7 Tips That Make Your Application Feel Eclectic (In the Best Way) — And Why “Different” Wins in Sydney’s Digital & Tech Hiring (with smart AI tips, and why you shouldn’t let a bot write your personality)

If you’re applying for digital marketing or tech roles in Sydney, you’re competing with bright, qualified people who all look… similar on paper. Same “results-driven” intro, same tool soup, same tidy bullet points that could belong to anyone. The fastest way to look like part of the machine is to sound like part of the machine.

The fix isn’t gimmicks. It’s craft. It’s taste. It’s proof. And yes—just enough risk to feel alive. Below are seven high-leverage moves that make your application feel eclectic and unmistakably you, without crossing into chaos. You’ll also find a straight talk section on AI (don’t outsource your voice), Sydney-specific outreach, and a tidy checklist you can run in under five minutes.

1) Lead With a “Proof-First” Micro-Story (Not a Bio)

What to do: Open your cover note or intro email with a three-sentence story about a real result you delivered that maps to the role. Then link to proof: a 2-minute Loom, a dashboard screenshot, a code repo, or a one-pager teardown.

Structure (three sentences, tight):

1. Situation & constraint: “When I joined X, paid search CAC had climbed 38% on a flat budget.”
2. Action you owned: “I rebuilt the account structure, ran n-gram negatives, and layered GA4 audiences.”
3. Outcome with numbers + link: “In 9 weeks CAC fell 22% and ROAS rose from 2.6→3.4. Here’s a 2-minute Loom.”

Why it works in Sydney: Local teams are lean. Managers don’t hire adjectives; they hire proof. A short, precise win gets you lifted from the candidate pile into the conversation.

Make it eclectic: Add one line that sounds like a person you’d want to work with:

“I leave Miro boards tidier than I found them, and I label everything.”

2) Ship a One-Page “Spec Project” for Their World

What to do: Build a one-page artefact that anticipates a real task from the job ad.

• Marketing: A draft landing page above-the-fold with annotated copy and a 7-day test plan.
• Engineering: A tiny repo that shows how you’d improve FCP by 40% on a marketing page, or a Cypress smoke test suite that the team could drop into CI.
• Performance/Growth: A clear hypothesis matrix (angle × audience × offer) and a low-risk test you’d run first.

Guardrails (be respectful):

• Use only public data and label it “Spec concept for interview; not production.”
• Keep it light: one page, one Loom, one repo.

Why it works: You reduce hiring risk. Rather than promising you can do the job, you’ve already started doing the job.

 

3) Build a “Snackable Portfolio”: 5 Tiles, 5 Lines Each

What to do: Instead of a 30-page portfolio, make five tiles that are skimmable on a phone. Each tile includes:

1. Context
2. Constraint
3. What you owned
4. A decision you’re proud of
5. Outcome (number)

Example (SEO):
“From 30→92 featured snippets in 90 days. Constraint: zero new content. Owned: IA + FAQ schema + outline refactors. Decision: killed vanity keywords for mid-intent comparators. Outcome: +41% sign-ups from organic.”

Example (Frontend):
“Checkout paint from 4.2s→1.6s. Constraint: legacy CSS. Owned: code-splitting + critical CSS + Next/Image. Decision: deferred non-critical modals. Outcome: +7.8% conversion.”

Pro tip: Host as a lean PDF and a private webpage. Neutral palette. Let numbers be the colour.

 

4) Add a 60-Second Loom: Voice, Clarity, Intent

What to do: Record one minute answering:

• “What would you do in your first 30 days?”
• “A decision you made that didn’t work—what changed?”
• “Why this company, now?”

Why it works: Hybrid teams in Sydney value people who can communicate clearly and warmly. A short Loom shows presence, not polish. (Good mic > fancy camera.)

Eclectic edge (optional hook):

“I’m a growth PM trapped in a marketer’s body,” or
“I’m the developer who writes PR descriptions your PM will actually read.”

5) Show Your POV With a 400–600 Word “How I Think” Doc

What to do: Write a crisp one-pager titled “How I Think About [Discipline].” Make three beliefs, each with a practice.

Example (Performance Creative):

• Belief: Message-market fit beats asset volume.
  Practice: Test angles (problem, social proof, objection) before formats.
• Belief: Landing pages are ads.
  Practice: I own the fold: headline, lead, proof, CTA.
• Belief: Creative fatigue is a systems problem.
  Practice: I maintain an angle library and rotate hooks weekly.

Why it works: Senior teams want colleagues with a spine. Principles signal judgment under pressure.

 

6) Calibrate the Resume for Signal Density (And Keep the Personality)

What to do: Keep it to two pages max and maximise signal:

• Start bullets with verbs + numbers (“Cut build time 43% by…”).
• Collapse tool soup into outcome clusters (“Shipped with: Next.js, SWR, Vercel, Playwright”).
• Add a small side panel: “Things I Make” — Figma kits, open-source patches, teardown newsletter, SQL template library.

