This isn’t a catchy slogan, it’s a survival strategy.
At the beginning of this year, a client wrote to me: “I’m reaching out because I’m looking for a job and facing the same difficulties as last year: my CV just doesn’t get me any interviews.” That message stayed with me. She is far from being the only one in this situation, and it inspired me to write this article. The answer I gave her, I realised, could be useful for our whole community.
I’ve spent three decades accompanying executives and specialists through restructurings, outplacement, and career transitions. I’ve seen the so‑called “Golden Age” of recruitment and I’m now watching the “Digital Age”: a more complex and challenging environment where visibility and positioning matter more than how many jobs you apply for.
If I were looking for a role today in the Swiss market, I would not spend a single minute shouting into the “easy apply” void.
1. A traditional recruitment system structurally obsolete
- Ghost jobs and AI noise: Job boards are full of “ghost jobs” (roles that are already filled, frozen, or purely there for data collection) while real positions are buried under thousands of AI‑generated applications in a few hours.
- The bottleneck: In Suisse Romande, you’re no longer competing with the ten people who read the job ad in the Saturday paper. You’re competing with a global workforce that can click faster than you can read the description often for roles where local culture and languages still matter.
- The black hole: Companies are overwhelmed by volume. Their reflex is more automation, more filters, more bots. The result is a black hole where human talent is eliminated by algorithms long before a hiring manager ever sees a name.
The shift you need to make:
Simple to state and hard to implement: stop behaving like a “candidate” (someone waiting for permission) and start positioning yourself as a talent (someone who is sought after). In 2026, the best roles are not posted; they are brokered through visibility and reputation in a hidden market that can represent the majority of senior roles in Switzerland.
There are opportunities for those who seize control, reposition themselves as visible talent, pivoting from passive candidate to magnetic professional.
2. How to get recruited without clicking “Apply” and become a magnet
2.1 Build your “Target 50”
This strategic process means shifting from reactive job searching to intentional market positioning: instead of waiting for vacancies, you define the organisations where your profile would make sense and where you could realistically create value.
By identifying a finite set of employers aligned with your expertise, values, and constraints, then prioritising them and analysing their strategic context, you start to think like a partner rather than a candidate.
The focus moves to understanding where these organisations are evolving, under pressure, or investing, and to identifying the people who actually shape decisions behind the brand.
Used this way, LinkedIn and public information become intelligence signals rather than noise, helping you anticipate needs in a Swiss market that increasingly favours targeted, high-impact hires over volume recruitment.
Don’t wait for vacancies. Design your own market.
2.2 Unlock your Job Market mastery routine
I’ve coached many individuals who were practically invisible at our first session and had already three qualitative interviews by the end of our program. The difference was not only a “better CV”, they learned to unlock and follow the Job Market mastery routine.
Rather than claiming expertise, you make it visible through consistent, relevant signals in the environments where decisions are shaped.
By showing up regularly in the conversations that matter to your priority organisations and engaging with substance, you position yourself as someone who understands their reality and adds value to it.
The impact does not come from volume or generic reactions, but from thoughtful contributions that bring context, perspective, or practical insight. Grounding this approach in a few clear themes drawn from your real experience keeps it authentic and sustainable.
And for your own sake …, do it without AI.
For example:
What’s really happening in your market
Share concise observations on concrete developments in the Arc lémanique and translate them into clear business implications and one practical watch-out for decision-makers.
Challenging the status quo
Question a commonly accepted belief with facts or experience, expose the risk it creates, and propose a more effective approach grounded in Swiss realities.
How the role has evolved
Show how your function has shifted in scope, tools, and expectations over time, highlighting the change in value delivered to the organisation.
Checklists that simplify work
Provide short, operational checklists that address everyday pain points and reveal the hidden risks that quietly erode performance.
Real-life wins from the field
Tell one focused, Swiss-context case showing a clear problem, a concrete intervention, and a measurable outcome with a takeaway others can apply quickly.
RESULT:
Clients following my coaching/outplacement programs, committed to this Job Market mastery routine are without fail contacted (in a short amount of time, surprisingly for them.. not for me) by recruiters from one of their targets for unlisted roles.
Nothing “magical”: they had simply become a known, trusted presence in the recruiters feed, long before there was a job to fill.
3. LinkedIn: your 24/7 digital sales team
In 2026, if you are not visible on LinkedIn in a coherent, professional way, you almost do not exist in the market. Recruiters and hiring managers rely on it as a primary sourcing, screening and validation tool, and active, insightful profiles receive significantly more unsolicited approaches.
The point is not to “beg” for attention. It is to build a clear, credible brand.
- Clarity over personality: People don’t hire “nice people”; they hire solutions. Your headline and About section should answer one question in seconds: What problem do I solve, for whom, and with what impact?
- Precision over volume: Applying to 100 roles from your sofa is not a strategy. Engaging deeply with 10 key people in your ecosystem, consistently, with value, is.
- Consistent presence: In a market where recruiters explicitly favour candidates who show up with informed opinions and current knowledge, your engagement is not decoration; it is proof of life.
4. Your new mandate: from victim of the algorithm to visible talent
The “old way” is depressing because it removes your agency: you wait, you refresh your inbox, you hope some unknown filter lets you through…
The Jobprofile way is different. It is about reclaiming your power and designing your own market:
- You decide which 50 organisations matter.
- You decide how you show up in their feeds and in their minds.
- You build a reputation that makes you a credible answer before the question is even public.
The goal is no longer “Will they hire me?” but “Which offer should I accept?”
If this resonates and you want to put it into practice not just read about it feel free to connect with me and book a 15‑minute call. We’ll look at your context, your Target 50, and how to build your own Job Market mastery routine.
