Day: September 24, 2025

• My daughter is an only child, and we get most of her clothing and toys new or gently used.
• There’s usually still a lot of life left in the items she outgrows, but no one to pass them on to.
• Then, I discovered ‘Buy Nothing’ groups, which help me find families I know will use what we won’t.

During my childhood, my mom and her friends and family members saved a lot of money by passing on used baby gear and outgrown clothing. My daughter is an only child, and she doesn’t have any older cousins or anyone else who passes things on to her.

As a result, we have purchased most items new or in good used condition, and they often are still in great shape once we are done with them. But determining what to do with all the outgrown clothing, toys, and gear once we are done with them has been challenging — and sometimes, emotional, as well.

I struggled with what to do with the things my daughter grows out of

My daughter is now 7, and over the years, I’ve sold a few items on Facebook Marketplace and once tried selling at a children’s consignment sale. The amount of time preparing the items, tagging them, and bringing them to the sale location made the small amount of money I earned not feel worth it in the end.

When a family friend had a girl a year after I had mine, I started passing on some clothing to her in an attempt to stop drowning in bags of clothes, shoes, and winter coats that my daughter could no longer wear. But I still had a lot of gear, toys, and other items that ended up collecting dust in our basement.

Parting with my daughter’s things is sometimes emotional. Since she is an only child and we won’t be having any more kids, when clothing gets too small or she outgrows a toy, we never get to use them again. Even though they’re just things, letting go of them feels like saying goodbye to that chapter of her life, as well.

While donating things to a thrift shop is an option, things like an easel covered with paint and old stickers or dirty but perfectly functional sneakers will likely just be trashed, which makes me feel even worse.

Then, I discovered ‘Buy Nothing’ groups on Facebook

A few years ago, I joined a few ‘Buy Nothing‘ and similar Facebook groups in my area. Buy Nothing and gifting groups not only allow members to post items they are looking to give away, but people can also post about items they are hoping to find at no cost. At first, I only posted in search of books for my little free library, then I realized that I had found the perfect way to get my daughters’ old things out of our house.

By just making a listing with a picture of the item I want to give away with a short description, I can get it into the hands of a family who will actually use it. After I’ve chosen a recipient from the comments, we exchange a few messages about pick up, and a day or so later, the item is off to its new home, without any of the haggling, payment issues, or multiple messages with people who don’t end up purchasing that I experienced when using Facebook marketplace. It has turned letting go of my daughter’s things from a negative experience into a positive one.

Occasionally, someone will post that they need a specific item, and it’s a cool feeling to realize that yes, I do actually have a kid’s life vest that’s collecting dust, and someone else could get use out of. One time, I happened to find a random bag of clothing that my daughter had outgrown years before, when a mom posted desperately looking for that exact size for her daughter. Sometimes it’s been a bit funnier, like the time a mom was looking for a baby Jesus for a Little People nativity set, and I just happened to have an extra.

I’ve also been able to give an outgrown car seat to an overwhelmed single mom of six who needed one for her youngest, potty training gear to parents starting the process with their kids, and, most recently, a backpack to a mom whose son was starting PreK.

Every time that I give away something for free to another parent or grandparent, I know that it will be appreciated and used, which makes it a whole lot easier to let go of things. Because while a diaper pail doesn’t hold any sentimental attachment for me, the easel that my daughter painted on for four years and the life vest she wore for several summers of beach trips do. Even though it’s sometimes hard to let go of them, I’ve learned I don’t necessarily need the objects themselves to hold onto the memories.

• Ex-Google recruiter Sarah Goose spent years learning how diverse companies hire.
• Goose says that despite widespread layoffs, big companies still hire in the fourth quarter.
• She advises her clients to send fewer applications and be more strategic at the end of the year.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Sarah Goose, a 37-year-old career coach and founder of Goose Gets It, in Fredericksburg, Virginia. It has been edited for length and clarity.

In Q4, people fear that hiring slows down — but that’s not always the case. Sure, there are some industries that are less eager to hire than others, but from my experience, there are spaces where hiring can actually take off.

Before starting my own career coaching business in 2023, I worked at Google for nine years. While there, I wrote interview questions, built scorecards to evaluate candidates, trained interviewers, and helped decide who got hired.

