary, but he recommended such things as reading, watching videos and attending seminars to improve skills. Writing a resume for the future, which includes skills and competencies you want to have in three to five years, can be a guide.<\/p>\n
Old strategies, such as networking and making human connections, are still very effective.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s OK to use AI in the job search to tailor resumes and cover letters to align them with the job description\u2019s keywords, he said. With companies adopting AI, it\u2019s important to show how job seekers are integrating those tools into their skillsets.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve found that the No. 1 thing that companies are looking for today is adaptability,\u201d Rivera said. \u201cAt the moment an employee is hired, they need to be growing with market and industry trends, with their corporate culture, always looking to kind of extend their abilities further and further with new tools and new approaches.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rychalsky suggested using services such as Pennsylvania CareerLink. She said it\u2019s helpful to talk to someone about the ups and downs of the job hunt.<\/p>\n
\u201cHaving someone who\u2019s on the lookout for you, who is connected to the business community, who can maybe even reach out on your behalf and ask if this person did apply, could they reconsider them?\u201d Rychalsky said. \u201cIf we don\u2019t have a connection with that business, we might be able to make that connection. That\u2019s what CareerLink is here to do. It\u2019s here to help the job seekers, and is here to help the business community.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Skok will continue her search for a full-time position that includes benefits.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not like a one-person flight. There are many, many people in the United States who are facing this right now,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd they\u2019re good qualified candidates. I just don\u2019t understand how the job market became so overly competitive. I asked myself, do these jobs even exist? Is it a way to take your information? Who knows?\u201d<\/p>\n
Morning Call reporter Evan Jones can be reached at ejones@mcall.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sherri Skok wants to work full time. But she is having trouble finding a company that wants her.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":71950,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[119,121,120,60,433,182,139,434,28,432],"class_list":{"0":"post-71949","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-allentown","8":"tag-allentown","9":"tag-allentown-headlines","10":"tag-allentown-news","11":"tag-business","12":"tag-lehigh-county","13":"tag-local-news","14":"tag-news","15":"tag-northampton-county","16":"tag-pennsylvania","17":"tag-top-stories-tmc"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71949","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71949"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71949\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71950"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71949"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71949"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71949"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Sherri](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/tmc-L-Job-Hunt06.jpg\")
Sherri Skok sits in her apartment Friday, Nov. 21, 2025, in Easton. Skok lost her longtime job before COVID and has been struggling to find permanent work since then despite applying for thousands for jobs. (Amy Shortell\/The Morning Call)