Sydney specifics:
Reference AEST collaboration, EOFY crunches, local meetups (SydJS, SEO Meetup, ProductTank Sydney, Women in Tech Sydney). Use Aussie English and AUD.

Design: White space is power. Personality lives in content, not novelty fonts. One accent colour is plenty.

 

7) Craft a “Sydney-Smart” Outreach Sequence (3 Touches, Zero Spam)

What to do: Pair your application with a three-touch outreach to the hiring manager or team lead. Each touch gives value.

Template:

Touch 1 — Application Day
Subject: A 1-page spec for your /pricing (low-risk test inside)
“Hi [Name], I applied for [Role]. I mocked a one-page spec with two low-risk tests for /pricing that could lift sign-ups ~10–15%. Here’s a 2-min Loom. If helpful, happy to walk you through.”

Touch 2 — +4 days
“Quick nudge in case it got buried. If the team’s exploring GA4 audiences for paid, I’ve got a BigQuery template that speeds the first pass. Can share either way.”

Touch 3 — +9 days
“Closing the loop from me. Leaving the doc/repo here; no action needed. If priorities shift next quarter, I’d love to help.”

Why it works: Many Sydney roles shortlist early. Thoughtful outreach gets your artefacts in front of deciders—without being a pest.

The AI Reality Check: Don’t Let a Bot Write Your Personality

Here’s the straight talk portion you asked for.

Don’t fully rely on AI to build your resume or cover letter.
Why? Because:

• It often misses key facts you forgot to feed it (and it won’t know to ask).
• It can invent details you never did (“led global team of 12” becomes “led 20 across regions”).
• It reads like AI: over-smoothed phrasing, generic verbs, lifeless bullets. Hiring managers see this daily. It gets discarded quickly, the same way we zap spam subject lines.

Or, to put it another way: energy in = results out. If you give AI a vague prompt, you get a vague candidate. You.

How to Use AI Well (so it helps, not hurts)

• Use AI for structure and hygiene, not soul. Ask it to tidy tense, condense bullets, or suggest section order.
• Feed it your raw achievements first. Paste in your messy brain dump: numbers, dates, products, links. Then ask for a tighter version in your voice.
• Ban generic verbs. Tell it: “Replace weak verbs (supported, assisted) with precise ones from my text only.”
• Force it to keep numbers. “Do not remove any numbers or dates. If missing, ask me a single follow-up question.”
• Use it as a QA pass. “Find ambiguity, passive voice, redundant tool lists, and claims with no proof.”
• Never let it fabricate. If AI suggests something you didn’t do, delete it. Remember: you need to defend every line in an interview.

Jules (Big Wave Digital Recruitment): “We can tell when a document has been ironed flat by AI. The edges are too smooth. Give us the real story, the real numbers, the real voice — then tidy it.”

Keiran (Big Wave Digital Recruitment): “Different works when it’s anchored in proof. Be bold, be respectful, and ship something small we can click.”

A light joke, because we’re human: If your resume says “Ninja Wizard Rockstar Unicorn,” the only spell it’s casting is Expelliarmus on your interview.

AI-Smart Job Searching: Practical Tips That Actually Move the Needle

Use AI to accelerate research and packaging, not to impersonate you.

1. Role Pattern Mining
   Paste five Sydney job ads for your target role into an AI prompt. Ask: “Extract the 10 skills that repeat, rank by frequency, and map each to a one-sentence proof prompt I should answer.” Now you have a shopping list for your portfolio tiles.
2. Company & Product Snapshot
   Feed AI a company “About” page and pricing page. Ask: “What would a low-risk test look like for their signup flow or FCP?” Use the ideas to shape your one-pager (you still do the judgment).
3. Achievement Excavation
   Prompt: “Interview me to surface quantifiable achievements in these roles. Ask short, specific questions. Don’t move on until you get a number.” Answer honestly. You’ll recover lost metrics you forgot.
4. Interview Rehearsal
   Give AI your resume and the JD. Ask for three behavioural questions and three technical trade-off questions, then practice out loud. Record yourself and note where you waffle.
5. LinkedIn Optimisation (Tasteful)
   Ask AI to propose three headline variants that include your scope and proof (“Performance Marketer | $5–10m annual spend | ROAS 2.6→3.4”). Keep it human, not hype.
6. Outreach Drafting (You Finalise)
   Use AI to draft two short outreach messages. Then rewrite them in your voice. If you wouldn’t say “delighted” to a friend, don’t say it to a hiring manager.
7. Portfolio QA
   Ask: “What’s unclear? Which claims lack links? Where is the weakest verb? What would a sceptical engineering manager challenge?” Fix those.

Where Big Wave Digital Recruitment Fits In (and How to Use Us Well)

If you’re targeting digital marketing or tech roles in Sydney, working with a recruiter who lives this market saves time and lifts your hit rate.

