A Job Search Council (JSC) is a mutual support group made up of peer job seekers who agree to search together.
You can set up and create your own JSC.
We also offer a free matching service that will connect you to peer job seekers.
And don't worry - we have already launched and supported thousands of JSCs
The volunteer team aims to pair a member with a JSC within one week of applying.
That said, we are dependent on the applicant pipeline. To speed up a match, volunteer to be a moderator.
Yes. This is free to sign-up. Free to participate. Free Slack community. Free live training. Free detailed workbook and (for moderators a Notion board).
It's free because Phyl and the team of volunteers have put in more than 20,000 hours – and they do it because they are on a mission to create a private citizen-led safety net for everyone laid off or let go.
Phyl is also doing this in honor of their mom, who started the first Council for elementary school teachers in the San Fernando Valley in 1960 and ran it for 50 years teaching Phyl the art of asking for help and of bringing people together.
Last thing: For more than 20 years, Phyl has coached thousands of product leaders and brought them together in Career Councils. That's where the Never Search Alone method was refined. For Phyl and that community of leaders...Never Search Alone is a giveback.
We mention this above, but here’s more detail.
Note: we do NOT put people together in the same industry or even the same function (though we try to have at least 2 of the same function – so it might be a mix of 2 product managers, 2 ux folks, and 2 marketers…all with the same tenure and speed (i.e., “fast” or “slow” seekers).
No.
This method was created in down job markets – beginning with the dotcom depression more than 20 years ago.
While this approach is great in an up job market, it's essential in a down market.
It's essential because in a down job market, you need even MORE support – and in a down job market, your Candidate-Market Fit is even more important to understand.
Phyl puts in every cent from book sales and then often has to put in more (we estimate about 2x book sales has gone into running this).
Why does Phyl do this?
Because Phyl strong believes in the importance of creating a private citizen-led safety net for everyone laid off or let go – and believes that they and others have an obligation to support those impacted by the tech downturn (and anyone else).
When we first started this pro-bono community (after the book came out), we did not require that people read Never Search Alone.
Unfortunately, we learned the hard way that if JSC members did not read the book, then they were disruptive (or simply ghosted) their JSCs.
So we now require that people read the book, which they can borrow from a library or get from a friend, or buy from Amazon or a bookstore.
And we don't give the book away because 2x the book sales have gone into running this community.
So, new book sales now fund the expansion of the community and underwrite (along with all the thousands of hours of volunteer time) all the free services for the growing number of job seekers that come to us.
Having said that, book sales still don't cover all the costs, which is why we continuously spend many hours recruiting and training volunteers who then spend thousands of hours collectively running this community.
Some people find it easy to put together their own JSCs. Many do not.
It depends on how wide your network is and how comfortable you are making that happen.
But you definitely do NOT need to use our free matching service.
It’s just there for those who want to take advantage of it.
Phyl Terry is the lead organizer working with a talented team of volunteers.
The volunteers are typically people who are working full-time in the digital world, and are members of Collaborative Gain. They have experienced the power of asking for help and being on a Council and want to take their learnings and help people who have been laid off or let go find a good job.
Phyl is the Founder and CEO of Collaborative Gain and is the author of Never Search Alone, and Customers Included.
Phyl launched CG's flagship leadership program – The Councils – in 2002 with a fellow group of Internet pioneers from Amazon, Google, and others.
Thousands of these and other leaders from the Internet world have come together in the last 20 years to learn the art of asking for help and to support each other to build better, more customer-centric products, services, companies, and careers (see their testimonials).
And it was working with many of these CG members over two decades, Phyl developed the Never Search Alone method.
Today, many of these same CG members are volunteering with Phyl to build the pro-bono global Never Search Alone community to provide *free* services for all those laid off, let go, or looking.
(Read more about Phyl here - https://www.phyl.org/about-phyl)
Yes.
The insights come from:
Phyl’s mom – “Chic” to her friends and family – started the first Council in 1960.
Learning from her, Phyl launched their first Council in college (for progressive student leaders) and then in graduate school worked with McKinsey to launch the first Council for Internet CEOs back in 1997.
Then, as noted, Phyl started CG Councils in 2002/2003 for digital leaders, and then over the last 20 years, Phyl and team have helped thousands of leaders stay longer in their jobs (and then find good jobs if they are laid off or let go).
