I was at a job fair yesterday. Not for me, but to give something back to my local community.

I spent time speaking with people and helping with CV and interview advice. One pattern kept appearing.

Many CVs were written as if the person were still in school.

• Full personal details at the top.
• A “personal statement” with little energy, often generic and indistinguishable from the next one.
• Employment histories listing everything ever done, or compressed to a single page to “help” the recruiter. In practice, this removes the evidence people need to make a decision.
• Long lists of hobbies.
• Very little clarity about core or transferable skills.

The issue is not effort. People are trying hard.

The issue is capability. Many professionals have never been shown how hiring decisions actually work, what employers look for, or how to present evidence of their value. They rely on school-era templates, internet advice, or AI tools that produce safe but average results.

Capable people end up underselling themselves.

We need to take job-search capability more seriously. Current support is inconsistent and often outdated. For many people, it simply is not good enough.