A CEO examined 800 candidates for a single role. Three stood out.

Between the management of her own leadership roles in technology, Jennifer Delski has hired a lot.

In June 2024, she published a job for a chief of staff to her company, Rising Team. The list quickly led to more than 800 applications.

Delski and his team spent throughout all. Three were aberrant values.

Each of those who jumped included something more, said Delski, founder and CEO of the Rising, Business Insider team. One person attached a bridge bridge, while another included a video with slides, she said.

For another application, a job seeker included a “user manual”, a DULSKI term, a performance team platform, uses. She said that this sentence clearly said that the applicant had gone deeply when she was searching for her Menlo park in California.

All three had an interview.

“They stood out so much for doing the additional research, the additional work – something creative,” said Delski.

This piece of additional pizazz could be more important than in the United States, because, in general, employers display less jobs and extend the slowest offers for about a decade.

The cool pace of integration also occurs as an uncertainty about prices and interest rates means that some CEOs have paused on major decisions, especially adding to pay.

Be “beyond”

DULSKI, whose years in technology included leadership roles at Yahoo, Google and Facebook, said it can make a big difference when you take the time to create in -depth and well -documented applications.

Among the finalists of the chief of staff, several had not worked before, she said.

However, Delski said: “They just went beyond and went so clearly capable.”

She also saw the opposite: those who sent her by post. DULSKI and his team did not examine the applications where people have just applied in a few clicks via a board of directors because, in doing so, they could not answer certain questions that the rising team had asked.

Of the more than 800 they have crossed, Delski and the team have transmitted applications where a sentence like “due to my vast experience in” clearly indicated that artificial intelligence has done most of the work.

“They all started with mainly the same two sentences,” she said.

Making convincing application is often important because, although global unemployment and layoffs remain low, there is less job opening, Cory Stahle, economist in the hiring laboratory, told Bi. In the United States, publications fell 3.5 percentage points in 2025, he said.

“It becomes a more difficult labor market for those who are unemployed,” said Stahle.

A boost if your network is small

DULSKI said that a first -rate application can be particularly useful if you don’t have much professional network to which you turn during your job search. This is important because one of the best ways to get a concert has long been to draw a connection within an organization. It’s always true, she said. Although this does not necessarily get the job, this could lead to an interview.

DULSKI, who teaches the Stanford GRADUATE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS AND TALKS often with students at the start of his career, always recommends trying to connect with someone in an organization, even thanks to the awareness of cold.

However, where it does not work, said Delski, putting additional efforts in a request can help compensate for the lack of in.

“The strategy of sending something more, to stand out, is accessible to everyone,” she said.

DULSKI said that this was independently of your connections, all the privileges you may have or what is in your curriculum vitae.

The basics still count

Even if you are looking for an employer to help you shape your request, you still need to nail the basics, told Bi Susan Peppercorn, executive coach.

This means having a strong summary and a LinkedIn – LinkedIn profile is the first place that recruitment manager will go to get you, said Peppercorn. With something like your profile, you have to be clear what you mean about you to stand out, she said.

“What makes you unique and convincing?” Said Peppercorn.

Having a well -cut application with a strong curriculum vitae and a compound profile may not guarantee that you get somewhere with an employer. However, Delski said that, given the number of requests that some messages get, job seekers often need to do something to separate.

In addition, she said, a well-performed application can help you show your skills. It is also an aid, said Delski, if you do not have the exact experience listed in a job publication. In the end, the person that Delski hired had never been a chief of staff before.

Although the rental was not one of those who added something more to their request, Delski shared his finalists with other business leaders, which led several candidates to obtain interviews in other companies.

“The great talent will always get jobs, even in the most difficult labor markets,” she said.