So, Job Search Councils come from decades of experience running these kinds of forums.
Phyl lays out in detail the concept of Job Search Councils and the whole five-step Social Search process in their highly acclaimed new book, Never Search Alone.
In Never Search Alone, Phyl lays out a structured five-step approach to finding a *good* job.
This approach is based on working with thousands of job seekers over the last 25 years and breaks some of the ‘conventional’ rules of how to look for a job.
The five steps are:
To honor Phyl’s mom, Chic (pictured below in high school in the 1950s), Phyl and a group of CG members and friends decided to build this free community around the concepts in Never Search Alone – to help many more people, especially in this time of tech layoffs.
As noted, Chic started the first council in 1960 for elementary school teachers in the San Fernando Valley. Throughout her life, Chic helped as many people as she could, especially those out of work.
Never Search Alone is Phyl’s latest book, which lays out the five-step Social Search method explained above.
Based on 25 years of experience working with thousands of leaders – from early-career product managers to CEOs – Never Search Alone gives readers a time-tested, multi-step process (with exercises, tools, and templates) to find the right job now.
In addition to the five steps, Phyl notes that three breakthrough ideas animate Never Search Alone:
1. Job Search Council – Because your emotional balance is the most important thing you need to manage in the job search, you need a support group of fellow job seekers that will help turn your insecurity and anxiety into hope, motivation, and accountability.
2. Candidate-Market Fit – You are the ‘product’ in a job search. Thus, before you begin networking and interviewing, you need to identify precisely what you want and what the market wants. This key step will help you figure out the intersection of your hopes, dreams, and market realities.
3. Four Legs to the Negotiations Stool – Never Search Alone shows you how to interview and then negotiate for the four key things that will set you up to succeed in your new job: salary, budget, resources, and support.
No.
About half of the members of JSCs (and of Collaborative Gain’s Councils) are introverts.
The reason is this is not networking.
It’s a small private group of people who commit to helping each other.
JSCs are run by a volunteer moderator – a fellow job seeker – who uses the agenda templates and five-step job search method outlined in Never Search Alone (these templates are available free).
People often ask how is this managed over time since people will get jobs at different speeds and people might leave the JSC.
We ask every JSC to form a charter (the charter template is part of the free tools package), and in the charter the members decide how they will handle this – i.e., if they will all remain active until everyone gets a job, or if people will drop off as they get full-time offers.
We recommend that people stay on through the offer negotiations and pre-start preparations. Then remain as “alums” on a Slack channel or email list but otherwise step out of full participation.
At that point, if a JSC needs new members, then the moderator can fill out our Google form and ask for new people to join.
Part of the power of a JSC comes the power of bringing strangers together – strangers bring benefits, as Phyl explains in Chapters 1 and 2 of Never Search Alone.
Because of something called – jargon alert – ‘cognitive empathy’, strangers can often build trust quickly, especially if they are in a shared context (like, for example, all looking for a job).
We have run thousands of Job Search Councils bringing strangers together and seen this work nearly every time.
You should join one JSC that you are assigned to.
The commitment to the team members is important.
Of the 100 JSCs we’ve run, only one has had a problem with a member.
So, first off we find this to be rare.
Having said that, JSCs should first try to handle any internal issues themselves (and the moderators can get advice from the volunteer team).
But if the problem persists – and again we’ve only had this happen once – your moderator can reach out to the volunteer team and trigger a process to investigate and provide assistance.
We recommend a minimum of 4 members, max 6.
People are leaving the groups as they find jobs so better to start with more members then fewer.
The book is talking about 'Slow down to speed up.' The benefits of slowing down are:
The NSA strategy goes against everything we've been taught – cast a broad net and mass apply = more opportunities – the irony – the broader you describe yourself, the few opportunities you get because people can't figure out "who" you are.
The NSA process, your JSC, and the JSC Slack community offer valuable opportunities to connect and network with professionals, helping you—an early-stage job seeker—gain a clearer understanding of what to expect in your next role. Additionally, they provide essential insights to strengthen your bargaining power when negotiating an offer.
The Candidate Market Fit (CMF) and Listening Tour exercises will be invaluable in refining your target role and company while also providing insight into opportunities within the evolving job market.
No, this is where the NSA Magic comes in. This is something you will explore as part of you complete the Mnookin Two-pager, Candidate Market Fit and the listening tour excercises.
