The new Apple TV+ show “Severance” is both compelling and peculiar — a series that is an intriguing workplace drama and a dystopian nightmare. 

It is a pretty interesting series to analyze as a career services professional. 

It begs the question: What if your personal and professional lives were severed from one another? 

This question is at the heart of the narrative in the first season of “Severance.” 

The nine-episode season (produced by Ben Stiller) centers around Mark Scout (Adam Scott), an employee at Lumon Industries who works in the Macrodata Refinement division. His co-workers in the division are Dylan George (Zach Cherry), Irving Bailiff (John Turturro), and the newly hired Helly Riggs (Britt Lower). 

The Macrodata Refinement division requires its workers to have their brains “severed” — incoming workers have to undergo a medical procedure (a small microchip inserted in the brain) that separates their work lives from their non-work lives. 

We learn early on that the death of Mark’s wife Gemma precipitated his decision to go through with the severance process. The ensuing grief resulted in our protagonist looking for a change in his life. Detaching from his personal turmoil at work seemed like it would be a welcome relief. 

As is the case with low-key science fiction dramas of this nature, viewers soon learn that there is a considerable amount of intrigue lurking below the surface. 

Mark and his co-workers find themselves speculating on what the lives of their “outies” are like (“innie” and “outie” are the euphemisms used for the separate personas). Those questions result in our protagonists working covertly to connect the dots. 

As a viewer, it immediately brings up the age-old issue of individuals trying to strike the right “work-life balance” in day-to-day routines. It also raises questions about the moral and ethical boundaries employers can cross to create a productive workforce. 

We’ve watched as tech companies have introduced features into products and services to help users cut through distractions (Apple’s “Focus” and “Do Not Disturb” modes are low-level examples of this). 

A series like “Severance” makes you wonder whether more invasive forms of technology could be used in the future. The prospect can seem a bit scary. 

As career services professionals, a key part of our work with jobseekers is to help them cut through distractions in life as they prepare to find a new job, position themselves for a raise or promotion, and/or change careers. 

Whether we are talking about crafting a résumé and LinkedIn profile, doing interview prep, or working with an individual on salary negotiation, we must remember that the symbiosis between the “personal” and “professional” sides of our clients is what ultimately makes a candidate stand out from the crowd in the job search (and in the workplace). 

Have you watched “Severance” on Apple TV+? If so, we’d love to know what you think as a career services professional! 

Bloomberg’s “Quicktake Originals” produced a recent video feature (see video below) on remote employees who are juggling multiple full-time jobs. The term used for this new type of worker is “overemployed.” 

The idea of a person working multiple jobs (such as a part-time job in the evening or on weekends) to bring in additional income isn’t a new concept. It is something quite common in the “gig economy” as households work to pay bills, afford family vacations, and save for retirement. In addition, those of us who are self-employed are used to balancing multiple clients and projects on a weekly basis. 

“Overemployment” is its own unique creature. 

What’s interesting about the Bloomberg feature is that scenarios have arisen — among the 25 percent of employees operating remotely due to COVID-19 — where individuals are talking on multiple full-time jobs “concurrently” during the work week. 

According to the feature, nearly 40 percent of remote workers are juggling two or more full-time jobs (sometimes in secret). This results in workers doubling or even tripling their household income. 

Knowledge workers in the tech sector and finance tend to be best able to take on multiple full-time jobs, according to the report. 

“People have gotten a lot more efficient working from home,” said Olivia Rockeman, a reporter with Bloomberg. “So that has reduced the working day to some degree.” 

A Fast Company report suggests that one-third of tech workers admit to only working three or four hours per day. 

There are websites and support groups online dedicated to helping workers balance multiple jobs. 

Ethical and legal considerations are part of the equation. Workers have to be careful about the stipulations in their particular employment contract to make sure they aren’t violating company policies. 

In a situation where deception is taking place, you have to consider the overall impact on a worker’s health, industry-wide changes that could come to employment contracts as a result, and potential legislation to address the issue down the road. 

If this proves to be a long-term trend that gains critical mass, it will be interesting to see how “overemployment” impacts the résumé writing process — and the overall job search. It certainly creates a unique set of challenges for career services professionals. Which job do we include on the résumé? On the LinkedIn profile? 

In a world where remote and hybrid work schedules have started to become more mainstream, these sorts of issues are going to pop up. 

