# career advice
34 moments across 26 episodes. Click any moment to jump straight to that part of the episode.
3:36The 437-Applicant Trap: Why founders shouldn't apply like everyone elseLaurie MacPherson: Yeah, so the Great Resignation was during COVID people thinking, I want more purpose, I want more joy, I don't want to go back to that office. Like, this is actually lovely. I love this working from hoEP 305 · 28 May 2026·interview· 3:36–7:5210:03Handling 'Why are you leaving?' in interviewsLaurie MacPherson: Yeah, usually I would say the same level. And usually before Marjorie starts, I would tell her that her job is going to come from her network before she starts with the process of sending out half-bakeEP 305 · 28 May 2026·interview· 10:03–17:3817:38Why employers are nervous and how to de-risk yourselfAl Elliott: So we're fixing things one by one with Marjorie. So Marjorie now has told her friends and family. Marjorie has now used her network to get some opportunities. Marjorie's now had the interview, and it's gone vEP 305 · 28 May 2026·interview· 17:38–19:3619:36Interviewing on the front foot: practical tipsLaurie MacPherson: Yeah, I do, and I have a service which is, you know, longer-term mentoring, which is for folks who are not moving right now, um, but who want to progress. You know, I've got someone— I've just been on EP 305 · 28 May 2026·interview· 19:36–26:1026:10Should you use a recruiter?Al Elliott: Should Marjorie go for a recruiter, or should she not? Laurie MacPherson: She, she should, but she should know that— and this is not me slating recruiters, recruiters are brilliant— recruiters are not the JobEP 305 · 28 May 2026·interview· 26:10–28:2934:41What if there's no CEO role available? Hold your levelLeanne Elliott: Yeah Laurie MacPherson: Massive gap, so probably not. You know, you won't get those jobs anyway, so you have to keep positioning yourself at a higher level. But my, my recommendation again is not just to EP 305 · 28 May 2026·interview· 34:41–38:1338:13The LinkedIn 'Open to Work' badge and final adviceLeanne Elliott: Yeah Laurie MacPherson: But that's a bit unclear. What I would say is, is it really clear what you want and what you have to offer? If it's not, then it's— it all goes into kind of muddly territory Al EllEP 305 · 28 May 2026·interview· 38:13–42:3965:25Workplace Surgery: The executive presence problemAl Elliott: Right. Okay. Moving on. Moving on. This, this person writes, I've been a director for about 18 months and I keep getting the same feedback. I'm great at execution, but I may need more. And they've got these, EP 300 · 12 May 2026·workplace surgery· 65:25–71:4549:38Workplace Surgery: new job red flagsAl Elliott: I love it. I love it. Um, you did a segment. If this, if you're listening, the person who wrote this, and also you, um, you're, you have a similar thing. Leanne did a little segment, um, a little while ago, aEP 294 · 21 Apr 2026·workplace surgery· 49:38–52:5237:39Workplace Surgery: Breaking into business psychologyLeanne Elliott: But padded it with stuff that is complete nonsense Al Elliott: Right. Because even the name of it, like neurolinguistic programming, sounds sciency to those people who aren't scientists Leanne Elliott: YeEP 276 · 17 Feb 2026·workplace surgery· 37:39–44:0534:08Advice for 25-year-old Al and spidey sensesAl Elliott: Let me get some advice from Steve. So 25-year-old Al, God, almost 25 years ago, 25-year-old Al had a company which delivered beer to students late at night. And this was like way before Uber, way before anythEP 275 · 12 Feb 2026·interview· 34:08–43:0247:06Workplace Surgery: Standing out in occupational psychologyLeanne Elliott: No Al Elliott: Okay. So this one's about tips for becoming a chartered occupational psychologist. I do want you to define that term in a second. Okay. So someone has said, I'm just finishing my MSc in orgEP 274 · 10 Feb 2026·workplace surgery· 47:06–51:1244:30Workplace Surgery: Is My Manager Quietly Sabotaging Me?Al Elliott: On to question number 3. Is my manager quietly sabotaging me? No, no, no. I'm fairly new to my role. I'm filling a post they struggled to hire for, and while I may not have all the official experience, I'm thEP 258 · 16 Dec 2025·workplace surgery· 44:30–49:1621:53What younger Aoife would tell herself about being micromanagedAl Elliott: So, if you were to go back to slightly younger Aoife, who was in this situation where she was being micromanaged, is there anything that the slightly more experienced Aoife might say which could have fixed thEP 255 · 4 Dec 2025·interview· 21:53–27:1524:33Truth or Lie: Can you fake it till you make it?Leanne Elliott: Definitely Al Elliott: They come back because Nudge isn't as good as this. So come back. I'll cut that out. Keep that in. Okay. Welcome back to the Truth, Lies and Work podcast and the time for the truth EP 254 · 2 Dec 2025·truth or lie· 24:33–37:006:42The advice that changed Amy's career trajectoryAl Elliott: I have a note down here that there was a particular point that kind of changed the career trajectory for you. Is that something you feel like you could talk to, talk about? Amy Bouque: I would love to. And I'EP 233 · 18 Sept 2025·interview· 6:42–11:5229:12Becoming an entrepreneur of your own reputationAl Elliott: An entrepreneur of your own reputation. What a phenomenal turn of phrase that is. So just make sure I've understood what you're saying there. You're saying that— Nick just doesn't like to use the word owning EP 230 · 