The Broken Handle

When regular direct deposits arrive every Friday, your financial life feels completely stable—even when your reserve funds are quietly burning away. In Episode 14 of The Broken Handle , Will and JB confront the “Cash Flow Illusion,” dissecting the dangerous psychological trap that blinds job seekers, contractors, and career pivoters right before their financial runway runs out. Anchoring the discu...

Moving away from the formal labor statistics and market reports of previous weeks, Episode 13 of The Broken Handle is an unvarnished, “off-the-cuff” session. Will and JB pull back the curtain on the daily frictions, absurdities, and ethical dilemmas that both candidates and talent acquisition professionals navigate in today’s unpredictable hiring landscape. Drawing from real-time interactions—from...

When candidates face the modern hiring landscape, the baseline metrics can feel impenetrable: an average 44-day hiring cycle, hundreds of applicants per opening, and automated filters parsing resumes at enterprise scale. In Episode 12 of The Broken Handle , Will and JB dismantle the architecture behind enterprise recruiting engines using hard benchmark data from SHRM, Lightcast, ManpowerGroup, and...

While corporate tech reels from algorithmic screening filters and repetitive workforce reductions, one massive sector of the economy is facing the opposite dilemma: three open positions for every single certified graduate. In Episode 11 of The Broken Handle , Will and JB dive deep into Lightcast’s landmark report, Defining the Skilled Trades: A Data-Driven Blueprint for the Future . Moving past co...

The interview process sets an upfront contract, outlines the target architecture, and secures the offer. But what happens two weeks in when the plan you designed doesn’t pan out, the career ladder looks flat, and administrative lag grinds your momentum to a halt? In Episode 10 of The Broken Handle , Will and JB dig into the lived reality of navigating the critical first 14 days inside a new organi...

You did the research, set an upfront contract during the interview, signed the offer, and stepped through the door on Day 1—only to find that internal expectations have shifted, priorities are fluid, and the structured plan you anticipated does not exist. In this episode of The Broken Handle , Will and JB dig into the lived reality of entering a new organization, drawing from their real-time trans...

Title: Episode 8: The Success Triangle, Sadler Interview Mechanics, and Career Operating Systems Subtitle Stop guessing your way through the job search. Learn how to adapt sales engineering principles, master the Parent-Adult-Child communication model, and use the Pain Funnel to lead interviews. Episode Description Most people begin a job search or career transition with no real operating system:...

When your resume lands on a recruiter’s desk, you do not have 15 minutes or even 30 seconds to make an impression—you have exactly 15 seconds before a decision is made. In this episode of The Broken Handle , Will and JB deliver an unvarnished, ground-up review of the hiring process based on insider insights from a veteran recruiter with 16 years of hands-on staffing experience. They pull back the...

When plans fall through and priorities shift, the true test of a career is how quickly you can adjust on the fly. In this episode of The Broken Handle , Will and JB turn an unexpected schedule change into a deep, unvarnished masterclass on the four distinct phases of career pivoting. Whether you are sitting comfortably with a subtle gut-instinct warning, performing at the top of your game, navigat...

We have all heard the standard corporate slogan to “bet on yourself,” but rarely does anyone hand you the actual execution formula under the hood. This week on The Broken Handle , Will and JB dismantle the vague motivational hype and replace it with a clinical, data-driven framework for professional self-direction. They synthesize two massive, real-world blueprints from leaders who look completely...

Why does a historically strong economy with a low 4.3% unemployment rate feel so fractured to active job seekers? In this episode of The Broken Handle , Will and JB dive into the ground-level reality of the 2026 labor market using data from Lightcast principal economist Ron Hetrick. They dismantle the noisy online narrative that artificial intelligence is causing widespread economic collapse, reve...

When you look at the top-line economic headlines, everything looks frictionless. But on the ground, the story is entirely different: thousands of applicants are packed shoulder-to-shoulder fighting for the exact same entry-level cloud and junior developer roles. In this episode of The Broken Handle , Will and JB challenge you to step out of that crowded line and look at the unsexy side doors stand...

The job board is a trailing indicator. By the time a position hits LinkedIn or Indeed, you are already competing with hundreds of candidates. In this episode of The Broken Handle , Will and JB introduce a tactical playbook designed to give you an unfair advantage in the labor market: OSINT (Open Source Intelligence). Will breaks down how to use active reconnaissance and Google Dorking strings to s...

The modern job search feels rigged because, in many ways, it is. If you have sent out hundreds of resumes only to be met with total silence, you are not the problem—the system is. In this inaugural episode of The Broken Handle , hosts Will and JB pull back the curtain on “pipeline theater” and the ghost job epidemic. Deconstructing recent labor data from private research firms and the federal gove...

The Broken Handle is a business show for the people the business shows forgot. Every week, Jarrod and Will cut through the career theater to talk about what’s actually happening in the job market — layoffs, AI displacement, hiring chaos, and what it all means for working people. This is Episode 0. No guests, no data deep-dives — just two guys introducing themselves, explaining why they built this...

We made a trailer. The corporate machine has its mouthpieces. Working people have us. The Broken Handle is your weekly guide through the job market — honest, unfiltered, and built for the people the business shows forgot. New episodes dropping soon. Subscribe so you don’t miss any. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, v...

We made a Trailer .The corporate machine has its mouthpieces. Working people have us. The Broken Handle is your weekly guide through the job market — honest, unfiltered, and built for the people the business shows forgot. New episodes dropping soon. Subscribe so you don’t miss any. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, v...