Tips to Stand Out in an AI-Driven Job Market

I just finished reviewing 300 job applications. Here's how the top 5% stood out: Let's face it - AI has made it easier than ever to apply for jobs. But because of that, It's harder than ever to stand out. Take cover letters. Because of AI, almost all are now cleaner (fewer typos, more polish). But they're also all starting to blur together. So, we chose not to require a cover letter, and empowered applicants to be creative. The result? 95% still sent in the same generic letter. But 5% made videos, or Canva one-pagers, or cover letters written from the future. And they grabbed our attention. Today, most jobs get hundreds - sometimes thousands - of applicants. If you want to stand out, you need a few sharp tricks: 1. Ditch the formal cover letter Ex: Only write a cover letter when required. Otherwise, a video or Canva one-pager will win. 2. Offer free and unsolicited value Ex: "I reviewed your onboarding emails and found 3 small changes to boost conversion." 3. Follow every instruction exactly Ex: If they ask you to send 2 items to an email address, don't send 4 through the job posting site 4. Less is always more Ex: If asked for example work, your 3 A+ pieces will beat 10 A- pieces. 5. Share 3 tailored ideas Ex: "Here's a quick 30-60-90 plan based on your product roadmap and team structure." 6. Show a sample or mock project Ex: Make a 3-slide deck outlining how you'd approach their current top challenge. 7. Customize for the company Ex: "I've followed your CEO's podcast for months - her episode on trust stuck with me." 8. Show proof, not fluff Ex: "Here's a dashboard showing that my campaigns improved demo-to-close rate by 38%." 9. Build a personal landing page Ex: Make a Notion page titled "Why I'm a Fit for X" with video, resume, and links. 10. Start with a bold first line Ex: If you MUST write a cover letter, make it interesting: "It's 2030 - here's what hiring me led to..." 11. Reverse-engineer their goals Ex: "I saw your Q3 goals include retention - I've led two churn reduction turnarounds." 12. Cut the clichés Ex: Instead of "detail-oriented," say "I caught a $200k billing error in a vendor invoice." 13. Make your resume skimmable Ex: Bold results like "Grew revenue 48% in Q2" so they pop during a quick scan. 14. Send a thank-you video Ex: "Thanks again - I recorded this to share one more idea I didn't get to mention." Most applicants try to look qualified. The best ones show how they'll make a difference. These tricks won't guarantee you the job. But they'll get you noticed, while everyone else is blending in. Any other secrets you're willing to share? --- ♻️ Repost to help a job applicant in your network. And follow me George Stern for more career growth content.

I’ve reviewed 2000+ resumes for AI/ML roles in the last 5 years. Here are 7 tips to make your resume stand out: 🔸 Tip 1: Showcase End-to-End Project Work Describe projects where you took an idea from concept to deployment. Outline the problem, data collection, model development, validation, and deployment. Demonstrate your ability to handle the entire lifecycle of an AI/ML project. 🔸 Tip 2: Quantify Your Contributions with Real-World Impact Use concrete metrics to quantify your achievements, such as 'Reduced customer churn by 20% through predictive modeling' or 'Increased sales by 15% with a recommendation system'. Real-world impact is more compelling than theoretical knowledge. 🔸 Tip 3: Highlight Collaboration with Cross-Functional Teams Showcase your ability to work with data engineers, product managers, and other stakeholders. Mention specific instances where you collaborated to deliver impactful AI/ML solutions. 🔸 Tip 4: Emphasize Deployment Experience Highlight your experience with deploying models into production environments using tools like Docker, Kubernetes, or cloud platforms such as AWS, GCP, and Azure. Include specific examples and the impact they had. 🔸 Tip 5: Include Open Source Contributions If you’ve contributed to open-source AI/ML projects, list these contributions. Mention any significant pull requests, issues resolved, or your role in major projects. This demonstrates your commitment and expertise. 🔸 Tip 6: Focus on Recent Technologies Mention your proficiency with LLMs, reinforcement learning, or other generative AI technologies. Highlight any recent work or projects involving these technologies. 🔸 Tip 7: Keep Up with Industry Trends Stay updated with the latest trends and advancements in AI/ML. Mention any relevant courses or technologies you have learned and always keep that tab up-to date. This shows your dedication to continuous learning and staying current in the field. #ai #career #resume

