Tony McBride Speaking on 'How to Become a Top Candidate' and Leading the Free Career Clinic at Jobs Expo Ireland

One thing that stood out for me was that candidates I spoke to who were exceptionally talented people were coming across average at best in their CV’s and in interviews. ​ Taking a chance on someone is few and far between these days in a candidate rich, job poor market like today's. ​ The small things matter immensely.

That’s why I did my talk on How to Become a Top Candidate to show people the steps they need to take in order to be the one that gets the job offer. ​ I've summarised the detail below.

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The work that I do is all about helping individuals to become a top candidate, because there are so many people applying for jobs.

There's so little jobs out there compared to what there was a few years ago, that it's not about being average anymore.

It's about being the best.

I'm here to give you some top tips whenever you're applying for opportunities that will make you rise to the top in your applications compared to others.

Some statistics on the job market.

For every job that you've got out there, there are 250 applications on average.

About two years ago, that number was only 25 to 50, depending on the industry and sector.

It's quite a big volume that you're up against, and again, there is only one job offer at the end of all of that.

The average time from a company deciding to post an opportunity to making an offer is 10 weeks.

People are waiting a lot longer to get the opportunities through.

Essentially, there are more candidates on the market, and there are less jobs out there.

This means the strategy that you have in your applications becomes absolutely crucial.

Targeting the right roles.

First of all, you need to target the right roles and go for the right type of opportunities.

When people are trying to find a role, they're guilty of just applying for as many as they possibly can, hoping for the best, and seeing what happens.

But you've got to make sure it's the right one.

Take a second to think not about the roles you can do, but what are the key transferable skills that you can offer.

Then have a think about what your preferences are.

Then you absolutely must think about what your non-negotiables are.

If a job requires you to relocate and you're not willing to do that, don't apply for that job.

If you want to have a remote job and you can't be in the office, don't go for those type of roles.

Rejection cycles is something that really can affect the mindset when you are going for different opportunities.

If the role doesn't fit in these categories and you get rejected, you still get that morale feeling of not feeling good enough.

Whereas if you take a step back and make sure it aligns to your preferences and non-negotiables, you have a better chance of getting the role.

Tailor your CV

If you've got one version that you upload for every opportunity you're going for, then it's not specialist to the opportunity that you're applying for.

With your CV, it's not your record of achievement, and it's not your career history document.

It is a job application for that one job that a recruiter is looking for that day.

If you've got a hobby cycling somewhere up and down the country, or if you've got work experience as a part-time clown, they're not interested in that unless it's the career you're going for.

They're interested in the skills that they're looking for.

You must identify the keywords in the job description and make sure you're speaking the same language.

Nail the Elevator Pitch

When you first go in for an interview, the typical question they always ask is to talk them through your experience.

A lot of people are guilty of going in and saying when they were 18 they started working in a pub, and then they moved on to this job, and then the next job.

Before you know it, you're spending 10 minutes talking through a CV that they've already read.

Don't read that CV out loud.

Limit yourself to two minutes, and do what I call the elevator pitch.

Start with a strong statement of credibility that matches you and summarises your experience.

Then share one or two headlines that represent key achievements related to the role you're looking for.

And finally, end by highlighting how your skills are a great match for the role.

Key Takeaways

Stop relying on LinkedIn Easy Apply and focus on employee referrals, company websites, and industry-specific boards to bypass the nonsense applications.

Your CV is a specific job application, not a career history document, so match the keywords in the job description to speak the same language as the hiring manager.

Keep your interview introduction to a punchy two-minute elevator pitch, own any gaps in your experience upfront, and always end on your superpower. ​