I did the impossible: I landed a dream job from LinkedIn Easy Apply!

With zero resume tailoring.

With zero connections.

With zero networking.

With only 2 30-minute interviews.

With no technical screen.

Within 2 weeks of leaving my previous employer.

All by clicking that EasyApply button... I can't remember exactly... but probably from my phone, while watching TV on my couch, with my cat in my lap. Was there a lot of luck involved? Definitely! But I am proof that it can be done!!! A lot of smart people are job searching in 2026, and I want to provide some hope that you never know what job search activity, however tiny, might lead to your next role. Here are the distinct steps that gave me a leg up.

Step 1: Got really clear on what I am looking for next by defining the intersection of what I am good at and what I want to be doing.

This is the step that most people shortchange, but it is the most important step because it is the foundational step: Reflect. Here are some ideas.

• Make a list of everything you like and everything you dislike in your experiences so far. Include everything from job duties to logistics to culture, and include paid work, volunteer work, and learning opportunities.

• Put away any "shoulds" (ex: I majored in ___ so I should get a job doing ___) and only focus on what you truly enjoyed.

• Ask questions. When did time pass quickly? When were you excited to go to work? Who did you enjoy working with and why? What do you devote free time to learning?

• Reflect on what you have been praised for in the past, and be sure to include both hard and soft skills. For example, I have been praised for my data storytelling skills and also for how I tell those stories with wit and humor.

Don't rush this process. The goal is to leave with 1-3 key themes in the Venn Diagram between the categories of "what am I good at" and "what do I like doing." Keep this thematic more so than detailed. To continue the example, I am good in Domo, Tableau, and Looker but the theme I wrote down was "data viz and storytelling with clarity and a branded aesthetic." If your list is too long, think about if 2 could be combined or rolled up into one.

Take the time to identify your 1-3 core themes, then sit with them for a while to ensure they still resonate.

Step 2: Tailored my resume and cover letter to THAT.

Here is a controversial take: I tailor nothing to any specific job.

Given the job market, it's frankly not worth my time to do so. If I am constantly having to rework my resume for different jobs, that shows I am NOT clear on what I want to be doing. For example: shifting my resume for data jobs that skew more data engineering than analytics (not interested in a DE role, wasn't one of my themes), or a job in a sector I don't have data experience in yet where I'd need to craft an arc on why I want to pivot (a long shot), or a job that asks for skills I don't have so I have to add transferable skills in (unqualified for). Note that I was not looking to make a dramatic career pivot. Career pivots are normal and should be encouraged, and are an exception to this. If you constantly need to tailor your resume to every job, I would urge you to assess whether you are qualified for that job or even want it. Once I got really clear on the types of roles I was looking for, the types of companies/cultures I wanted to work for, and how my experiences and personality would add value... narrowed down into 1-3 core themes... and tailored my materials to THAT... I had to do a lot less work for every application. This allowed me to throw less spaghetti at the wall, but it was perfectly al dente, stuck, and was tasty.

I didn't use AI to write a n y t h i n g in my materials. Did I use it to edit for efficiency and to fit things into a limited space? Yes. But it wrote none of my content. Zero. Zilch.

I did use AI to score my materials against a description of the type of job I was looking for, using about 10 real-world JDs that caught my eye. I did this several times with several models to identify the areas I needed to "beef up" to better speak to my 1-3 core themes. Again, this was not super detailed: I focused on thematic areas that were coming across less strong and built them up, honestly, until everything scored well.

Step 3: Create an "All Data Materials" file of my resume, cover letter, and references/testimonials in one file.

Once I had my resume and cover letter ready, I also created a references "one sheeter" using the same formatting and design. This document lists my references, contact information, and a few sentences on how I worked with them in the past. There was empty space at the end of this document, so I filled that with snippets of feedback I have received in the past, either in performance reviews, from LinkedIn recommendations, or from awards.

I combined these three files: Resume (2 pages), Cover Letter (1 page), References (1 page) into one PDF titled "Ehm, Eden All Data Materials." This is the file I would upload to job apps, and the file I uploaded to LinkedIn to use for EasyApply jobs.

A few reasons why I think this worked:

• More opportunities for data keywords, presented ethically, to get through ATS systems.

• Demonstrated organization and upfront transparency.

• Showed I was a real human, who wrote their own materials in their own words, with some personality in my cover letter. In the age of AI slop, this piques interest.

• Immediate personal brand consistency through my value proposition and visual branding. (Hot take: if you're going for a job in marketing, not effectively marketing yourself is a red flag!)

• Not all apps have a spot to add a cover letter, but I have things I wanted to b̶r̶a̶g̶ state facts about, and this at least ensured that content would be sent. Read? Who knows. But at least I knew I put my whole best foot forward.

• Testimonials from others from the jump, without having to get to the final stage of reference checks.

Step 4: Only apply to jobs that fit my materials at a 90%+ match.

This is where strategy and selectivity win. Reading through a JD, if I thought "ehhh, this is interesting but I'd have to tailor my resume to show more ___ skills" it was an automatic no. The bulleted responsibilities and qualifications become a checklist: go down the list, and if I can't check off 90% of the bullets, clearly, strongly, today, using my resume from Step 2, I would likely pass. You could automate this with AI, but I preferred to do this manually so as to not miss any nuances. Because of my work in earlier steps, matching the majority of the description meant a few things:

• More likely to get through to a real human

• More likely to pass technical screeners

• More likely to be qualified, to have what they're ISO

• More likely to actually LIKE the job duties

An added bonus of applying through LinkedIn (either via EasyApply or by marking a job as applied) was that, over time, the algorithm began to learn which types of jobs I was interested in and started suggesting more of them. The company I recently joined was NOT on my radar AT ALL until LinkedIn suggested it... I was intrigued, I did a little research, I loved what I saw, and I smashed that EasyApply button! Algorithm FTW!

Literally the one and only time I saw this on a LinkedIn Easy Apply! I didn't even know this was a feature until I applied for this role.

Step 5: Timing, company talent culture, and luck.

There are elements of any job search that are out of your control and hard to put your finger on. One I have seen discussed a lot recently is timing, in submitting an app within 24 hours of the job being posted, or even submitting an app overnight so it's "top of the virtual pile" when recruiters log on the next morning. I'm sure there's something to that advice, and it certainly can't hurt. But don't let missing arbitrary cutoffs stop you from applying.

I have been so so so so sooo so so impressed by the culture at my new company. I do not know the talent team's process, but having now met them, I am certain that they took the time to thoughtfully review applicants. Certain companies might rely on AI tools more than others, and the thought is that larger companies might use AI more in hiring due to the sheer volume of jobs posted and applicants, but I wouldn't consider that an across-the-board rule. There is no doubt that the company's application review process can play a role in making it through to the phone screen stage.

Luck. 🍀🍀🍀 There is an element of luck involved in today's job search processes. It does job seekers a disservice not to mention this factor.

Timing, company talent culture, and luck all combine to be part of the process that makes a difference on the outcome. So they need to be mentioned. But I would 1,000% advise focusing on Steps 1-4 which are the steps you control. If you put your best foot forward in Steps 1-4, the impact of other random factors outside of your control begins to lessen.

Bottom Line: Was it a fluke? Maybe. Probably. But I do feel that taking the steps I described helped more than hurt.