LEADERSHIP

Here is How to Think

Becoming fit for the role

Most candidates start applying when they are not yet ready. They have decided, they have done some research, and the urgency of the search pushes them to send the CV before the candidate is prepared to do what the CV promises.

The disciplined candidate prepares first. Preparation is internal work. It is becoming the person who can do the role from day one, not the person who can talk about doing the role in an interview. The distinction matters because a candidate who is not actually fit for the role will be found out, either in the interview, or in the probation, or in the first months of doing the job. The candidate who is fit walks into every conversation knowing they can do what they are claiming. The confidence is not performed. It is earned.

The highest possible standard is to become fit for the role before you apply, not after you get it. This is harder than it sounds because most preparation is invisible. No one sees the hours spent learning what the role actually requires. No one sees the skills built up to match the level. No one sees the practice conversations, the rewrites of the CV, the mindset work done before walking into the interview. The preparation is invisible to others. It is everything to the candidate.

Preparation covers four broad areas. The capability itself, meaning the actual skills, knowledge, and experience the role requires. The documents, meaning the CV, the professional networking platform profile, the portfolio that represent you to others. The presence and the story, meaning how you show up in conversations and how you describe your career arc. The mindset, meaning the internal readiness that makes you at your best in moments you cannot predict.

A candidate who has prepared all four arrives at the application moment ready. A candidate who has prepared one or two arrives partially ready and trusts hope to fill the gap. Hope is not a preparation method. It is what people do when they have not prepared.

Key Takeaway: Preparation is internal work to become the person who can do the role from day one. It covers capability, documents, presence and story, and mindset. The candidate who prepares all four arrives at the application moment ready. The candidate who prepares only some arrives hoping the gaps do not show.

Confidence is not a feeling. It is a result of preparation.

MarvinPro · LEADERSHIP · Here is How to Think · Vol 0: The Candidate · Philosophy 3: Prepare · Section: Becoming fit for the role

MarvinPro | June 2026

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The CV system

A CV is not a fixed document. A CV is a system that produces the right document for each specific role.

Most candidates have one CV. They send it to every role they apply for. The CV is generic enough to be plausible for many roles and specific enough to be compelling for none of them. The reader sees a candidate who has done many things, none of which are obviously the thing the role requires. The CV falls into the middle, where it is neither obviously a match nor obviously not.

The disciplined candidate builds a CV system. The system has two parts. A master template that contains everything the candidate has done, in full. And an adaptation method that produces a specific CV for each specific role, emphasising what matches the role and the job description, downplaying or removing what does not.

The master template is the source of truth. It contains every role, every project, every skill, every result, in honest detail. It is not the CV that gets sent. It is the library from which the sent CV is drawn. The master template is updated regularly as new experience accumulates. It is the candidate's complete record.

The adapted CV is produced from the master template for a specific role. The candidate reads the job description carefully, identifies what the role actually needs, and selects from the master template the experiences, skills, and results that best demonstrate the fit. Some experiences come forward. Others move to the back or are removed entirely for this version. The CV that arrives in the inbox of the hiring manager is the CV that shows them, specifically, why this candidate matches this role.

This is adaptation, not misrepresentation. The distinction matters. Adaptation means presenting truthful experience in the order and emphasis that fits the role. Misrepresentation means inventing experience, exaggerating results, or claiming capabilities the candidate does not have. The first is the work of a disciplined candidate. The second is fraud that will be discovered. The candidate who adapts can defend every line of the adapted CV because every line is true. The candidate who misrepresents has built a CV that cannot survive the interview, the probation, or the role itself.

There is now a tool that did not exist for previous generations of candidates. The candidate can use AI to test whether their adapted CV actually matches the job description before they send it. The candidate pastes the job description and the CV into the AI and asks it to compare skills, requirements, and emphasis. If the AI returns a strong match, the CV is ready. If it returns a weak match, the candidate has a choice. Either adapt the CV further, drawing more from the master template to strengthen the fit, or recognise that the role may not actually be a strong match and move on to the next one. This is not the AI replacing the candidate's judgement. It is the AI giving the candidate a second pair of eyes before they submit. Most candidates submit and hope. The disciplined candidate submits when the match is confirmed.

