Feeling Overlooked? Here’s How to Stand Out in a Crowded Job Market

Here’s my answers to the top 4 questions people have asked me about the job search this month.

Welcome to Reframed! Work is complex, career advice shouldn’t be.

I’m Ashley Rudolph and I write this newsletter for people who are ready for the next level in their careers. Reframed readers describe the experience best: “There’s a depth here that I lack in many a Fast Co click bait article. You push beyond the superficial answers.”

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Credit: Yves Saint Laurent

Differentiation and visibility are the key to standing out amongst a sea of resumes these days. Let’s talk about it.

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I don’t know what’s in the air lately but in the past few weeks dating and relationships have come up in almost every single conversation. Sometimes we talk about the “avalanche of Hi’s” issue. It’s about how the lowest lift (but probably most annoying) way to kickstart a conversation is by sending a “Hi” or “Hey” message to a bunch of people. Men and women are guilty of it. Maybe we’ve all even felt the brutal silence that follows a hundred little “Hi’s” — hoping a bid for connection turns into a spark instead of a forgettable outreach attempt.

Dating in the 2020s feels like a humiliation ritual and according to The Cut, so does the job search. You’re not just applying for jobs. You’re asking to be chosen. To be seen. To be considered worthy of a yes. And instead, not hearing back and ghosting has become commonplace.

Most peoples resumes are the equivalent of a “hi” message on a dating app.

The core problem we’re solving for these days (in both dating and the job hunt) is “how do I stand out in a crowded market amongst a sea of slop”. Slop in this context means low effort inputs, not humans (lol). For the job search that may mean cookie cutter AI generated resumes and cover letters and on dating apps that may mean uninspired profiles and terrible conversation.

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IN CASE YOU MISSED IT →

I spoke to Teen Vogue about why job searching feels incredibly hard right now recently.

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THE CONTEXT

What people are thinking and feeling about the job search?

Almost all of the questions that have come up in my job-hunt conversations touch on this topic. People are grappling with questions like:

• How do I stand out?

• How do I differentiate myself?

• How do I stop getting filtered out by the ATS?

It’s a noticeable shift: people aren’t worried about whether they’re qualified, they’re worried about being seen. People are struggling with positioning and differentiating themselves in a way that also feels authentic. They intuitively know they need to stand out, but they’re stuck on the how. They can feel their unique value, but they can’t articulate it in a way that makes hiring managers stop scrolling. In both dating and hiring, maybe the challenge isn’t finding people…it’s in sorting through endless options to find someone who feels worth taking the next step.

It’s wild how many brilliant people tell me the same thing: “I know I’m good.” And the silent part? “I just want someone to believe me.”

This week I’m sharing 4 common questions people have asked me about the job search and my advice. These are questions I’m hearing from VPs, rising stars, and people who should be flooded with offers. The answers just might help you feel unstuck too.

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THE TACTICS

The Four Questions People are Asking Me About the Job Search Right Now

1. “I apply to so many roles and hear nothing back. What am I doing wrong?”

Applying for a job these days feels more like a filtration process. Hiring teams are stretched thin and moving fast, so their goal is to try to rule out as many people as possible so they can pay attention to the few who feel like a strong match.

Think swipe fatigue, but for work. If your ideal match has unattractive photos and/or a blank or boring profile, you’d probably swipe past them, right?

This is similar.

Even when you’re doing everything “right” — like customizing your resume and applying directly on company sites — you can still get lost in the pile. I hear from HR leaders who receive like 1,000 applications in 48 hours and they have to sort through them with lean teams. The system we all became accustomed to five or ten years ago just doesn’t match how companies operate today.

So given all these factors, one of the smartest places to focus your efforts is visibility.

Before I share how, here’s why I have opinions about this. I’ve been:

• A job seeker

• A hiring manager (full-time, part-time, contractors, project-based talent)

• A “recruiter”, helping some of my fractional clients screen resumes because I have an eye for talent

• A department head — planning, forecasting, and approving hiring budgets

• A member of more hiring committees than I can count

• A coach helping talented people land jobs

I’ve seen every single side of how someone gets hired.

