The Job Search Buddy: Networking, Visibility, and Getting Seen with Jodi Gorenstein

Show Notes

• Jodi's background: 20+ years as a global HR leader at brands including American Express, an MA in organizational psychology from Columbia, and experience leading transformations, M&A integrations, and talent strategy across beauty, CPG, financial services, and media.
• How Jodi stumbled into HR almost by accident: a friend's tip landed her an assistant role at American Express, a reorg gave her space to explore internally, and her HR business partner steered her toward campus recruiting.
• Why she fell in love with the HR business partner role specifically: no two days look alike, and it's the function closest to the business.
• The origin of HR Super Connector: after 20+ years of informally helping friends, family, and their friends with resumes, LinkedIn, and introductions on nights and weekends, Jodi realized today's brutal job market needed more than she could give on the side.
• The three-phase framework: Get Ready (resume, LinkedIn, elevator pitch), Get Seen (networking strategy, contacts, and getting a resume in front of decision-makers), and Land the Job (interview prep, references, and negotiation).
• Why the goal is to hear about roles before they ever post on LinkedIn; by the time a job is public, it may be fake, already filled, or buried under thousands of applicants.
• How Jodi's referral network works: reaching out to contacts at a client's target companies so their resume gets pulled from the pile by someone who trusts her recommendation.
• "I'm not good at networking" means something different to everyone; Jodi breaks down whether it's cold outreach, an unclear story, or fear of oversharing, and works from there.
• You don't owe anyone an explanation for a layoff. "I left my last job two months ago" is a complete sentence; you control the narrative.
• The testimonial trick: identify two people who know your work well and offer to draft their LinkedIn recommendation for them; it's easier for them to say yes, and it lets you help shape the story.
• LinkedIn visibility doesn't require original content or a white paper. Photos, selfies at events, and tagging others generate real engagement: "don't hate the player, hate the game."
• Track every role, target company, and contact in a spreadsheet, and follow up more than once; most people don't respond to the first outreach, and it isn't personal.
• Always add a personal note to a LinkedIn connection request instead of just hitting "Connect," so both people remember how and why they're connected two years later.
• Best career advice Jodi ever received: do your best at what you're good at, and be kind; your personal brand and reputation follow you from job to job.
• Worst-advice-turned-best-decision: leaving a comfortable 15-year run at American Express for a scrappy, unstructured sales organization, the calculated risk that put her career into high gear.
• Rapid fire: in-person meetings over email, every time; what she wishes she'd known at 25; and what's next for Jodi and HR Super Connector.
• Her message to anyone in the thick of a job search: you are not defined by a bad boss or a layoff; ground yourself in your superpowers, tap into your community, and expect to be pleasantly surprised by who shows up for you.