The highest possible standard is to treat the CV as a system, not a document. The master template is always current. The adapted CV is always specific. The match is always tested before submission. The CV that arrives in the inbox is the right CV for that specific role, drawn from a complete and honest record.

Key Takeaway: The CV is a system, not a document. A master template holds the complete honest record. An adapted CV is produced for each specific role, emphasising what matches the job description. Adaptation is truthful selection and emphasis. Misrepresentation is invention or exaggeration. The first survives every test. The second collapses on contact with reality.

Send the right CV for the right role. Not the same CV for every role.

MarvinPro · LEADERSHIP · Here is How to Think · Vol 0: The Candidate · Philosophy 3: Prepare · Section: The CV system

MarvinPro | June 2026

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The professional networking platform profile

The CV is active. It goes out to specific roles when the candidate applies. The professional networking platform profile is ambient. It is always present, always visible, working in the background whether the candidate is actively looking or not.

This difference matters because the professional networking platform profile is read by people who are not necessarily looking at the candidate for a specific role. A recruiter scanning for senior leaders in a particular space. A hiring manager looking at who is in the network. A former colleague checking in. An industry connection considering an introduction. Each of these readers sees it without the context of a specific job description. The profile has to stand on its own, representing the candidate as they are, not as they are positioning for one specific role.

The professional networking platform profile cannot be adapted per role the way the CV can. It is one profile, visible to everyone simultaneously. This means it must work for the candidate's actual direction, not for whichever role they applied to last. If the candidate's CV is positioned for a leadership role at a startup, but the profile reads like a corporate executive, the inconsistency is visible to anyone who looks at both. The profile must align with the decision made in the decide phase (Philosophy 0.1 Decide) about which role and which space.

The professional networking platform profile has consistent elements that should always be current. The headline that describes who the candidate is and what they do, in their own voice. The photo that is professional and recent. The summary that articulates the arc of the career and where it is heading. The experience that mirrors the master CV template but in a public form, with results visible and roles described in language that suits the candidate's positioning. The skills that are honest and aligned with the direction. The recommendations that come from people who actually know the work.

What the disciplined candidate does is keep the professional networking platform profile current as a discipline, not wake it up when they start looking. A profile that was last updated three years ago tells the reader that the candidate has been passive about their professional presence. The profile that has been quietly updated as the career progressed tells the reader that the candidate is intentional about how they are seen. The latter signals readiness. The former signals that the candidate started preparing the moment they decided to look.

There is also the activity layer. What the candidate posts, comments on, or shares. This is not optional decoration. It is part of the ambient presence. A candidate who shares thinking, comments on industry developments, or publishes work regularly is visible in a way that a silent profile is not. Recruiters and hiring managers find candidates this way. The candidate who has been visibly thinking in public for the last year is far easier to find and far more credible than the candidate who appears only when they need a job.

The highest possible standard is to treat the professional networking platform profile as a continuous presence, kept current and consistent with the direction the candidate has chosen, rather than as a document to update when applying.

Key Takeaway: The professional networking platform profile is ambient, not active. It cannot be adapted per role. It represents the candidate as they actually are and where they are heading. The disciplined candidate keeps it current as a discipline, not as a panic response to a job search. The visible thinking, the consistent presence, the alignment with direction, all signal readiness before any application is sent.

The CV speaks when you apply. The professional networking platform profile speaks all the time.

MarvinPro · LEADERSHIP · Here is How to Think · Vol 0: The Candidate · Philosophy 3: Prepare · Section: The professional networking platform profile

MarvinPro | June 2026

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The portfolio

For some roles, the portfolio is more important than the CV. For all roles, the portfolio is more useful than most candidates assume.

A portfolio shows the work, not just the history. The CV says what the candidate did. The portfolio shows how they did it. The decisions they made. The thinking behind the result. The before and after. The challenges that had to be navigated and the choices that produced the outcome. A hiring manager reading a CV is told what happened. A hiring manager looking at a portfolio sees what happened.

