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Introduction
If you’ve been sending out resumes, getting no callbacks, and wondering what’s wrong with your experience—this post is for you.
The truth? It’s not your experience. It’s your visibility.
According to career advisor Anna Lokotkova, the modern job search isn’t just about applying to roles. It’s about communicating your value—clearly, confidently, and consistently. That starts long before the interview. It happens when you speak up online. When you network with intention. When you shape how the world sees you.
Anna’s rise from recruiter to globally followed career advisor was driven not by credentials but by clarity. She learned the game—then taught thousands how to play it with precision. In this episode of the Ramped Podcast, she shares the new rules of job search success in 2025, why most resumes fail, and how your visibility—not your GPA—is what gets you in the door.
The takeaway? The loudest person isn’t the one who wins—the clearest one is.
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Why Self-Advocacy Is a Career Necessity, Not a Nice-to-Have
Most people are uncomfortable talking about themselves—and even more uncomfortable trying to “sell” themselves. Anna gets that. But in her words, “If you don’t know how to advocate for yourself, nobody else will.”
The discomfort usually comes from three places:
- Perspective blindness: When you do something every day, you stop seeing its value. That spreadsheet you created, that presentation you gave, that difficult conversation you navigated—those might be ordinary to you, but they're gold in a recruiter’s eyes. You need distance to see the value of your own work.
- Outdated tools: Many people haven’t had to job search in years. They've coasted on referrals or internal promotions. So when they do need to compete on the open market, they don't realize the landscape has changed—and their resume and outreach strategy are stuck in 2015.
- Fear of rejection: You can know your value and still hesitate. Why? Because selling yourself—especially online—requires vulnerability. You might get ignored. Worse, you might get seen. That visibility can feel scary when your inner critic is loud.
To overcome these, Anna recommends starting with micro-actions. Post a short comment on LinkedIn. Rewrite one bullet on your resume to be results-driven. Reach out to one person who’s doing a job you want and ask for a 10-minute conversation. These tiny steps build momentum and shift how you see yourself.
If you want to move your career forward, you must step into the role of your own advocate—and be willing to speak up, even when your voice shakes.
Explore positioning your resume and skills for maximum visibility.
Job Search 2.0: What’s Changed—And What Hasn’t
The job search of 2025 requires a different toolkit than the one used a decade ago.
Anna refers to the current environment as job search 2.0—a system where traditional resume blasting simply doesn’t cut it anymore. In 2012, a decent application might have earned a callback. In 2025, even a brilliant one gets buried unless you pair it with outreach and visibility.
So what’s changed?
- Noise: There are more job seekers than ever, and more tools for applying. This means each open role receives hundreds—if not thousands—of applicants within days.
- AI filtering: Applicant tracking systems (ATS) filter most candidates out based on keywords, not potential.
- Hiring slowdown: Especially in industries like tech, fewer roles are open, which makes networking even more important.
But what hasn’t changed is this: people still hire people.
That means storytelling, clarity, and strategic outreach still win. Anna advises job seekers to build meaningful relationships before applying. If you’re applying cold, you’re already behind.
She encourages using LinkedIn not just to search, but to engage—leave thoughtful comments, post your insights, ask great questions. These are modern touchpoints that introduce you to decision-makers before they see your resume.
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Check out top skills employers want in 2025.
How to Write a Resume That Doesn’t Get Ignored
Despite the rise of personal branding, your resume still matters—it just needs to be smarter.
Anna’s top insight? Resumes are not biographies. They are targeted pitches. Every line should signal alignment with the role you're applying for.
Here are six rules Anna swears by:
- Target one role at a time. Don’t try to write a “universal” resume. It ends up sounding like everyone else’s.
- Make relevance your filter. Remove anything that doesn’t build your case for the role. Think like the hiring manager.
- Translate your experience. Switching from marketing to customer success? Frame your customer communication experience to match CS goals.
- Write for skim speed. Recruiters spend seconds on the first pass. Use short, punchy bullet points with metrics and impact.
- Avoid buzzwords without proof. Saying “strong team player” means nothing. Showing that you led cross-functional initiatives that increased retention by 18%? That means everything.
- Emphasize outcomes, not tasks. “Led onboarding” is a task. “Redesigned onboarding, reducing new hire ramp time by 30%” is an outcome.
Most importantly, Anna urges candidates to stop trying to “fit in” and start trying to stand out—by being specific.
Want to test your resume? Ask yourself: if someone else submitted this, would I be impressed?
If the answer is no, you’ve got your next task.
Visibility Beats Credentials: Why You Need to Be Seen
You can have the best resume and still get ghosted if no one knows you exist.
That’s why Anna preaches visibility. It’s not about ego. It’s about giving people a reason to remember you.
You don’t need to post every day or go viral. But you do need to:
- Share your thoughts on challenges in your industry
- Comment on posts from leaders at companies you admire
- Highlight your learnings and project outcomes
- Celebrate the work of others (this builds reciprocity)
And if you’re introverted? Start small. Anna recommends responding to a post you admire with a comment that builds on the original idea. It doesn’t need to be groundbreaking. Just thoughtful.
The key is consistency. If you show up once a week with intention, you’ll begin to build a reputation—one that may land you in front of a recruiter before you even apply.
She also stresses that “visibility isn’t just online.” If you're in an interview, a networking chat, or even a Slack channel, the question is the same: Are you articulating your value clearly?
Because if you don’t, someone else will.
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Conclusion: Start Before You're Ready
Most job seekers delay action until they feel “qualified enough” or “ready.” Anna’s advice? Start anyway.
Whether you’re launching a job search, switching careers, or thinking of posting your first LinkedIn video, the fear doesn’t go away with time. It goes away with practice.
You don’t need to have it all figured out. You need to be willing to learn in public—and that starts by putting something out there. A post. A message. A resume rewrite. A coffee chat.
The people who win in 2025 are not necessarily the smartest or most credentialed. They are the ones who are:
- Clear about what they want
- Willing to tell their story
- Strategic about how they’re seen
You don’t need to fake confidence. You just need to show up with courage. The rest gets easier from there.
Watch the full interview with Anna Lokotkova here.
Things You Need While Searching for a Job
Once you are armed with the knowledge about what kind of job will make you happy, there are core things to get lined up for a job search. Let's look at a few.
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Name
1 Value
2 Value
3 Value
4 Value
5 Value
What to Look for in a Job
Fun fact, most people will have about 12 different jobs in their working lifetime. This goes to show that finding a job that you love enough to hang onto takes some forethought and possibly a bit of trial and error. Just the same, you can make some plans in advance, helping you land in a position that leaves you perfectly content. Check out a few things to look for when looking for that perfect job.
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