After learning how companies hire, I started my own career coaching business, Goose Gets It, where I help demystify the hiring process and help people navigate this very challenging job market.

Getting hired at a smaller startup company at the end of the year is tough because the business needs to show profitability to its investors. For bigger companies focused on growth, it’s often the shortest time to hire, and there’s real pressure on managers to fill roles before budgets or head count get stripped away.

But, how do you become one of those end-of-the-year hires? How do you stand out in the last quarter of the year? I advise job seekers to do four things.

1. Get clear on your role and positioning

The first thing you need to do is be really clear on the types of roles you’re applying for.

Ask yourself: What is your seniority level? What’s your niche? What’s your specialty? It’s not just about the type of job you want, what you think the market needs, or what you’re good at; it’s the intersection of those three things, and you need to be really clear on that.

2. Niche down and target strategically

When it comes to getting hired, the spray-and-pray method — throwing spaghetti at the wall and seeing what sticks — isn’t likely to work. It’s having fewer applications and being really strategic and selective in your applications that gets people hired.

People often think, Oh, OK, if I apply to more roles, then I’m going to get more interviews. And if I make myself open to everything, then I’ll be more appealing. But here’s the thing: if you try to appeal to everyone, then you end up appealing to no one. It may sound counterintuitive, but you have to niche down.

From there, have a list of target companies you’d like to work for. Then set up job alerts for these companies so that you know of those roles quickly and can apply early.

3. Reach out to where you were previously considered

One big thing I advise job seekers to do is keep an eye on roles and companies they were considered for earlier in the year. These are jobs they interviewed for and didn’t get — they were a near miss. The end of the year is a perfect time to re-engage.

To do this, first, check the company’s career page for new openings. Then, reach back out to the recruiter you spoke with initially and say something like: “I’m not sure if this role is in your purview, but I would love to be considered. We last spoke when I interviewed for [X role] in [season], and since then, my skills have evolved. If you’re not the right recruiter, I’d appreciate it if you could connect me with the right team.”

Even if they’re not the recruiter, they can then put you in touch with someone who is, and because the company already has data points on you, you’re a faster hire.

Candidates are often afraid to do this, thinking, “They rejected me, so I shouldn’t go back.” But that’s not the case. A no is not a no forever, just a no for right now.

Often, reaching back out is like a little gift in the recruiter’s inbox. Don’t just reapply — be proactive, go directly to their inbox, and show them why you’re an even better fit this time.

4. Be available

One mistake I see so many job seekers make is that they aren’t available. When they start to get callbacks, they think, Oh gosh, I don’t want to mess this up. I want to be sure I’m right. I want to talk with my network, etc.

You don’t have time for that. The candidate pool is so steep and response rates are so high that if you wait a week and a half or two weeks to talk with a recruiter, you’ve already missed your spot. Other people will be further in the process.

When you get that bite, follow up immediately. Make yourself available, even if you think you’re not ready. If they ask, “Do you have time to talk this week?” Say, “I’m available. What time tomorrow works?” or, “I’m happy to hop on a call today.”

The job market is bad, but companies are still hiring

In the current market, layoffs and downsizing are happening — but in the same breath, companies are still hiring for specialized, high-priority roles.

Now is the time to claim your niche and own it. Generalists are struggling, but specialists are in demand. I’m telling my clients to brace for a selective market, but not a dead one.

• Joey Monroe, an AI strategy advisor and Salesforce consultant, adapted to AI trends to secure his job.
• Monroe immersed himself in AI learning, focusing on Salesforce’s Agentforce product.
• He emphasizes the importance of AI literacy and prompt engineering for future job security.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Joey Monroe, a 34-year-old AI strategy advisor based in Oklahoma City. The following has been edited for length and clarity.

I’m a senior Salesforce consultant at BlueGator, specifically focused on Salesforce implementations in the nonprofit, arts, culture, and entertainment space. I’ve been here for almost six years, and before that, I spent about a decade working in IT infrastructure.

About a year ago, I felt like my job was at risk. AI systems started to pick up steam and be more widely implemented. It became glaringly obvious to me that tech would be the canary in the coal mine for what would happen in the broader markets, and I needed to adapt.

