Stop applying. Start positioning yourself
For a long time, job searching was presented as a simple exercise: browsing job postings, tailoring your CV, sending applications. This is still the model that is promoted and encouraged. Yet today, it is largely obsolete. Not because talent or opportunities have disappeared, but because the market has changed.
In an environment saturated with job ads, automated tools (ATS), and mass applications, the difference is no longer made by volume, but by clarity, relevance, and the ability to activate the right levers.
One of these levers is often underestimated: your network.
Turning every member of your network into a personal recruiter
When people talk about “leveraging their network,” many imagine sending a generic email to their entire contact list, vaguely asking whether someone might “know of an opportunity.” This approach is ineffective for two simple reasons.
- It offers no real call to action. It is a message thrown into the void.
- And the reputational risk of recommending someone without having truly worked with them is too high. The person you approach is often not in a position to genuinely validate your skills, explain your added value, or clearly articulate what you can deliver.
A network only becomes useful when it clearly understands your value and knows how to help you.
Leveraging your network does not mean asking everyone. Quite the opposite. It means building a small circle of engaged people who are able to think of you when a concrete situation arises.
To do that, you must be extremely clear on two points: what you know how to do, and what you are actually looking for.
A short, personal, and targeted message is far more effective than a broad solicitation. Above all, not every contact plays the same role. Some can introduce you to decision-makers, others can help you understand a sector, and others can validate your positioning. It is up to you to explicitly guide how they can help.
Companies are not looking for “potential,” but for solutions
Another common misunderstanding concerns what companies are really looking for. High-performing organizations do not recruit to “strengthen teams” in an abstract way. They recruit to solve specific problems.
They are not looking for fuel, but for critical parts. Not for presence, but for results.
Your posture therefore needs to change. It is no longer about responding to job postings, but about identifying organizations that could immediately benefit from your expertise. This requires in-depth research: understanding their operational challenges, their level of maturity, their trajectory, and their constraints.
AI tools can be useful here, not to produce yet another CV, but to analyze markets, detect weak signals, and identify companies undergoing targeted transformation or growth.
My advice: it is far better to identify fifty companies where your value is obvious than to apply to fifty roles where you are only partially relevant. In most cases, some of these companies are already hiring, or about to, even if no role has yet been published.
Reading job postings like an analyst, not like a candidate
Not all job ads are created equal. A key skill is learning how to read a posting critically. This is also what I teach my clients during coaching sessions.
Is it specific or generic? Does it look like dozens of others? Is it tied to a clear operational need, or to employer branding, a funding announcement, or corporate storytelling?
When an organization struggles to clearly articulate what it expects, it often compensates with inflated values, vague missions, and heavy cultural storytelling. In these cases, it tends to recruit fans and admirers rather than specialists.
Another key indicator is speed. In a market where talent supply is abundant, a company that knows what it needs moves quickly. A lack of urgency usually signals internal hesitation, misalignment, or an exploratory hire. None of these contexts work in the candidate’s favor.
Being busy does not mean moving forward
Given the tension in the market, it is understandable to want to “do something.” Scrolling, applying, multiplying actions creates the feeling of progress. But this activity is often sterile.
Sending dozens of applications may provide short-term reassurance, without actually improving your chances, and may even reduce them. Landing a role under these conditions is more a matter of probability than strategy.
The real shift is moving from a consumption mindset to a hunter’s mindset. From passively browsing job postings to actively positioning your value, intelligently activating your network, and targeting contexts where you can genuinely create impact.
This is not a faster approach.
It is a more accurate one.
And above all, a more sustainable one.
Our programs are designed to support you through these challenges and to develop your strategic job-hunting toolkit.