And today, most hiring managers don’t have the time or capacity to wonder whether you might be a match. They skim. They scan. They move on quickly.

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EXAMPLE →

Below you’ll see a perfect example of how that applies to LinkedIn. This applicant applied to a role, let’s call it a Marketing Manager to preserve my client’s and the candidate’s anonymity.

But at a quick glance?

Nothing in their headline or recent roles shows direct Marketing experience. Even if their resume does, there is no incentive to click through to their resume to check. With fewer applicants in the pipeline? Sure, you might spend the extra time investigating. But with hundreds of applicants? Probably not.

This is the hiring manager or recruiter’s view when you apply to jobs on LinkedIn. In this brief summary, if your experience isn’t aligned with what they’re looking for they won’t click through to read your resume. Pro-tip: if they can’t see that you’re a fit in six seconds, there is no match.

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Your resume and profile should clearly signal the roles you want next. You know that phrase “dress for the job you want, not the job you have”? This is the same. Speak the language of the job you want, not the job you have.

Here’s 3 quick fixes that help specifically with LinkedIn but the same themes are universal across your resume as well:

• Change your profile headline

• Change your titles and role descriptions to match the types of jobs you’re targeting

• Under each of your experiences, put the strongest and most relevant examples first so no one has to search for proof

The goal is to make it effortless for them to see exactly where you fit.

2. “My background is kind of all over the place. I’ve had a lot of different roles, how do I make it make sense?”

This is probably the question I get asked the most — and it always comes from someone who has done really impressive, multidimensional work. It’s not that they aren’t qualified. It’s that their story feels… busy. Or broad. Or unclear.

Being a generalist isn’t a problem. The challenge is making your breadth of experience look like depth/expertise (if your goal is to specialize) or communicating the value of your generalist experience for the right generalist roles.

People worry that their background looks “all over the place.” And my response is usually: It only looks that way if you present it that way.

Hiring managers don’t need a full rundown of your career with every detail. Instead, think of your resume as a memoir not an autobiography. Memoirs focus on the moments that matter to the story. They need a curated account of your experience that makes them think: Oh, I get exactly how this person plugs in here.

If you’re exploring a few different types of roles, you’ll be more successful if you create a different versions of your resume, showcasing only the experiences that matter most in each.

And language matters. A lot. I see candidates lose opportunities simply because their responsibilities are described in terms that make sense to them, but not for the industry or roles they’re applying to. Translation is a skill. Show the reader you already speak their language.

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EXAMPLE →

Here’s a simple example: let’s say you’re an operations generalist who’s partnered with product teams before and now you want to step fully into a Product Operations role. The work might be the same, but the way you describe it shouldn’t be.

Operations Generalist framing (broad, supportive):

• Supported multiple teams with operational needs, improving processes and communication across the business

Product Operations framing (business-critical, product-aligned):

• Partnered with Product and CX to streamline the feature-request intake process, reducing turnaround time by 40% and improving roadmap clarity for upcoming releases

Same work, different stories.

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One more thing: if being a generalist is truly your superpower, lean into that. Some roles require someone who can only do a few things extremely well. Others require someone who can connect the dots, solve messy business problems, and operate across functions. Maybe you want (and deserve!) the latter.

Your story becomes cohesive the moment you decide what the story is. Being a generalist isn’t a weakness.

3. “I get interviews, but I never make it past the recruiter. What am I missing?”

I think about the job search in four stages. To get the full breakdown, you’ll have to work with me or come to a workshop (wink). But let’s talk about Stage 2: the recruiter screen. If you’re not making it past the recruiter screen, you likely haven’t made it clear that you can do the job they’re hiring for.

A recruiter’s job is not to be impressed by your potential or your work history. Their job is to confidently say, “Yep, this person can do what we need. And they’re worth passing on to the hiring manager.”