As career services professionals, we need to keep a watchful eye on these developments and be prepared to give our clients sage advice on navigating new ways of working. 

Have you ever thought about starting a podcast? This is your comprehensive guide to getting started — from what to talk about on your podcast to preparing for the podcast (tech options to choose from!), how to get listeners, how to leverage your podcast to benefit your career services business to monetizing your podcast (or not!) — this special report includes all that and more. Also includes a Podcast Checklist, an assessment of podcast tools, 80 podcast episode ideas, and 75 podcasting tips from the experts! 

Check out the Podcasting With Purpose Special Report in our online store. 

Joanna Stern, tech reporter for The Wall Street Journal, recently interviewed LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky about the professional-oriented social network and economic opportunities for users moving forward (see video below). 

LinkedIn is an important component of the job search and at the forefront of the daily work that members of BeAResumeWriter.com do with their clients. 

“Almost six people get a job every minute out of 4,500 applications that occur every minute,” Roslansky told Stern. 

Roslansky discussed the growth of Gen Z users on the platform and efforts to attract that demographic to the service. 

“[Gen Z is] much more interested in portraying themselves through video, or through a much more robust profile,” he said. 

One feature highlighted as part of this shift is the “no politics” button that removes political news and chatter from your main feed (it relies on input from LinkedIn’s editorial team, semantic classifiers, and the user community). Other features include the ability to launch a live audio or video event within the LinkedIn app and website as well as the ability to add video to your profile photo. 

LinkedIn is also trying to attract creators. The company’s focus goes beyond the typical viral sensibilities of the creator economy. 

“There’s also creation for opportunity,” said Roslansky. “Which is, ‘I have these things that I want to be able to teach my network,’ and I’m going to find an interesting and creative way to showcase that on LinkedIn.” 

The Pass-Along Materials content included with a BeAResumeWriter.com Bronze Membership (also available in our Shop) can provide a terrific starting point for this type of creation on LinkedIn and other social platforms. 

With so many opportunities available to jobseekers, it is important as career services professionals to consider additional tools we can employ to help our clients achieve their goals. 

There are so many reasons to consider subcontracting in your resume writing career — when you’re building your own business, to focus on just the writing (if that’s the part you like), to smooth out the peaks and valleys of your income, to earn extra money for a big purchase... and more! 

There are subcontracting opportunities to fit almost every writer — veterans and less-experienced writers; certified and non-certified writers; those who want client contact and those who strictly want to ghostwrite. 

There are more than 30 listings in the Directory of Subcontract Opportunities. Access to the directory (plus the “Making Money as a Resume Subcontractor” special report and MMRS Webinar Archive) is now included with a BeAResumeWriter.com Bronze Membership in the Paid Member Resources section. 

Are you burned out? In a recent survey, many career service professionals described themselves as feeling burned out. What are the signs of burnout? This 26-page special report will help you identify the warning signs of burnout, and provides a 7-step process to beating burnout and restoring balance in your personal and professional life. It includes 21 specific tips for beating burnout, and a “Beating Burnout” exercise. 

Check out the Beating Burnout Special Report in our online store. 

This 5-page guide will help your clients with preparing their “elevator pitch” or answering the ”tell me about yourself” question in an interview. It includes five simple formulas they can choose from to create their quick introduction (including lots of specific examples), plus eight tips for creating an effective introduction. 

Check out the Formula for a Quick Introduction Pass-Along Materials Content in our online store. 

Face it. People trust other people’s opinions more than they trust your marketing. That’s why including customer testimonials can be so powerful in converting prospects into clients. This 37-page special report explains why social proof is important to your career services business and provides guidance in obtaining social proof from your customers (more than just testimonials), including exercises to help you determine what kind of social proof will be most effective in your business, and how to keep building your social file. 

Check out the Strengthen Your Sales Pitch With Social Proof Special Report in our online store. 

This is an excellent lead generation tool for resume writers. Educate jobseekers while you help them identify why their resume might not be working for them. This Pass-Along Materials content is in the form of a checklist, but you can adapt it to an article format, or even a quiz. (A perfect accompaniment to the “The 27 Mistakes Jobseekers Make In Their Job Search” Pass-Along Materials Content published in October 2016.) 

Check out the Are You Making These 10 Mistakes On Your Resume? Pass-Along Materials Content in our online store.