For traditional portfolio roles, design, architecture, writing, engineering, photography, the portfolio is expected. The candidate who applies without one is at a disadvantage. The portfolio is the proof. The CV is the index to the proof. A strong portfolio with a weak CV can still win the role. A strong CV with no portfolio rarely will.

For non-traditional portfolio roles, leadership, operations, sales, strategy, the portfolio is not expected, which is exactly why it is powerful. A leader who arrives at an interview with a portfolio of decisions made and results delivered, articulated, is doing something other candidates are not. The portfolio in this case is not visual work. It is structured documentation. The problem faced. The decision made. The reasoning. The result. The lesson. Each entry is a short, honest piece that lets the reader see how the candidate thinks and what they have actually done.

The portfolio is also a discipline that helps the candidate. Building a portfolio forces the candidate to articulate what they have done, why it mattered, and what they learned. This articulation is the same articulation the candidate will need in interviews, in cover letters, in the professional networking platform profile summary. The portfolio is preparation work that pays off across every other surface of the application.

The portfolio is selective. It does not contain everything. It contains the work that best represents the candidate for the direction they have chosen. A portfolio piece that is excellent but irrelevant to the role is a piece that distracts. A portfolio piece that is highly relevant but only good is more valuable than one that is excellent but irrelevant. The portfolio is curated for what the candidate is now, not for everything the candidate has ever done.

The highest possible standard is to have a portfolio that represents the candidate for the role they want, even if the role does not traditionally require one. The candidate who builds a portfolio when no one expected it is the candidate who stands out before the interview even begins.

Key Takeaway: The portfolio shows the work, not just the history. For portfolio roles, it is essential. For non-portfolio roles, it is the differentiator most candidates do not bother with. Building it is preparation work that pays off across every other surface of the application.

The CV is the index. The portfolio is the proof.

MarvinPro · LEADERSHIP · Here is How to Think · Vol 0: The Candidate · Philosophy 3: Prepare · Section: The portfolio

MarvinPro | June 2026

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The presence and the story

The documents represent the candidate when the candidate is not present. The presence and the story represent the candidate when they are.

Presence is how the candidate shows up. In a video call, in a phone call, in a room. The way they enter, the way they sit, the way they speak, the way they listen. Most candidates do not think about presence as something that can be prepared. It can. The candidate who has thought about how they present themselves, how they hold themselves in a conversation, how they manage their attention and energy in a meeting, walks into every conversation with a clear and consistent presence. The candidate who has not thought about it is whatever they happen to be that day, which varies with mood, energy, and circumstance.

The story is the arc of the career as the candidate describes it. Where they came from, what they have done, what they learned, where they are going. The story is not the CV read aloud. It is the meaning behind the CV. Why each role mattered. Why the moves between roles made sense. What the candidate is doing now and why this specific role is the next chapter.

Most candidates have not thought about their story. When asked to describe their career, they recite the CV in chronological order, which is the least interesting version of any career. The disciplined candidate has thought about the story until it is clear, until each move makes sense, until the arc points to where the candidate is now and why this specific role fits. The story can be told in two minutes or twenty minutes, depending on what the conversation needs, but the underlying arc is the same in both.

The story must also be true. A candidate who invents a clean arc when the reality was messy will be caught in the details. A candidate who describes the actual arc, including the messy parts, with clarity about what each move taught and why each decision was made, has a story that survives every question because every part of it is honest. The cleanest stories come from honest reflection on a real career, not from invention.

Presence and story are connected. A candidate who has a clear story can deliver it with a clear presence, because they know what they are saying and why. A candidate who has not thought about their story is forced to construct it in the moment, which produces hesitation, inconsistency, and a presence that feels uncertain.

The highest possible standard is to have a presence that is consistent across every conversation and a story that is clear, honest, and points to where the candidate is going now.