If they’re unsure about you, they’re not going to advance you, it’s a risk to their professional reputation.

And to be clear — hiring in general is not a perfect, meritocratic system. Bias exists. Not everyone has extensive networks or warm introductions. Connections change outcomes. And yes, some people get more benefit of the doubt than others.

But there is power in focusing on what you can control. Your job in this stage is to remove as much uncertainty as possible and make it painstakingly obvious that you can do the job.

How?

• Study the job description like it’s an open-book test

• Bring clear, recent examples that directly map to the responsibilities

• Use language they understand, not internal jargon or vague strengths or if your aim is to shift industries, don’t use terms that don’t mean anything in your new industry. (Build bridges, don’t highlight gaps.)

Recruiters often aren’t experts in the function they’re hiring for. They’re listening for signals or relevant sound bites. If they keep asking for more detail or more proof, it’s usually a sign that you haven’t connected the dots clearly enough yet.

Your fit for the role can’t be a puzzle they have to solve.

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How to work with me

Want help with your job search strategy?
The #1 thing I hear when Reframed readers reach out to me about coaching is: “I should’ve reached out sooner.”

So if that’s been on your mind, take this post as a sign. Let’s chat about coaching and see if we’re a fit.

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4. “How do I demonstrate that things like ‘taste’ or ‘good judgment’ are real skills?”

People who are great at what they do typically have great instincts. We try to codify everything → process, frameworks, best practices, but there’s always something left that can’t be written down.

🎶 vibes 🎶

That instinct (the thing that makes work look easy when others struggle) matters.

But the challenge here is that instinct isn’t a bullet point you can put on your resume or a skill that shines in an interview, you have to turn it into proof.

It’s not enough to say “I have good taste.” You have to show what your taste led to.

If you’re struggling with how to articulate your good instincts, ask yourself:

What did my taste impact in my current and previous roles?

• Maybe your instincts about what would land with a particular client helped your team win a big pitch.

• Maybe you spotted a rising category or opportunity way before the market did.

• Maybe you identified high-potential talent and hired the right person at the right time.

• Maybe you reframed a problem and unlocked a better solution.

You see where I’m going with this? These are outcomes and outcomes are proof.

So instead of:

“I have strong editorial taste”

Try:

“I identified a story opportunity that became one of the year’s top-performing features, generating 1.2M reads and securing a brand partnership extension”

Instead of:

“Sharp product instincts”

Try:

“I synthesized qualitative and quantitative insights to influence prioritization of a new onboarding flow that reduced churn by 21%”

Your taste is a lever. Show the impact it had when you pulled it. And if you’re thinking, “But some of my best instincts are invisible,” here’s a simple hack: externalize your process.

• What patterns do you spot before others?

• What do people ask for your take on?

• What changes after you enter conversations?

Bring the thinking behind the doing into the light.

Good judgment doesn’t speak for itself. You highlight it.

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CLOSING THOUGHTS

Why all of this matters…

Somewhere out there, there’s a hiring manager who is overwhelmed. They’re juggling a million priorities. They need help.

The right help.

They’re hoping the next person they talk to is the person who makes their life easier, not harder.

And somewhere else, there’s you.

You’re doing the work. Applying. Hoping. And sometimes second -guessing yourself. Trying not to lose connection with the parts of yourself that actually make you good.

Most people think hiring is a one-way evaluation: company judges candidate.

But the people doing the hiring are human, too. They’re stressed, stretched thin, and terrified of picking the wrong person.

What changes everything is when your story becomes the perfect answer to their problem.

I’ve seen it happen more times than I can count: someone goes from discouraged and doubting themselves to getting clear on who they are and what they bring…and suddenly the yeses start coming in. And it’s not because they magically became someone new.

You’re not just looking for a job.

They’re not just looking for a candidate.

You’re looking for each other.

Good luck. See you next week!

Ashley

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