Happen To Your Career - Meaningful Work, Career Change, Career Design, & Job Search How Laura Landed Her Dream Career After 66 Job Applications (Without Burning Out)
Nov 3, 2025
Laura MacDonald is a former customer support manager turned instructional designer, who used a data-driven approach to navigate her job search after losing her job. She shares how tracking 66 applications helped her refine what she truly wanted in a career and the importance of her Ideal Career Profile. Laura discusses overcoming the fear of rejection, the power of warm networking, and how to differentiate between skills you're good at and those that energize you. Her journey emphasizes the value of career experiments and the transformative insight of clarity in job choices.
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Cold LinkedIn Message Turned Into A Job
- Laura reached out cold on LinkedIn to a director at her now employer and he replied, leading to a later interview.
- That connection became her boss after she joined the company.
Layoff Became A Career Redesign Moment
- After being laid off, Laura treated unemployment as an opportunity to redesign her career rather than just find any job.
- Her mom encouraged her to use the moment to make a meaningful transition.
Use An ICP To Objectively Compare Jobs
- An Ideal Career Profile (ICP) turned emotional impulses into objective comparisons against job postings.
- Laura used the ICP to reject roles that looked good on paper but failed her core criteria.