9 Sept 2025·other· 29:12–34:0724:11Hot Take with Becky Simms: Should you talk openly about quitting?Al Elliott: Keep that in. Welcome back. It is time for our Hot Take, where we bring in a guest to challenge the way we think about work. And today is about something that nobody likes to talk about, but everyone ends up EP 216 · 22 Jul 2025·hot take· 24:11–41:4441:12Workplace Surgery: Do I Have to Fake It to Get Promoted?Leanne Elliott: There's a lot of episodes there Al Elliott: There's a lot. There's 200-odd episodes. Yeah, so we get a little drunker on that one. Actually, we don't get drunk at all on this one, just to be clear. Okay. EP 208 · 24 Jun 2025·workplace surgery· 41:12–47:3038:32Workplace Surgery: Surviving a toxic jobAl Elliott: Brilliant. Okay, so the second question I've got here is, how do you survive a toxic workplace when you can't afford to leave? So this person writes, I'm 29 and I've been working at the same corporate job forEP 196 · 13 May 2025·workplace surgery· 38:32–44:2837:30Workplace Surgery: Six interviews, then a pay cut?Leanne Elliott: Okay Al Elliott: get the interview in the first place, and he told me I'd done a great job, but that the recruiter had taken the question about the salary difference very, very personally. Apparently, if EP 190 · 22 Apr 2025·workplace surgery· 37:30–42:030:00You're 53. You're done — why 'pack it in' advice is toxicJohn Tarnoff: Over. It's over. You're never going to get another job. You're 53. Oh, you're done. And this advice that you should just pack it in is, is toxic Leanne Elliott: So first of all, accept that ageism exists JoEP 187 · 10 Apr 2025·interview· 0:00–6:3319:04With hindsight — what would Jeremy do differently?Leanne Elliott: So with hindsight, what would Jeremy do differently? Al Elliott: I think the advantage I've got now is that my 40-year-old self has got Different interests, different knowledge. Obviously, the world has cEP 141 · 31 Oct 2024·other· 19:04–23:0545:29Workplace Surgery: Family dynamics in a family-run companyAl Elliott: Okay, on to question number 3. Um, this person writes in and says, I've been an EA to the CEO. I'm guessing that means that they're an executive assistant to the chief executive officer of a family-run softwaEP 140 · 29 Oct 2024·workplace surgery· 45:29–51:0233:58Navigating your own developmentNick Korte: 100% agree with what John just said. And I would say, if you go and talk to people, it doesn't have to be a hiring manager. As he said, you know, you don't— you're not necessarily looking to get to a hiring mEP 135 · 10 Oct 2024·panel interview· 33:58–35:0335:03The reality of tech interviewsAl Elliott: I really genuinely hope it's encouraging for you to hear that there are multiple paths into tech careers, whether through formal education, boot camps, or even just self-study. The key seems to be cultivatingEP 135 · 10 Oct 2024·panel interview· 35:03–38:1557:55Lessons from hundreds of podcast guestsJohn White: I mean, I'll tag on to what Nick said about making sure that the work that you do is publicly accessible and documented. I think eventually I came around to a book called Show Your Work by— the author's name EP 135 · 10 Oct 2024·panel interview· 57:55–59:2621:05Fresh Voices: Marion Campan on finding your ideal workplaceLeanne Elliott: Welcome back. This is our September segment. I'm calling it Fresh Voices, where we showcase the thought leaders that have caught our attention and share their insights on the modern workplace. Today we arEP 126 · 10 Sept 2024·news roundup· 21:05–27:5817:49Fresh Voices: Rob Kalwarowsky on handling a bad bossAl Elliott: When I started working, I thought I had it all. Played on a junior national team, went to MIT with— got a mechanical engineering degree. My first job in mining, I saved my company millions. I thought I was onEP 124 · 3 Sept 2024·news roundup· 17:49–22:2910:25Knowing If You Need a Career Change or a Small TweakLeanne Elliott: How do people know if it's a career change that they need? So they might be waking up and thinking, is this it? But how do they know? Is it, is it because I'm not fulfilled in my work? Is it my relationshEP 117 · 23 Jul 2024·interview· 10:25–17:509:23A day in the Power Middle: influence without titleAl Elliott: So if someone's listening to this and thinking, am I in this messy power middle? What would their workday look like that would be typical of someone who fits into this profile? Cate Luzio: I'm not a senior leEP 114 · 10 Jul 2024·interview· 9:23–11:4129:14Workplace Surgery — should I quit at 25?Al Elliott: No, she shouldn't quit Leanne Elliott: Yes. No, you shouldn't. You shouldn't quit right now. The reason is you don't— this requires exploration. You're 25. This isn't an uncommon problem. This isn't an uncommEP 103 · 4 Jun 2024·workplace surgery· 29:14–35:2425:12Workplace Surgery — quitting without a job lined upAl Elliott: Welcome back. Let's kick off this weekly workplace surgery with the first question. By the way, if you have a question you'd like me to put to Leanne about the workplace, check out the show notes for our emaiEP 95 · 7 May 2024·workplace surgery· 25:12–30:3726:05Updating your CV and final thoughtsLeanne Elliott: Join Al Elliott: That's truthliesandwork.com/join. And then you'll join us in our back— we've not really got a name for it. I've started calling it Culturologists, but I don't think that's gonna be the naEP 13 · 22 Nov 2022·other· 26:05–27:59
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