The other day I got a LinkedIn message from a recruiter

"Hey Mauro! We're blah blah blah from blah blah! An important x company that works in the blah blah space. I'm here to tell you about..."

Let me just skim here...

"We're looking for a technical SEO and CRO-focused Senior Front-End Developer and I believe you could be a great match!"

Oooh!

This is the first time I heard about a front-end role that dips its toes into marketing. CRO stands for Conversion Rate Optimization and it's the science/art of developing web experiences to help users take specific actions on websites. I like CRO! And so I replied since I wanted to learn more. After a small back and forth, the recruiter asked me:

"Great! Could you hand me your CV and tell me when would be a good time to have a call with you?"

Ohh, yeah... my CV...

Sweet Jiminy Christmas, I haven't touched that in over 3 years

Where is it anyway?

I walk over to my bedroom and into my closet. At the very back, I see an old cardboard box with the words "Papers" written on it in Sharpie. I blow the dust off-

*Cough Cough*

And rummage through it for a bit. AH-HA! I finally found it. And it's...

Oof, let's just say it's pre-AI 😅

It starts with the classic yet generic and pretty much copy-and-paste line that states:

YEESH. The whole CV is incredibly outdated, made back when I was looking for my first job, and didn't represent any of my relevant front-end achievements. Plus, the quality of CVs has gone up considerably since AI has become such a massive and cheap tool. For example, if I grab that introduction to my CV and just ask Chat-GPT to make something that sounds better, I get this:

That's loads better, and I didn't even have to work hard for a better version. And that's the problem I see with a lot of CVs/resumes today.

It's hard to stand out in a world where everybody uses AI

But something that AI can't really do unless you tell it to is to create a narrative based on your experiences.

Creating a narrative for your career is the skill of looking at what you've done and what you're good at and handpicking specific situations of your life to tell a story. Since stories are sticky and paint a specific picture of you, they can help recruiters and HR more easily get an idea of who you are and what you're like to work with. Which makes it easier to stand out!

So, let's say, for example, you're a great developer. You're great at turning Figma designs 1:1 into websites. But you're also a good teacher, and you've had small chances to lead a team. Oh, and you know about accessibility and are skilled at a specific few frameworks. What perspective will you paint about yourself and tell others about?

Will you paint the picture that you're a hard-working dev who's meticulous, detail-oriented, and cares a lot about being pixel-perfect? Will you put more emphasis on your experience as a leader and look for more manager opportunities? Will you instead explain your passion for making websites accessible for everyone and how meaningful that work can be for others?

All of these things can be true at the same time. But choosing one or two points to put the most focus on is what helps frame what your goals are and where your skillsets lie, which makes it easier to stand out.

Now to be fair, this is REALLY hard to do and involves a lot of retrospection and knowing what you want. If you're looking for a bit more information, It's similar to an idea I wrote about a few emails ago on framing the truth as a frontend developer.

So, taking my own advice, I redid my CV and sent it the recruiter's way ☺️

And then I waited. And then waited. Aaaaand... He later ghosted me and we never spoke again.

The end :D

P.S.

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