Career Navigation

Pursuit

5 min read

What this dimension is

How do I convert?

The work of actually applying, tailoring, interviewing, negotiating, closing. The mechanics from “I have decided to go for this” to outcome.

Key questions

  • When I want a role, what do I actually do, in the order I do it?
  • Where does my application process get hard, and is it always at the same step?
  • What works in my interviews, and what falls apart?
  • How do I prepare, and how much of that preparation is real practice rather than reading?
  • What part of the application loop am I outsourcing to AI, and is the trade-off worth it?

How this showed up at IACW 2026

Pursuit is the densest stage in the programme in named tools. Eight sessions had it as primary focus, and nineteen touched it. The week converges on four moments: turning experience into evidence, reading job descriptions analytically, using AI without over-relying on it, and preparing competency-based interview answers structured for the panel rather than improvised. See the Event Coverage Analysis for the full data.

Frameworks for this dimension

Achievement to artefact

  • BASIC Achievement Bank · A five-field structure for documenting one professional achievement so it can be reused across CVs, cover letters, and interview answers.
  • R-CAR · A four-part structure for turning a documented achievement into a single scannable CV bullet or cover-letter sentence: lead with the result, anchor it in context, action, and final outcome.
  • Third Eye Principle · A three-layer review pass for any application before you submit it: alignment, machine-readability, polish. Each layer catches different errors; skipping any one leaves a class of mistakes uncaught.

Reading the JD

  • JD Colour-Coded Breakdown · A four-step method for decoding a job description on a separate document, using a different colour for each category, so what the role actually does becomes visible at a glance.
  • JD vs Profile Comparison · A two-column working document that maps the job’s requirements and duties to your own profile, so the application reflects what the JD actually asks for and where your transferable experience answers it.
  • Two-Phase Job Search · A separation between two activities that look similar but are not: scanning vacancies to decide whether to apply, and working on a specific application. Each phase has its own purpose, depth, and checks.

AI-assisted application

  • Five AI Tool Categories · A taxonomy that separates the AI tools you can use during a job application by what they are actually good at, so you reach for the right one at the right step.
  • Career Gap to Sprint Workflow · A two-prompt AI workflow that produces a structured fit-and-gap analysis from your CV and a vacancy, then converts the gaps into a 30-day calendar-blocked development sprint.
  • AI Prompting for Learning · Three principles for getting useful learning support from any AI assistant: be specific about your level, ask for structure, and push it deeper than the default answer.
  • AI Roleplay for Skill Practice · A practice routine that uses AI personas to rehearse high-stakes conversations (interviews, stakeholder pushbacks, performance discussions) before they happen for real.
  • Four Prompting Principles · Four dimensions for structuring any prompt to a general-purpose AI assistant: give context, iterate, calibrate the freedom you give the model, and specify the output format.

Interview preparation

  • SMART Method · A five-element structure for competency-based interview answers: Situation, Mission, Action, Result, Teachability. The Teachability element distinguishes SMART from STAR and turns difficulty into evidence of self-awareness.
  • Duties-Driven Interview Prep · A method for preparing competency-based interviews that starts from the vacancy notice’s duties section, generating 20 or more likely questions before the interview begins.
  • Application Review Audiences · A four-stage map of who actually reads your application after you submit it: an AI or system screen, a recruiter, a hiring manager, and a selection panel. Each stage reads with a different lens.
  • Why You · A three-question test for any motivation letter or cover letter. Hiring managers read the motivation letter before the CV; the letter has to answer three things in the first read: why this organisation, why now, why you.

Diagnostic on my own materials

  • Evidence vs Polish Diagnostic · A single recruiter-side question: if I stripped every polished phrase from this CV today, what real evidence of work would remain? The answer separates a strong application from a fluent empty one.
  • 3 E’s of Development · A three-dimension check on any development plan: Experience (learning by doing), Exposure (learning through others), Education (structured learning). The strongest plans run all three.

Sessions where Pursuit was primary

If your situation is closer to

If you are inside the application loop but the materials feel weak, see Presence. If you are unsure your skills match what the role actually requires, see Capability.

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