Three REALLY innovative job-seeking tactics

Over here at The CV & Interview Advisors, we like to be a bit non-conformist, building innovative and highly effective strategies that our clients can use to really get ahead with their job search.

So, with that in mind, I thought I would share some latest cutting-edge advice that will turbo-charge your success when applying for jobs, be that external opportunities or internal moves and promotions.

Neuro-narrative CVs

Did you know that a good story releases oxytocin and cortisol in the body of the reader? Oxytocin promotes feelings of trust, and cortisol promotes decision making.

Marketers use this technique all the time, creating stories around brands and using stories to capture a message. This is often referred to as narrative marketing.

The good news is that you can use these tactics in your CV (and LinkedIn profiles, application forms, cover letters, and interviews).

Having a selection of mini-case studies on page one of your CV promotes the release of these hormones to build trust in you and your job application. A great idea when hoping for a positive outcome from job applications.

I recommend having three mini-case studies that revolve around your biggest achievements. Keep them to around five lines and write them in the STAR formula.

Reverse engineering JDs

When writing a CV, it’s crucial to hyper-target it to a specific job. That’s easy to say, but how do you go about this tailoring exercise? Well, here’s how…

Firstly, you need a CV with a Profile, Key Skills, and Career Highlights section (on page one).

The Profile should contain a go-to-market description, a value proposition, and three key strengths statements.

Secondly, you need to reverse engineer the job description, so you have a shopping list of requirements – highlight the job title, job mission, and the three stand-out requirements. Make a list of any other required ‘hard’ skills.

Now you can build your CV!

The first line of your profile where you describe yourself matches the job title, the job mission matches your value proposition, and the three key requirements are mirrored by the three key strengths in your Profile.

The Key Skills section mentions all the required hard skills, and your three case studies in the Career Highlights section provide evidence that you have the experience to match the job mission and key requirements.

And hey presto! Get these first three sections right and you’ll get an interview every time.

Build a job hunt bot

Once you have created a CV in the way mentioned above, you can automate the tailoring of your CV to job applications, and you can do that directly inside applications such as LinkedIn.

Here’s how!

Firstly, you’ll need something like Slack where you log your daily/weekly job tasks and milestones in a central repository. Then you’ll need to use ChatGPT, Zapier Agents, and Google Docs.

You use Zapier Agents to create an ‘Agent’ that takes data about your job activities and achievements from Slack into ChatGPT, then into Google Sheets, and then builds your CV based on the job description.

Once you’ve created your Zapier Agent, you can use the Zapier Chrome Extension to do this directly inside LinkedIn whilst browsing jobs.

ChatGPT refines the data, Zapier puts it into a Google Sheets document (this is what we call a Career Autobiography ©), and the data is then added to your CV in the format your Zapier Agent is instructed to do.

You then use Zapier Agents Instant Action functionality to send you the tailored CV via email.

The trick here is being able to prompt ChatGPT and your Zapier Agent to create your CV in this highly effective format, otherwise you’ll end up with a simple list of bullet points in a US resume that will drive recruiters potty.

If you really want to stand out in a very competitive job market, give us a shout and we can help transform your CV from a list of tasks into a highly effective job application system.

We also have a webinar on March 3rd at 9.00am on how to use storytelling tactics in job applications and you can register for free here