Key Takeaway: Presence is how you show up. Story is the arc you describe. Both can be prepared. The candidate who has thought about both walks into every conversation knowing how they will present themselves and what they will say. The candidate who has not is constructing themselves in real time, with inconsistent results.

The documents speak for you when you are not there. Presence and story speak when you are.

MarvinPro · LEADERSHIP · Here is How to Think · Vol 0: The Candidate · Philosophy 3: Prepare · Section: The presence and the story

MarvinPro | June 2026

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The mindset and the readiness

The internal preparation is the part no one sees and the part that determines how the rest holds up under pressure.

A candidate can have an excellent CV, a current professional networking platform profile, a strong portfolio, a clear presence and story, and still arrive at a critical moment unprepared because the internal state was not built. Nerves take over. Doubt enters. Hesitation appears in moments that needed certainty. The documents and the story were ready. The candidate was not.

The mindset is the candidate's internal posture. It is the answer to the question, who am I in this moment. The candidate who has prepared the mindset knows the answer. They are someone who has done the work, who can do the role, who is meeting the company on equal terms because they have something to offer that the company needs. The candidate who has not prepared the mindset arrives at every conversation asking themselves whether they belong, hoping things go well, performing under doubt. The first candidate is calm because they have nothing to prove that they have not already proven to themselves. The second is anxious because the verdict feels like it is in someone else's hands.

This is not positive thinking. It is not telling yourself you are great. It is doing the actual preparation, capability, documents, presence, story, until you genuinely know you are ready. The confidence that comes from this is not performed. It is real. And it is visible to anyone in the conversation.

The mindset includes the candidate's relationship with the outcome. A candidate who needs this role at all costs is in a weak position. The desperation is visible. The negotiation is impossible. The walk-away that gives a candidate leverage in any conversation is unavailable. The candidate who has prepared, including the fallback decision made in the decide phase (Philosophy 0.1 Decide), can walk into every conversation knowing they are willing to walk out if it is not right. That posture is the difference between a candidate who is interviewed and a candidate who is courted.

The readiness includes the candidate's relationship with time and pace. The candidate who is internally rushed, who feels every day without a response as a setback, who is operating from urgency, makes worse decisions than the candidate who has built the internal pace to wait. Preparing the mindset includes preparing for the wait itself. The right role takes the time it takes. The candidate who is internally ready for that timeline is a different candidate from the one who is internally collapsing every day the inbox stays empty.

The mindset also includes the candidate's relationship with rejection. Rejections will happen. They are not personal even when they feel personal. The candidate who has prepared the mindset receives each rejection, learns what can be learned from it, and continues without losing the readiness for the next conversation. The candidate who has not prepared the mindset takes each rejection as evidence of something deeper, and arrives at the next conversation diminished by the previous one.

The highest possible standard is to be internally ready before the journey starts, so that every moment within it, the conversations, the waits, the rejections, the offers, can be met from the candidate's full self rather than from a state shaped by the pressure of the moment.

Key Takeaway: The mindset is the internal preparation that determines how the rest holds up under pressure. Confidence is not performed. It is the result of having done the work. The candidate who is internally ready can be at their best in moments they cannot predict. The candidate who is not is at the mercy of the moment.

Preparation is not what you do before the moment. It is what makes the moment easier than it would otherwise have been.

MarvinPro · LEADERSHIP · Here is How to Think · Vol 0: The Candidate · Philosophy 3: Prepare · Section: The mindset and the readiness

MarvinPro | June 2026

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A real example

A candidate who had been laid off built a CV template before he applied to a single role.

The template was not a CV. It was the master document from which every CV he sent would be drawn. It contained every role he had held, every project he had led, every result he had delivered, every skill he had built, in full honest detail. Nothing was inflated. Nothing was omitted. The template was the complete and accurate record of who he was as a professional.

From this template, he produced a specific CV for every role he applied for. He read each job description carefully, identified what the role actually required, and selected from the template the experiences, results, and skills that best matched. Some experiences came forward. Others moved back. Some were removed entirely for that version, not because they were not true but because they were not relevant to that specific role. The CV that arrived in the hiring manager's inbox was the CV that showed them, specifically, why he matched their specific role.