I talked with Tim Paradis at Business Insider about how people can stand out even in a tough job market, and his piece has great data and ideas. You can read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/gBiNXMyc We talked about our recent Chief of Staff search at Rising Team, and what helped the top candidates move forward. My top tips: 1) Send something that stands out: This was the main point of the article—for the jobs I've hired for, the people who send something extra, beyond what is required, always stand out. It could be a video, slides, a prototype, anything that shows you care enough to put in extra effort. It should be specific to the company, not just about you, to show that you did your research and understand the specific role and the company. This is a strategy very few people use and can work for anyone, even without connections or without the exact experience of doing the role before. 2) Be thoughtful about how you use AI: We all know that AI can help us write faster, and often better and more clearly than we do on our own. It can also help people apply rapidly to many jobs. The challenge is that it can also make us all sound the same. In fact ~100 of the 800 applicants for this role started their responses to our questions with the same 2 sentences. If you want to use AI, make sure to start with a more creative prompt (not just the direct question that was asked) and do significant editing to make it sound like you. 3) Network: It's still a good idea to use the tried and true strategy of leveraging connections. If you have relationships at the company, reach out to try to get an interview, an introduction, or a recommendation. Even if you don't have a direct relationship, it's worth looking at your 2nd degree connections to see if you know someone who can introduce you or put in a good word. While networking has always been a helpful strategy, it's harder now that so many people are applying to each job, and many people are using this strategy. The good news is that the other strategies above work for people who don't have any connections. One more tip, that I didn't mention in the article—practice your resilience. Job hunting in a tough market is a lot like fundraising (which I've also done a lot of). You will likely get a lot of nos before you get a yes. As long as you can bounce back and keep at it, I believe the right fit is out there for everyone. #hiring #interviewing #jobsearch

70% of job skills will change by 2030. Thanks to AI. But here's what most people miss: It's not about just collecting AI certificates. Think about it. Two people walk into a job interview: One shows their AI certifications. The other shows how they used AI to: • Cut a 2-hour meeting into 20 minutes • Turn a heated Slack thread into a solution • Simplify a wordy brief into something everyone could understand Guess who gets hired? LinkedIn's Skills On The Rise report confirms what top companies already know: The important "soft" skills aren't going anywhere. But the future belongs to those who combine AI literacy with human skills. For nearly every task I do,  I'm thinking, how can Claude help (my fave AI). And the people who don't will be left behind. Here's what employers are actually looking for: 1/ AI Literacy ↳ Paste a messy brief, ask: "Summarize this in 3 bullet points" ↳ Share meeting notes, ask: "What action items did we miss?" 2/ Human-First Skills ↳ Reading the room in tense meetings ↳ Getting buy-in from resistant team members ↳ Knowing when to close laptop and talk face-to-face 3/ The Ability to Blend Both ↳ Using AI to draft, but your experience to edit ↳ Let AI crunch data, you tell the story behind it The best part? You can start practicing this today: 1. Pick one repetitive task 2. Ask AI: "How would you help with [X]?" 3. Test the solution 4. Adjust based on real human needs Most will read this and think "I'll start tomorrow." Winners will open up an AI tool right now and try something new. — Another thing you can do to get ahead of the curve? Start posting online. It's your ultimate backup option. 📌 Here's how to get started: Get 120 post ideas + my AI writing prompts: https://lnkd.in/gKzZUq-b ♻️ Repost to help others prepare for tomorrow's workplace ➕ Follow me (Will McTighe) for more like this.

Thinking of a career move? Here’s how AI can help you stand out. I get asked for career advice a lot. Here are the 3 ways AI can help you sharpen your entire approach — whether you’re switching industries, reentering the workforce, or just starting out: 1️⃣ Surface skills you didn’t know you had Career shifts can make your experience feel irrelevant — but it rarely is. Tell AI what you’ve done and where you’re trying to go. Ask it: → What’s transferable? → What would make me compelling in this new space? You’ll often uncover strengths you hadn’t thought to lead with. (recent grads: this works if you are getting a first job too!) 2️⃣ Sharpen how you position yourself Get your argument down: Why you? Why now? What makes you different? Dump your notes, resume, a freeform ramble into AI — and then work with AI to figure out your edge. Don’t settle for the first answer. Push. Refine. Try out different narratives. This step can reveal positioning you wouldn’t have landed on alone. 3️⃣ Practice for high-stakes interviews Upload your resume and the job description. Have AI act as the hiring manager and come up with really tough questions to grill you. Then a twist: Record yourself answering these questions (this helps to develop your thinking!). Second twist: Upload that recording or a transcript of it, and ask AI to critique your answers and help you strengthen them. Do this once, you'll walk in sharper, clearer, and more confident. Do it a few times, and you’ll walk in ready to own the room. (I love seeing this transformation happen with my coaching clients, it's so gratifying to see not only the change but how they learn so much about AI capabilities in the process!). I have questions for this community: >>>> Have you used AI to help you in the job search? >>>> With career transitions? >>>> What did I miss? Share your stories, so we all can learn! ______ 👋 Hi, I'm Alison McCauley, and I focus on how to use AI to do better at what we humans do best. Follow me for more on AI and the future of work and business.