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Job searching today often feels like a job in itself.
Not because applying is difficult, but because understanding how to position yourself (more about positioning later in this article) , where to focus, and how to move through each stage takes time, energy, and strategy. Many candidates underestimate how much thinking sits behind a successful application.
In a market where roles attract hundreds, sometimes thousands of applicants, clarity matters more than ever. Recent data from platforms like LinkedIn shows that job postings can receive several hundred applications within days, particularly in tech and education focused roles. That changes the game. It is no longer about applying more. It is about applying better.
The starting point is focus.
One of the most common mistakes I see is candidates applying across too many different job types. A teacher applying to curriculum design, customer success, operations, and sales roles at the same time will struggle to position themselves clearly. Not because they are not capable, but because their narrative becomes diluted.
When you narrow your focus to one or two roles, everything shifts. Your CV becomes sharper. Your language becomes more intentional. Your examples become more relevant. You start sounding like someone who already belongs in that role, rather than someone exploring options.
Once you enter the interview process, understanding what each stage is actually assessing becomes critical.
The first stage is usually a screening conversation with a recruiter or someone from HR. This stage is often misunderstood. It may feel quite light, even surface level, but it plays an important role. The person on the call is not trying to assess every detail of your experience. They are trying to answer a simpler question: does this person broadly align with what we need?
They will look at your availability, your salary expectations, your communication style, and your ability to explain what you do. Research from the Recruitment and Employment Confederation suggests that initial screening decisions are often made quickly, sometimes within the first few minutes of a conversation. That does not mean you need to be perfect, but you do need to be clear.
Clarity is what moves you forward.
The second stage, usually with the hiring manager, is where depth comes in. This is where your experience is tested against the actual needs of the role. And this is where many candidates fall into the trap of talking about everything they have done, rather than what is relevant.
Strong candidates approach this stage differently. They take the time to understand what the company is trying to solve. They read between the lines of the job description. They explore the company’s product, its market, its stage of growth. They form a view.
From there, they connect their experience directly to those challenges.
Instead of saying, “I have experience in stakeholder management,” they explain how they managed a complex stakeholder environment, what the situation was, what actions they took, and what results they achieved. This kind of structured storytelling, often referred to as the STAR method, is still one of the most effective ways to communicate impact.
Employers are not just listening for what you did. They are listening for how you think.
As you progress further, you will often meet additional stakeholders. These conversations are sometimes labelled as culture fit, but in reality they are more nuanced. Different people are trying to understand how you will work with them, how you make decisions, how you handle ambiguity, and how you contribute to a team dynamic.
Each person you meet brings a different lens. A commercial leader may focus on outcomes and revenue. A product lead may care about how you think about users. A peer may be assessing how easy it would be to collaborate with you.
Your role is to recognise that and adapt. Not by changing your answers entirely, but by framing your experience in a way that speaks to their priorities.
Many companies will also include a practical stage. This could be a presentation, a case study, or a recorded task. This is often where candidates feel the most pressure, but it is also where you have the most control.
What companies are really assessing here is not whether you have the perfect answer, but whether you can structure your thinking, communicate clearly, and stay close to the problem. According to various hiring studies, including insights from Harvard Business Review, structured problem solving and communication are among the top indicators of future performance, often more than technical perfection.
So clarity wins again.
Across all stages, the same principle applies.
The candidates who succeed are not necessarily the ones with the most experience. They are the ones who make it easiest for the interviewer to see the connection between their background and the company’s needs.
They understand the problem.
They show they have solved something similar.
They communicate it clearly.
And that is what ultimately drives decisions.
Job searching will likely remain demanding. The market is competitive, expectations are high, and processes can be long. But when you understand how each stage works and what is actually being assessed, the process becomes more strategic and far less overwhelming.
It stops being about guessing.
And starts becoming about positioning.
Positioning is about control of perception.
You already have experience. Skills. Achievements.
But the hiring manager does not have time to figure out how all of that fits their problem.
So positioning is:
You are essentially answering this question for them:
“Why you, for this role, right now?”
Let’s say you are a teacher moving into EdTech.
“I have experience in curriculum design, stakeholder management, and working with students.”
True, but vague.
“I design and implement learning experiences, and I’ve worked closely with schools to improve engagement and outcomes. I’m now looking to bring that into an EdTech product environment.”
Same experience. Different clarity.
Not a list of everything you’ve done.
A filtered story that aligns with the role.
If the role is customer success, your CV should read like you’ve been doing customer success already, even if your title wasn’t that.
Your profile should answer in seconds:
If someone has to guess, positioning is weak.
This is where most people lose it.
They talk about experience in isolation instead of linking it to the company.
Strong positioning sounds like:
“You mentioned retention is a challenge. In my previous role, we faced something similar…”
You are connecting dots for them.
It’s not:
It’s not about being someone else.
It’s about being relevant.
The market is crowded.
Hiring managers are not short of candidates. They are short of clarity.
The person who gets hired is often not the most experienced.
It’s the person who makes the decision easiest.
Positioning is: Taking your experience and translating it into someone else’s problem.
Once you do that well, everything changes:
And most importantly, less guessing.
