Why you're not landing that job

I always found most of my jobs and internships through cold-messaging recruiters, either via email, Twitter, or LinkedIn DMs (I wrote about it here). I've worked at big tech cos, investment banks, and F500 companies for the past decade, and am now running my own tech startup.

I posted a job on LinkedIn since I'm looking for someone who can help me with the content/growth side of things at my startup. I drafted a quick job description, went on to LinkedIn, created a company page, and... posted the job. After just a couple of minutes, I started receiving a few dozen applications.

Here's my advice for anyone currently looking for a job and is desperately spamming "Easy Apply" on LinkedIn. I want to share my perspective as a recruiter with you, what stood out for me last week, and what I would do if I wanted to apply more effectively.

First off, here's what my LinkedIn's job postings "inbox" looked like after a few days (I had forgotten to purchase LinkedIn credits so they automatically paused it- it doesn't matter):

As you can see, the first candidate didn't even get his resume scanned and it is impossible to see his profile. Bad luck - next. As recruiters, the typical applicant usually shows up like this:

In other words, there's not much. Let's zoom in and scroll down on her profile...

... resume. I'm happy when I find one because there are many instances, like in the first example, where the attachment breaks. LinkedIn needs to fix this. This applicant has graduated from a prestigious business school and seems to be the "good student" type. Polished and precise writing, very typical of MBA-types.

However, I'm hiring for a growth marketer role. Still... I google her:

Something goes off in my head... next

Despite her impressive credentials, I need someone who clearly demonstrates savviness with content creation - it's impossible for me to give a chance to someone who hasn't posted a single tweet (or anything else on other platforms) since 2020 and retweets random stuff.

Let's keep going.

Here's another person for whom I was able to preview the resume. As you may have noticed, the bottom right quadrant of the screen is the only screen estate you really have to catch someone's attention.

In this particular instance... Again, another "good student" format. Writing is clear, precise, formal. But, after googling her, same as the previous candidate, I found close to nothing from her online. Next.

This person included their PPC campaign results, directly in their cover letter. Smart but I'm not currently hiring for performance marketing. Next.

This one has included a BIG, friendly picture of himself in the header of his resume. He comes across as a friendly person, which is great. I will definitely keep his contact. I like people who are open about who they are, and don't hesitate to share a nice portrait of themselves.

The next person in the list is a good example of someone who's using keyword stuffing. I'm not a fan, honestly. It's just super ugly to look at. Next.

Soft colours, subtle patterns, and friendly font. I know it's hard to convey your personality through digital writing but this person is doing a good job at differentiating herself with just the vibe of her resume.

Small things like this can make a difference, especially if you're applying for creative positions (I come from a finance background - this is likely not going to work if you're applying for IB or management consulting positions).

My conclusion

After screening thousands of resumes in my previous corporate life, I can confidently say that for most roles, in 2026, the best way to apply is via video. Record a Loom video of yourself just being friendly:

"Hey X, I just saw you're advertising for a Y position , my name is [Your name] , and I'm currently a [Your position] at [Org]. I just wanted to say hello and let you know that I'm interested in your position for [Reasons] so let me know if you want to chat! You can contact me directly at [Your contact] or you can book a slot on my calendly, check out the link below! Smile and wave at the camera"

Then put the thumbnail of the video in the first page of your PDF application, a QR code so that people can scan it, insert your 1-page resume, a clean portfolio, testimonials if you have them, the calendly link, and call it a day.

Do that, or reverse-engineer the email addresses of your target contacts at your target companies, and apply the same way, but by email. It may take a bit more time and effort, but honestly you want to differentiate and humanise yourself more as we're entering the age of slop.

All in all, you're going to work on your application a little bit longer, but it also means that you've got a higher chance of landing a position at a company where you really want to work at (and start off any interview with a 100% score - it will just be a matter of keeping that score).

I followed a very similar script throughout my life, did the same thing when landing client work, and it's worked wonders for me. My DMs are open, please contact me if you've got any questions you want to ask in private, or let me know if the tooling or workflow doesn't suit.

I wish you all a nice week.