Friends, allow me to rant for a minute, please.
I want to beat my head against the wall after seeing the umpteenth post on LinkedIn this week about optimising your LinkedIn profile and CV for applicant tracking systems when applying for roles.
Whether you use AI for this or just your good old brain, let me please hold your beautiful face in my hands whilst I yell:
IT. WILL. NOT. WORK.
Okay, I am calming down now.
But I really need you to understand that there is zero point pandering to a broken system. And if you are a senior professional woman still playing this game, my darling, we need to talk.
The System Is Broken for Executive Women
How do I know the system is broken, you ask?
Well, how successful have YOU been applying for a role that was advertised on LinkedIn? Sure, every now and then someone hits the jackpot, but that is really rather a case of the exception proving the rule. The number of times I speak to brilliant executive women who, despite that brilliance, have received rejection after rejection for roles they are more than capable of performing, is staggering. These are mid-to-senior level women with outstanding track records, being filtered out by algorithms that cannot recognise their worth.
So however much I wish there were some cool shiny pill, magic wand, or AI tool that would do the trick, the truth is that you are never going to succeed finding a role if you are relying on traditional recruitment. That is not women’s career negotiation advice you will hear from most people, but it is the honest truth.
So please, kick your addiction to the endorphin rush released after making AI or other adjustments to your profile or CV, and listen closely to what I am about to say.
The Real Career Negotiation Strategy for Women
The trick to getting roles that are super exciting, super inspiring, super well-paid and all the other things they need to be to make a great leap for you (I refer to these as unicorn roles) is both incredibly simple and difficult at the same time.
It is simple because all it requires you to do is connect at a real, human level with other people, and then have real, authentic conversations with them. This is what strategic career negotiation actually looks like. It is not about tweaking keywords. It is about building relationships that open doors no algorithm ever will.
And it is difficult in that it takes time and effort. REAL time and effort; not AI-prompt, copy-paste, let’s-go effort.
But the good news: it is a whole lot more successful, if my clients are anything to go by.
From 400 Rejections to 3 Offers in 20 Days
I always love telling the story of G, a brilliant consultant originally from India with a pedigree background, who had moved with her partner to Germany. Having sent out 400 applications (yes, FOUR HUNDRED) with exactly zero success because the algorithms got confused by her university name and did not recognise the great companies she had worked for in India either. Using the Women of Agency approach to career advancement coaching, she landed her first fantastic job offer in 20 days. Two days later, she had two more offers.
That is what happens when professional women negotiate their worth through strategy, not systems.
Stop Optimising Your CV. Start Strategising.
So please, for the love of all things holy, stop tweaking your CV or profile. Stop paying “gurus” for what may feel like an improvement but ultimately does nothing for your chances, because the process was flawed from the start.
The system being broken is obviously not your fault. But continuing to do the same thing and expecting different results? Well, you know the rest, friend.
You are not stuck. You are smart.
