gettyYou did everything right: You got the degree, tailored your résumé, applied to 30, 40 or maybe even 50 jobs. You followed every rule the system told you to follow—and you still ended up hitting a wall.This experience is more common than anyone wants to admit. A recent New York Times focus group of 12 Gen Z job seekers revealed a generation that has largely stopped trusting in the idea that effort gets rewarded. The rules they followed aren’t delivering on the promise of security, and now young people are adjusting. They’re pulling back socially while unemployed, choosing safety over growth, or coming into the workforce already disengaged.The system genuinely appears to be broken. AI screening tools filter out qualified candidates before a human ever sees their résumés. Employers reward connections over credentials. But knowing all of this doesn’t solve the immediate problem: You still need a job.So what can you do? Build real-world experience to show employers. One of my students spent two years calling alumni donors for his university’s fundraising office and arrived at graduation with cold-call experience, rejection tolerance and professional contacts. Another student worked a few afternoons a week at a consulting firm while still taking classes. The degree got her in the door, while everything she built along the way got her the job.Don’t be afraid to reach out to professionals for informational conversations. This is less uncomfortable than you think. Find mentors who can give you honest guidance, and find peers who are navigating this well and study what they’re doing.None of this fixes a broken system. But it can be the difference between graduating with options and graduating with a degree and a pile of unanswered emails.This is a published version of Forbes’ Careers newsletter. Click here to subscribe and get it in your inbox every Tuesday. WORK SMARTER Practical insights and advice from Forbes staff and contributors to help you succeed in your job, accelerate your career and lead smarter.Learn five smart ways to use AI, including how to experiment with new skills to build a backup career and how to solve problems at your current job, according to business expert Diane Hamilton.Feeling worried about your career? Sometimes digging into a new book can help you face uncertain times, executive coach Caroline Ceniza-Levine says. Here are five books to expand your thinking.Working for a former employer may be the best way forward in your career, says psychologist Bryan Robinson, who shares why a “boomerang” move can be a great strategy in a tight job market.Not interested in management? You’re not alone. Over 40% of job seekers don’t want to be managers, according to a new survey. Discover why from career expert Caroline Castrillon.Careers Q&A: What To Do When Your Career Hits A WallgettyI recently wrote about why mid-career malaise is more common than anyone admits, and what workers can do about it. I discussed the insights with Forbes careers editor Anjelica Tan.Anjelica Tan: A lot of accomplished professionals hitting their late 30s and 40s are suddenly feeling flat about their careers. Why?Andy Molinsky: They’ve outgrown the ambition that got them there. The goals that drove them for 15 years have been met, or quietly abandoned, and nothing has replaced them. Meanwhile, they have a mortgage, a lifestyle calibrated to their salary, and deep expertise in something they aren’t sure they want to keep doing. At 25, that uncertainty feels normal. But at 45, it feels like a whole new problem they need to solve.What is the biggest mistake people make when they hit this wall?They assume they need to blow up their career. The burned-out banker who walks away from it all to make artisanal cheese in Vermont makes for a great story. But that’s rarely the right move. The answer is usually more targeted than people expect.So what can professionals in this position do to move forward?Start with the job you have. Research on job crafting shows that employees who proactively reshape their tasks and relationships report significantly higher engagement, often without changing their title or employer. Before you conclude the job is the problem, ask honestly whether you’ve tried changing it from the inside.Say they give that a real try and they still feel stuck. What then?Run experiments on the side while you’re still employed. Try doing something adjacent to what interests you and see what it reveals. The clarity comes from doing, not deliberating. Then pick a direction and start moving. That’s usually enough to get unstuck.TOUCH BASEBillionaire Jack Dorsey has argued that AI will replace middle management.Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty ImagesNews from the world of work. Will middle management soon be a thing of the past? Billionaire Jack Dorsey thinks so. In a recent blog post, the Block chairman argued that AI can handle much of what managers do today: gathering updates from executives, passing along instructions to teams and coordinating projects. If he’s right, the impact on the job market could be significant—about 21 million Americans currently work in management roles, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.March marked the strongest job growth in over a year, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data released last week. The U.S. added 178,000 nonfarm jobs, well above expectations of 60,000, with health care driving more than half the gains. The unemployment rate edged down to 4.3%, beating forecasts of 4.4%. Still, the labor force participation rate—the share of Americans working or seeking work—fell to its lowest level since 2021.Health care’s job boom is partly due to its status as a reliable path to the American middle class, according to the Wall Street Journal. The median annual salary for nurses is $93,600, compared to $49,500 for all occupations, Labor Department data shows. And while automation and AI have reduced factory and office jobs, health care has grown steadily since the 1980s.Thanks for reading! This edition of the Careers newsletter was edited by Anjelica Tan and Chris Dobstaff.