Happy Monday 🌞

If you joined recently, hi 👋 I’m Hailley. I’ve always created systems for my work (as a Marketing leader at Buffer) and life (as a remote worker and mom of two) where I can stay productive, calm, and organized.

This week, we’re chatting about career planning — specifically, a simple tool I call the “future job description” that has transformed how I think about my career growth.

For years now, I’ve been collecting job descriptions that match or slightly exceed my current role at Buffer. I don’t apply to these roles, but I save them in a dedicated folder. Over time, I use these to create my own ideal future job description.

Why this works so well:

• It gives me clarity on skills I need to develop
• It helps me prioritize projects that move me toward my goals
• It prepares me perfectly for career conversations with managers

Creating your own future job description is simple:

1️⃣ Set up saved searches on LinkedIn for roles similar to yours and 1-2 levels above where you are now

2️⃣ Collect the job descriptions in one place

3️⃣ Use those examples, your current job, and your career framework to create your ideal future role

If you want to take a deeper dive into this concept and process, I recently updated this blog post: Future Job Descriptions: How I Use This Tool for Career Planning​

I hope you have a lovely week ahead. As always, feel free to reply if this sparks any thoughts or questions. ✨

See you next Monday,

Hailley

• I love Gretchen Rubin's writing, she recently wrote this piece, "I study happiness for a living: 25 ‘short rules’ for young people to make life happier, uncomplicated and successful" There's a lot of good in there. My favorite line is: "Focus on actions, not outcomes. (Don’t try to “learn to play the guitar”; instead, “play the guitar for 20 minutes daily.”)"
• A friendly reminder to surround yourself with people who support you instead of people who can't celebrate your wins.
• If you enjoy following along with the company culture side of Buffer, we're sharing more on LinkedIn and would love to have you follow along.

👋 Come join me on Threads or Bluesky if you use either network. I’ve been really enjoying both of them!

That's all for this newsletter! Thank you so much for subscribing. Reply anytime you want to chat. ✨

I'm happy to offer my writing and this newsletter for free, but if you're so compelled, a cup of tea is always appreciated! ☕️

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