A job fast, a job that lasts, and the interview question that's actually deciding offers

What's inside this month:

April was a better month for jobs than most people expected. The U.S. economy added 115,000 positions, more than double what analysts had forecast. And yet, if you're in the middle of a job search right now, that headline number probably doesn't match what your inbox looks like.

That gap between "the economy added jobs" and "I can't get a callback" is exactly what we're digging into this month. Hiring is happening — but where, how, and through what channels is changing fast. The candidates landing roles aren't necessarily the most qualified. They're the ones with the clearest strategy.

This issue covers how to get moving when you need a job immediately, how to know what you're actually looking for before you start applying, and how to choose the right staffing partner for this market. Plus: a spotlight on one of the most decorated educators in the Kelly Education network, a recruiter pro tip on the culture interview, and what the latest labor data says about where hiring is actually happening.

📰 From our recruiting experts:

► I Need a New Job ASAP. Here's What to Do First.

Career coach Mandy Fard - CPRW, CMRW on fast lanes, bridge roles, and the one decision that determines everything else.

Most urgent job searches don't fail because of the resume. They fail because the person running the search is trying to solve two problems at once: cash flow and career trajectory. Career coach Mandy Fard - CPRW, CMRW , who started as an executive recruiter in the mid-1980s, says the first move in any time-crunch search is deciding which problem you're actually solving.

If cash is the priority, temp and contract roles move fastest — often from first conversation to placed in days, not weeks. If you have runway, the traditional search applies. Either way, the worst thing you can do is split your attention. Healthcare, logistics, retail, and hospitality consistently have the shortest time-to-fill cycles. And a staffing agency that knows your field? It's the fastest legitimate route to a paycheck for most workers.

"They have access to the hidden job market," Fard says. "Roles that are not even advertised."

Read the full guide →

► How to Find the Right Job — Not Just the Next One

A recruiter and job-search strategist explain what "perfect fit" actually means, and how to define it before you apply.

About 70% of new hires know within their first month whether a job is the right fit. Almost a third know within the first week. If you've ever taken a job that looked right on paper and realized quickly it wasn't, you've already experienced this. The question is whether you can catch it before you accept the offer next time.

Kelly recruiters and job-search strategist Austin Belcak — who has analyzed nearly two million applications — converge on one point: candidates who find roles they actually stay in are the ones who defined what fit means to them before they started applying. Not just salary and title, but energy, growth, and culture. This piece gives you a three-part filter to run your current situation through, and a framework for what to give a recruiter so they can actually find you the right match.

"A recruiter is only as effective as the context you give them," Belcak says. "Be as specific about what you want as about what you've done."

Read the full guide →

► The Best Staffing Agencies for Job Seekers in 2026

A side-by-side comparison of 10 agencies — what each does best and who it actually serves.

The U.S. economy added just 181,000 jobs across all of 2025, the weakest hiring year since the pandemic. That means fewer roles are opening up, and a larger share of them — especially in engineering, science, IT, and education — never appear on public job boards at all. They move through recruiters with standing employer relationships.

If you're choosing a staffing agency right now, the field is large and not all of it is equally useful for where you are in your career. This guide compares 10 of the leading agencies by specialty, employment model, and fit. It covers what temp and contract roles actually pay (often more than direct-hire, not less), how to work with more than one agency without creating confusion, and what legitimate agencies never do (they never charge job seekers fees — companies pay them to find talent)..

Read the comparison →

💼 What's Open Right Now

A snapshot of what our teams are working on this month — full-time, contract, flex, remote, and everything in between across a variety of industries and experience levels.

• Regional EHS Manager | Scientific - Albert Lea, MN | Direct Hire
• Manufacturing Engineer | Engineering - Wilmington, MA | Temporary
• OpEX Manager | Light Industrial - Raleigh, NC | Direct Hire
• Claims Examiner - Worker's Compensation | Office - Remote | Temporary
• SAP Lead | Information Technology - Jacksonville, FL | Direct Hire

► Explore all open roles at mykelly.com

💡 Recruiter Pro Tip

"Get to know yourself and what you value. That's worth figuring out before you choose your next route." - Pam Sands , Senior Principal & Strategist at Kelly

Pam Sands, Senior Principal and Strategist at Kelly, has spent her career connecting people to roles that actually fit — and the pattern she sees most often is candidates who are searching hard without having done the foundational work first.

"Most people didn't choose the job they're in now, it chose them. It was the one they could get, or the one that met some obligation at the time, or the one someone else expected them to take."

Before you update your resume, she recommends running your current role through three filters: energy, growth, and culture. Are the core tasks of your day energizing or depleting you? Has the company kept pace with how fast you want to grow? And are your values and the company's values moving in the same direction? "Culture will eat most companies' strategy and a person's strategy for their career for breakfast," Sands says.

If two or three of those filters come back negative, that's not a mood — that's data. And the job you're moving toward should be built around what you learn from it.

Read more from Pam Sands on finding the right fit →

🤝 In Good Company

Meet Esther Yardumian-Smyth: Kelly Education's 2026 Substitute Teacher of the Year.

Esther Yardumian-Smyth is retired. She's also one of the busiest educators in the Kelly Education network — and now officially our 2026 Substitute Educator of the Year.

Esther's story is a good one for anyone wondering whether purposeful work has an expiration date. It doesn't. She came to substitute teaching after a full career, found that the flexibility of working with Kelly Education fit her life exactly the way she wanted, and never stopped showing up for students. Her approach to each classroom, and what she says makes the difference between a sub who checks the box and one who actually connects with kids, is worth a read.

Read Esther's story →

📊 Job Market Highlights

• The economy added 115,000 jobs in April — more than double what was expected. Health care led gains (+37,000), followed by transportation and warehousing (+30,000) and retail trade (+22,000). Unemployment held steady at 4.3%.
• The number of workers in part-time roles for economic reasons rose to 4.9 million. These are workers who want full-time hours but can't find them. If that's you, temp-to-hire placements are one of the clearest paths out.
• AI-related job cuts accounted for 26% of all layoffs in April, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas — the second straight month it's been the leading driver. Most affected: professional and business services, and tech.
• Hiring in tech, finance, and professional services remains 20% to 30% below pre-pandemic levels, according to LinkedIn data. If you're searching in those fields, the channels and strategy you use matter more than they did two years ago.
• New college graduates are overestimating their starting salaries by nearly $24,000. The average starting salary for recent grads is $56,153; the average expectation is $80,000. Anchoring your expectations to current market data — not the salary you wanted — is one of the most useful adjustments you can make right now.

>> Data sourced from Bureau of Labor Statistics, Challenger Gray & Christmas, and ADP.

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💬 Before you go...

What's the hardest part of your job search right now — the application process, the waiting, the not knowing what employers actually want, or something else? Drop your answer in the comments. We read every one.

myKelly Insider publishes monthly. Career intel and advice from the people who do the hiring. Find jobs on myKelly.com →