I decided to train myself in AI to create a market differentiator for my firm and myself. This opened up opportunities to help skill up others in the community and give back, which is something I really enjoy.

Now, I lead project implementations for nonprofit clients, helping them build out their systems and improve operations using Salesforce tools.

Until recently, I didn’t have a formal AI plan

I started playing around with ChatGPT, Gemini, and other generative tools when they began making headlines.

When Salesforce rolled out its agentic AI product, Agentforce, in October 2024, everything changed. That tool started gaining attention not just from consultants like me but also from clients.

Clients would ask, “What do you think about this product? How should we use it? What would you suggest?” We didn’t really have great answers yet because it was so brand new to everyone.

I realized we needed to get involved in a real way

Someone needed to take the lead on this at my firm. We needed to build the knowledge and expertise to answer client questions, have meaningful conversations about whether AI or Agentforce was right for them, and decide what business drivers to consider when taking the plunge. I decided that someone was going to be me.

I fully immersed myself in learning everything I could, both about Agentforce and about AI more broadly. I started reading prompt engineering guides from Google and OpenAI and then went deep into Trailhead, our internal training and learning platform.

It was super impactful to connect with others who were learning the same things. I had many connections within the Salesforce and nonprofit space who were jumping in to learn more about Agentforce. There’s also the Salesforce-sponsored Agentblazer Community via Slack, which brings together people from all over the world who are interested in the product.

Seeing other people’s thoughts around use cases, technical implementation, and strategy really helped cement that knowledge and add additional perspectives to consider when discussing AI strategy with clients.

I went through an internal certification process and kept building on my expertise.

Eventually, we landed a client who wanted a large-scale AI implementation

That was a pivotal moment for me: my first time working on a real-world deployment of agentic AI in a production environment.

We closed on that in May, and we’re still actively building more agents for them. What I’ve learned is that once you move from theoretical understanding to actual implementation, the real learning begins.

It’s one thing to talk about AI conceptually — it’s another to see it influencing a client’s real-world outcomes.

If I had to go back and structure my learning differently, I’d start with the fundamentals

This includes prompt engineering, basic AI literacy, and really digging into what generative AI is and how it works.

Time and impact were the biggest factors in determining my learning priorities. We had specific and relevant use cases that needed immediate attention, so a crash course was necessary to prepare us to move forward effectively with those use cases.

The products were also constantly evolving, on a weekly and sometimes daily basis. The biggest challenges were staying up to date.

I’ve heard a lot of people say, “There’s so much content, I don’t know where to start.” That’s very real, but once you build a strong foundation, the rest starts to make more sense.

When people ask me what’s next for AI, I always say: nobody knows for sure

Everything’s moving at lightning speed, but one thing is certain: being able to communicate the concepts and terminology of AI is going to be critical in just about every role.

I don’t think we’re quite at the stage of full-on replacement, but roles are going to change. There will be augmentation, and in some cases, displacement.

If that happens, you need to know how to shift and use AI to become more efficient, offload repetitive tasks, and focus more of your energy on high-impact activities that require a human touch.

People love to say “AI won’t replace you — but someone who knows how to use AI will.” I think that phrase is a little reductive, but its spirit is mostly true. The bigger question is: How are you preparing for that future?

One of the biggest surprises was how much of an art prompt engineering can be

I think for anyone super technical, that could be a bit jarring, but once it clicks, it clicks. For people who are great creative writers, it might come far more naturally than they might think.

I believe people should make an honest assessment of their roles, where the gaps are, and what might be able to be automated by AI now or in the near future.

Using this, they can roughly predict how at risk their role might be and where their strengths lie.

Now, I feel like my role is very secure

I’ve developed very practical and in-demand skills to build on, and I’ve gone through an actual implementation with the learnings to show for it. I can speak from a position of expertise and some level of authority without it being hyperbole or theory.

My biggest piece of advice is to start now, start early, and build conversational fluency with AI. You don’t need to be an expert, but you need to be informed.

In every technological revolution, we’ve seen the same pattern: those at the bleeding-edge, early adopters, the mainstream, and the laggards. Trust me: no one wants to be a laggard.