I got rejected. It sucks. Let’s be clear—I like winning. I’m not someone who dreams of failure. And honestly I’ve never met anyone who says, “Actually, could I be rejected today? I just hate success.”

But here we are. Rejected. Not ghosted. Not left wondering. Just a clear “no.” And oddly enough, I’ll take that. Because rejection, at the very least, is information. It’s a clue. It’s data I can work with. Yes, I would have loved a more specific rejection, more actionable feedback, maybe a clue into what almost worked. But I got enough to understand I did not stand out from the crowd. And in today’s work market just like in customer engagement, that’s the kiss of invisibility. Time to pivot. Time to tailor.

The CV Problem Is a Marketing Problem

Marketers are just like job seekers, they need to learn the same lesson: customization wins attention and winning the customer attention today is a battlefield of personalisation. Gone are the days of sending the same message to all customer segments and hoping one bites. Every segment demands a slightly different pitch, each of them are skimming for different keywords. They scroll fast. They compare constantly. And they won’t wait for you to “get to the point.” If your brand message doesn’t hook them in 20 seconds, they move on. That’s not personal—it’s the algorithm, the overload, the endless options.

Job seekers learn quickly that they have just a few seconds to communicate their value, and that same rule applies to marketers. Your homepage, your ad copy, your email subject line—they all need to hit the mark instantly. Personalisation isn’t optional anymore; it’s the price of entry. You’re not just competing against similar products, you’re competing against every distraction your customer has on their screen. Generic, templated outreach is the fastest way to get passed over—whether you’re applying for a job or trying to engage with your customer.

Customers these days have a lot of choices, the same as companies. ATS is a challenge, we have no idea how each company sets up the system, we need to keep adapting the key words, the same way we need to constantly learn and adapt for the social media marketing. The algorithm changes frequently, we need to change our message, our key words, our image size, our type of content, just to get our brand in front of the right customer (in the case of the job, the HR or hire manager).

So how do you win, if you’re a brand trying to cut through the noise?

1. Segment Your Audience (And Really Mean It)
   Stop marketing to “everyone.” Define clear customer segments—by need, behavior, age, or life stage—and tailor content specifically for each. A 20-year-old and a 50-year-old don’t respond to the same message. Neither do new leads and loyal fans.
2. Use Data to Get Insights, Not Just Reports
   Treat your analytics like feedback. What’s working? What’s falling flat? Don’t just collect metrics—interpret them. Adjust your messaging like you would your CV after a rejection.
3. Optimize for the Algorithm, Not Just Aesthetics
   Update your SEO. Change your post formats. Refresh your keywords. Platforms evolve, and so must you. Think of it as updating your resume every time the job market shifts.
4. Make Every Second Count
   Your first 5–10 words are your headline. Your first 3 seconds on video make or break engagement. Don’t bury the value—lead with it. Hook them fast, or lose them faster.

The takeaway here is precision. Winning attention today means understanding that each interaction is an audition. Just as candidates tailor their CVs to mirror the language and priorities in a job description, marketers must reflect the needs, language, and behavior of their target customer. That means segmenting your audience, adapting tone, adjusting visuals, and delivering highly specific messaging—because relevance wins. In both job hunting and brand building, it’s not about shouting louder, it’s about speaking directly and clearly to the right person, at the right time, in the right way.

Nelson Mandela once said “I never lose. I either win or learn”. Today…I just learned. Tomorrow I am going to win. Because rejection isn’t failure, it’s direction; and relevance isn’t luck, it’s strategy.