In some ways, it’s never been harder to secure a new role. Candidates are facing a perilous landscape of automated rejections and impersonal processes. On the latest Argentus blog, we’re offering our advice for how to break through the noise, express your value, and get the most out of your job search in 2026.

If you’re a candidate looking for a new role, we don’t blame you for feeling discouraged. The process of applying for a job isn’t what it used to be. Candidates find themselves locked in a complex web of applicant tracking systems that promise efficiency to hiring managers. When they apply, they’re not sure whether their resume is being read by the right person—if it’s even being read by a person at all. 

Many candidates hit the market after a few years, and they’re shocked by how impersonal, impractical and dispiriting it feels. You might spend an hour or two meticulously crafting an application, only to get an automated rejection—or no rejection. You might spend weeks sending off applications, networking, and having conversations, only to feel like you’ve been spinning your wheels. 

The whole thing feels exhausting. But here’s one thing to keep in mind: at the other end of every posting, there are still real humans out there who are trying to find a top candidate. The fundamental goal of a job search remains the same: communicate your value with concision and clarity. If you manage to do that, you’ll find your next role, no matter how dispiriting the search might seem.

At Argentus, we’re a boutique recruitment firm, which means that we sit at the intersection of companies looking to hire, and candidates looking for new opportunities. We speak with candidates every day, and we often give them advice for how to pursue their next opportunity.

On today’s Argentus blog, we’re offering a few of the most common tips that we provide. From our perspective, here’s how to cut through the noise and get the most out of your job search in 2026:

1. Focus your resume on accomplishments and results, rather than “responsibilities.”

We’ve been writing for years about the benefits of an accomplishment-based resume. It’s also very common resume advice. Still, we’re shocked by how many resumes still come through our central inbox that read like job descriptions. Companies don’t want to just know what you’ve done. They want to know what you’ve delivered. 

In our world of supply chain and procurement, that means concrete cost savings, major supplier initiatives, business transformations, technology implementations, and process improvements. The more you highlight these concrete achievements, and the more you back them up with metrics (KPIs, savings generated, etc.), the stronger your case. A career is a story, and the best resumes tell that story. Cut out the extraneous fluff, and exhaustive lists of everything you did, to focus on the key achievements that are going to be most relevant to a particular role.

2. Apply to fewer positions, and put more effort into each one

In some ways, it’s never been easier to apply for positions. For example, LinkedIn’s “Easy Apply” feature allows candidates to apply with just a few clicks. What’s more, there are a host of AI-powered tools promising to blanket companies with applications on your behalf. In other ways, applying is more arduous than ever: many companies have Applicant Tracking Systems that require you to upload a resume and cover letter, while also populating a huge variety of fields in a form. 

So how much time should you be spending on each application? As tempting as the “spray and pray” approach might be, it’s not necessarily the most effective. In our opinion, it’s better to apply for fewer positions that are more targeted towards your background and interest. While it might feel better to send out fifty applications, spending the same amount of time on ten will have a better result, if you spend that extra time tailoring your resume and cover letter to the position, or reach out to someone you know at the organization to see if they have an in.

3. Use AI to match you to positions. Don’t use it to write your resume or apply on your behalf

As we wrote about in our recent post about AI in job searching, AI can be an invaluable job searching tool, but it’s one that’s often misapplied. Using an AI tool to rewrite your resume and match it to a job description can feel like a shortcut, but it deprives you of the chance to tell your story and makes your application look like the host of other AI-generated applications that companies are seeing. At worst, it can also misrepresent you in a way that could jeopardize your credibility. 

On the flipside, there are strong use cases for AI in job searching. It can be useful to research opportunities that fit your background. If you identify a job, you can use it to compare your resume to the job description and see where your experience isn’t coming through. Then, go in and modify your resume manually. This lets you carefully consider AI recommendations while keeping the human element intact.

4. Consider using a specialized recruiter

We’re biased, but it bears mentioning. A recruiter who is highly specialized in your field is still one of the most effective paths to a role in your field, especially if you have strong experience under your belt. The reason? We have the ear of hiring managers. Our clients know that when we present a candidate, we’ve had at least one (often two, three or more) conversations with a candidate, where we’ve vetted their skills and background against the job description. Many of the candidates we represent are people we’ve known for years, and we’ll often place people multiple times throughout their careers. In short, we bring the human element that hiring managers themselves find lacking in today’s processes.

If you’re considering using a recruiter, vet them to make sure that they’ve been established in your niche for a number of years. A candidate should never pay any money for a recruiter’s services. If you have an initial discussion, trust your gut: is this recruiter one trying to build long-term relationships with candidates in a pre-defined niche, or are they throwing candidates at the wall to see what sticks? How in depth is the discussion? Often, a recruiter may not have a role for you when you first approach them (especially with small teams like Argentus). Timing is everything, after all. But building those contacts early in your search can pay dividends when the right role comes in.

Job searching in 2026 is hard. There are no shortcuts. But hopefully the above gives some guidance for how to cut through the noise. 

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We hope you found the above advice useful. And as always, if you’re a job candidate in supply chain or procurement looking to secure your next opportunity, we’d love to hear from you! Likewise if you’re a hiring manager or HR rep mired in endless applications, struggling to secure the top-flight talent to take your team to the next level. Send a message to recruit@argentus.com outlining your needs today!