Editor’s note: Rick Smith, WRAL TechWire’s editor and a cofounder, writes The Skinny.

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RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK – This may be the best signoff phrase ever for job seekers: “Yes, I am that girl who sent my resume on a cake to Nike.” Meet the cake mailer: Karly Pavlinac Blackburn.

Recently featured on CNN and now living in Wilmington after she was laid off and a job search sputtered in the Triangle, Blackburn is among the millions of job seekers who are still unemployed despite a two-to-one job openings to candidates across the U.S.

The Skinny caught up with Blackburn – who attended N.C. State and graduated from Wakefield High School in Raleigh before launching her own business, to talk about her entertaining – but very frustrating – cake tale.

Karly Pavlinac Blackburn from her Facebook page

“I am still interviewing and networking for the right job,” she says.

“I just moved from the Triangle and live in Wilmington. I worked at WMHarper [before launching the job search].”

And she confesses to being incredulous about what has happened in her search.

“Very frustrating. I sit and apply for jobs, network, take calls, work on my resume from 8:00 am -5:30 pm Monday- Friday,” Blackburn explains. “Although I am looking for my dream job and being a bit picky. I believe if I am going to put my heart and soul into something every day it has to be something I love to do.”

Blackburn is an entrepreneur at heart. She launched WAAM, an acronym for “We Are A MOVEment,” which gives users access to well-known fitness trainers and their workouts where location and cost would have previously been a barrier. Blacburn landed $500,000 from Cary-based venture capitalist David Gardner and sold the company in 2021.

Rick Smith, WRAL TechWire’s editor and a cofounder, writes The Skinny.

Her current frustration built over time to the point she dispatched a special resume to Nike with a cake. But the sweet tooth appeal didn’t pan out.

“My former colleague and friend Trent Gander had the idea for the cake,” she explains. “We were talking and he said ‘Karly be creative, put your resume on a billboard or a cake!’ I was like, well I really like the cake idea.”

So what’s going on? Why are eager job seekers like her unable to find work?

Workout app startup WAAM, founded by NC State grad, is acquired

Talent ‘Pipelining’

She may be a victim of so-called “pipelining” of talent. Companies keep posting jobs but aren’t necessarily filling them, conspiracy theorists say. Instead, firms are filing away resumes until the future of the economy is less uncertain.

Tom Snyder, director of RIoT, the big internet of things users group in Raleigh, introduced Blackburn to The Skinny after she participated in a jobs event put on by Riot. He brought up pipelining when I asked him about the continuing number of unfilled jobs in the Triangle and across the country.

So The Skinny asked Blackburn: Do you think that’s part of what’s going on?

“I do. I see tons of jobs I have applied for that have been live for months,” she replies.

“The problem with it is ‘they’ tell you not to apply for too many roles at the same company. So what if I applied for a job that was a ‘pipeline’ role and missed out on another opportunity.”

As Blackburn keeps looking, she shared her thoughts about what other job seekers should do.

“Talk to as many people as you can to get advice. Everyone from people in departments you have interest in, to recruiters, to resume builders.

“Everyone, because you never know what someone will say that will change the direction you go in.”