How Big Wave Digital helps (when used well):

• Signal triage: We’ll tell you what matters to this hiring manager, this week. No guessing.
• Artefact feedback: We’ll look at your one-pager and tell you if it’s clear or fluffy (politely but directly).
• Timing & temperature: We know when to send your spec and how to keep it warm without being pushy.
• Interview sharpening: We’ll run you through the trade-off questions you’re actually going to get.

How to get the most from us:

• Bring your Proof-First micro-story, five portfolio tiles, and one artefact.
• Share your constraints (visa, notice period, salary band, hybrid expectations).
• Be a partner, not a passenger. We’ll meet you at your energy level.

Keiran: “We’re not a forwarding service. We’re a quality filter. Show us you can ship and we’ll put you in rooms where that matters.”

Why “Different” Works (and When It Doesn’t)

It works because:

• Pattern break: Most applications blur together. A micro-story + artefact interrupts the scroll.
• Lower risk: Proof reduces uncertainty, the enemy of offers.
• Cultural signal: Eclectic done with taste telegraphs curiosity, initiative, and momentum.

It fails when:

• You confuse quirky with unclear (if it doesn’t help them decide, it doesn’t belong).
• You ignore constraints (brand, legal, regulated categories).
• You leak confidential data (don’t).
• You let AI flatten your voice.

Sanity checks before you send:

• Would I ship this internally if I already worked here?
• Can I defend every line in an interview?
• Does this feel Australian-professional (confident, friendly, no hard sell)?

Packaging It All: Your 3-Hour Application Sprint (Sydney Edition)

Hour 1 — Angle & Assets

• Choose a JD. Mine five ads; list top 10 repeated skills.
• Write your 3-sentence proof story.
• Draft “How I Think” (400–600 words).
• Decide your artefact (spec page, tiny repo, test plan).

Hour 2 — Artefact & Loom

• Build the one-pager or repo. Keep it small but sharp.
• Record a 60-second Loom: first 30 days, failed decision, why this company.

Hour 3 — Resume & Outreach

• Resume: two pages, verbs + numbers, “Things I Make” panel.
• Send application + artefact + Loom.
• Fire Touch 1 of your three-touch sequence.

Result: A tight, eclectic package that reads like a colleague you want to hire—not a template with a name on it.

Bonus: Paste-Ready Micro-Templates

Subject lines that get opened (Sydney hiring):

• “A 1-page spec for your /pricing (2-min Loom inside)”
• “I think I can cut your FCP ~40% — here’s a small demo”
• “A BigQuery template that may help your GA4 audiences”

Resume micro-section:

Things I Make
• Monthly AU retail PPC teardown (link)
• Next.js snippet: locality-aware redirects (link)
• GA4 BigQuery template for content attribution (link)

Closing lines for cover notes (pick one):

• “If you’d like, I can ship this test in a sandbox within a week.”
• “Happy to walk through the Loom and discuss trade-offs.”
• “If this isn’t a near-term priority, I’ll check back next quarter.”

Quick Truths (Pin These)

• Different ≠ loud. Different = useful, clear, and human.
• AI is a scalpel, not a ghostwriter. It sharpens; it shouldn’t impersonate.
• Proof outruns polish. A tidy one-pager beats a glossy promise.
• Energy in = results out. The effort shows. Always.

Jules: “When a candidate pairs craft with curiosity, it jumps off the page. We can sell that. Hiring managers say yes to that.”

Final Word: Put It on the Line , Smartly

Taking a risk doesn’t mean neon CVs or meme-bombed cover letters. It means betting on your craft: tell a sharp story, demonstrate how you think, and ship a tiny slice of value before you’re on payroll. That’s the kind of “different” that wins in Sydney’s digital marketing and tech teams — practical, respectful, and distinctly you.

If you want eyes on your artefact or resume before you send it, Big Wave Digital Recruitment (Keiran & Jules) will happily give you a straight, Sydney-honest read. Be brave. Be tasteful. Be unmistakably you. The machine filters; humans choose.

Big Wave Digital.
Born in Sydney. Built for digital.
Obsessed with tech.
Trusted by the best.
And, most importantly, ready when you are.

“Courage is knowing what not to fear.”
— Plato

Fear slow hires.
Fear bad hires.
Fear wasting time.

But don’t fear reaching out.
We’re right here.

The future is bright, let’s go there together!

Let us help you build a Brilliant team in Digital.

Big Wave Digital are experts in Digital Recruitment Sydney

At Big Wave Digital , Sydney’s leading digital, blockchain and technical recruitment agency, we have deep connections, experience and proven expertise, and the ability to achieve a win for all parties in the challenging recruiting process. We can connect to highly coveted digital and tech talent with the world’s best employers.

Keiran Hathorn is the CEO & Founder of Big Wave Digital. A Sydney based niche Digital, Blockchain & Technology recruitment company. Keiran leads a high performance, experienced recruitment team, assisting companies of all sizes secure the best talent.