A little over six months ago, my brother's position as a digital asset manger for a large marketing company was eliminated. He's been diligently applying for all types of jobs but has little luck. The largest hurdle appears to be his lack of a college degree.

He has over 20 years of experience in the retail and marketing industries where he developed a diverse portfolio of skills in the areas of photography, photo editing, and digital asset management.

Ideally, he would like a position in the Houston area or something that allows him to work remotely. Any leads or tips are much appreciated.

Good luck to him! It's tough out there.

I was laid off just over a year ago from a F30 tech company. 14 years experience and a college degree. Account management, business planning/operations/Sales.

Ive had about 30 interviews, with 5 or 6 being final round and there always seems to be someone "with more experience". Im not even necessarily trying to get into tech anymore and Im applying to anything I'm qualified for, especially since healthcare and construction seem to be doing OK.

Anyway, in my experience, it's just a tough market, degree or not.

You're a good brother for reaching out and helping. It's a very frustrating and stressful experience for sure.

Some advice - remote-only jobs are going to be extremely competitive. Not only is there a glut of talent right now due to layoffs, but you are also competing with people that might have their current employer mandating RTO, so they might be looking for an out as well.

Try and focus on hybrid or on-site.

If I go a week or two without hearing anything back, retake a look at the resume or give yourself some extra time to match it as closely as possible to the JD.

If he starts to feel burned out after several weeks and nothing, take a day for himself. Go for a walk, go get lunch, go to the gym, watch a show on netflix. Give yourself a day with no linkedin/no email. That usually rechargers me to go hard for another few weeks.

Referrals are king. Much higher percentage chance to land an interview. That's it, though, once you get the invite, it's all up to you.

The sad part is that after being at the same company for 14 years, a large percentage of my network are on hiring freezes, roles are getting cancelled, etc because most of my network are at large tech companies.

Talk to friends. Acquaintances. Etc. let them know you are looking, and tell them to let their friends know you are looking. Etc. .