This was adaptation, not misrepresentation. Every line on every CV he sent was true. He could defend every claim in an interview because every claim came from the master template, which came from his actual career. He was not pretending to be different people for different roles. He was selecting which true parts of who he was to emphasise for each specific role. The role and his actual experience would meet honestly. There would be no surprises in the interview, no claims he could not back up, no probation period where the reality of his work would diverge from the picture his CV had painted.

He used the AI tools that did not exist for previous generations of candidates to validate his work. Before sending each adapted CV, he asked the AI to compare his CV with the job description and assess the match. If the AI returned a strong match, he sent the CV with confidence. If it returned a weak match, he had a clean choice. Either return to his master template and strengthen the adaptation, drawing out more of the relevant experience he had, or recognise that this specific role might not actually be a strong fit, and use the time he would have spent on the application to find a better-fitting role instead. He stopped sending CVs that the match check said were weak. He stopped wasting his time and the company's time on applications that were not going anywhere.

The discipline of the template, the adaptation, and the match check meant that every application he sent was an application he believed in. He was not playing the volume game, sending dozens of generic CVs and hoping. He was sending fewer applications, each one specifically prepared and validated, and the response rate showed it. The applications that went out generated conversations. The conversations led to interviews. The interviews, where he could defend every claim because every claim was true, led to offers.

The principle was simple. Prepare a system, not a document. Adapt truthfully, not creatively. Validate before submitting, not after rejection. Most candidates do none of this. The candidate who does all three is operating at a level that the rest of the field does not reach.

Send the right CV for the right role. Validate the match. Stand behind every line.

MarvinPro · LEADERSHIP · Here is How to Think · Vol 0: The Candidate · Philosophy 3: Prepare · A real example

MarvinPro | June 2026

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Prepare

Preparation is internal work to become the person who can do the role from day one. Capability, documents, presence and story, mindset. The candidate who prepares all four arrives at the application moment ready. The candidate who prepares only some hopes the gaps do not show.

The CV is a system, not a document. A master template that contains the complete honest record. An adapted CV for each specific role, emphasising what matches the job description. Adaptation is truthful selection. Misrepresentation is invention. The first survives every test. The second collapses. Use AI to validate the match before submitting. If the match is weak, either strengthen the adaptation or recognise that the role is not a fit and move on.

The professional networking platform is ambient, not active. It cannot be adapted per role. It represents the candidate as they actually are and where they are heading. Keep it current as a discipline, not as a panic response. The visible thinking, the consistent presence, the alignment with direction, all signal readiness before any application is sent.

The portfolio shows the work, not just the history. For portfolio roles, it is essential. For non-portfolio roles, it is the differentiator most candidates do not bother with. Building it forces the articulation that pays off across every other surface of the application.

Presence is how you show up. Story is the arc you describe. Both can be prepared. The candidate who has thought about both walks into every conversation knowing how they will present themselves and what they will say. The candidate who has not is constructing themselves in real time.

The mindset is the internal preparation that determines how the rest holds up under pressure. Confidence is not performed. It is the result of having done the work. The candidate who is internally ready can be at their best in moments they cannot predict.

Preparation is invisible. No one sees the hours spent building capability, refining documents, articulating the story, preparing the mindset. Everyone sees the result. The candidate who walks into the interview ready, with documents that fit, a story that is clear, a presence that is steady, and a mindset that is calm, is the candidate who gets offers. The preparation made every part of it possible.

The disciplined candidate prepares before they apply, not after they are invited. They are fit for the role before the role is offered. They are ready before the conversation starts. They are themselves, at their best, by the time anyone meets them.

Preparation is the invisible work that makes everything visible look easy. Without it, every other phase is harder than it needs to be.

MarvinPro · LEADERSHIP · Here is How to Think · Vol 0: The Candidate · Philosophy 3: Prepare · Chapter Outcome

MarvinPro | June 2026

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Think Simple.