Knowing how hiring works does not prepare you for what job hunting actually feels like right now. Today’s guest, Nicole, found that out the hard way. She has spent 30 years on the hiring side of the table. She has interviewed hundreds of candidates, read thousands of applications, and knows exactly what good looks like. So when she re-entered the job market after a six-month sabbatical, she found herself starting from scratch.

Nicole, a senior executive, knew how the game used to work. What she didn't know was how much it had changed. AI-generated resumes flooding inboxes. Applicant tracking systems filtering on past performance. Three or four hundred applications for every role, most of them indistinguishable from one another. The playbook she had built over decades wasn't quite fitting the game anymore.

This episode is part of The Work Edit, a new format on How I Work where I sit down with someone facing a real professional challenge and we work through it together. Nicole came to me wanting help with the part of job hunting that was giving her the most trouble: getting from application to shortlist. We get practical about what actually works right now, from why a written application might be the weakest version of your pitch, to how to use AI to run your own mock interview and genuinely sharpen your performance in ways most people never bother doing.

If you are currently in the job market, or know someone who is, this one is worth sharing.

We discuss:

• Why the job market has shifted so dramatically in the last few years, and what that means for experienced candidates re-entering the workforce

• How applicant tracking systems work and why they tend to filter out people with non-linear careers or future-focused skills

• The case for treating your job search as a sales role, and what that reframe actually changes about how you show up

• Why a short video pitch cuts through in a way that a written application simply cannot right now, and what makes the difference between a video that opens doors and one that falls flat

• What AI fluency actually looks like in a resume or cover letter, and how to find and remove the tells that signal lazy prompting to any recruiter paying attention

• How to use AI to run your own mock interview, and why stopping short of the critique step means leaving most of the value on the table

Key quotes

"If you're not AI fluent, why would you be considered for a job in this day and age?"

"I think if you are purely relying on your resume and cover letter being the best out of 400 applications, that is a losing game."

My latest book The Energy Game is out on July 7, 2026. You can order a copy here: https://amzn.to/48ID29M

Connect with me on the socials: Linkedin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanthaimber)

Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/amanthai)

If you are looking for more tips to improve the way you work and live, I write a weekly newsletter where I share practical and simple to apply tips to improve your life. You can sign up for that at https://amantha.substack.com/

Visit https://www.amantha.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes.

Get in touch at amantha@inventium.com.au

Credits:

Host: Amantha Imber

Sound Engineer: The Podcast Butler

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

**Join the AI Agent Bootcamp here: https://www.inventium.ai/learnvirtually-agents**

You sit down to research something for work, open a few tabs, type a vague query into AI, and get back something that feels… fine. Technically an answer. Not quite useful. Meanwhile, that report you've been working on probably needs another set of eyes, but getting real feedback takes time you don't have, so you send it anyway and hope for the best.

There's a better way. In this How I AI episode, Neo and I walk through three agents we think every knowledge worker genuinely needs, including two we're giving away for free.

How I AI, a special series within How I Work where Neo and I explore how high performers are using AI at work to boost productivity, make better decisions and reduce overwhelm.

What you'll learn in this episode:

• Why a basic AI research query often isn't enough, and what to do instead

• What a critical thinking agent actually checks for, and when it earns its place

• What a cross-functional advisory board agent is, and who it's built for

• How long it really takes to build agents that work reliably

• Practical AI tools for productivity and focus

• Real-world AI workflows used by high performers

• How to use AI at work without burning out

• Smart shortcuts for managing time and mental load

Connect with Neo Aplin on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/neoaplin/) and via inventium.ai (https://inventium.ai), where he leads Inventium's AI training and upskilling work with organisations and teams.

Here are links to the free agents mentioned in this episode:

• Research agent: https://amantha-imber.kit.com/41cec7c48c

• Critical Thinking agent: https://amantha-imber.kit.com/51dd2a9719
• Join the AI Agent Bootcamp to access the Advisory Board agent

My latest book The Energy Game is out on July 7, 2026. You can order a copy here: https://amzn.to/48ID29M

Connect with me on the socials: Linkedin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanthaimber)

Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/amanthai)

If you are looking for more tips to improve the way you work and live, I write a weekly newsletter where I share practical and simple to apply tips to improve your life. You can sign up for that at https://amantha.substack.com/

Visit https://www.amantha.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes.

Get in touch at amantha@inventium.com.au

Credits:

Host: Amantha Imber

Sound Engineer: Martin Imber

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

**This week I'm sharing a crossover episode from the Humans, being. podcast with the wonderful Lael Stone. It's one of the more personal chats I've done in a while. We talk about my burnout year, the tiny experiments that brought me back, AI and where I think it's headed, and the uncomfortable question of whether being ordinary might actually be enough. I hope you love it as much as I loved having it. You can find the original episode on Humans Being here.**

Amantha calls her AI 'Sunny'. She talks to it on the drive to the gym, like she's chatting to a friend. And it has quietly changed how she works, how she writes, and how she gets the thinking out of her own head.

Dr. Amantha Imber is one of the sharpest, most generous humans I know. An organisational psychologist, the founder of Inventium, host of How I Work, the first Australian to win a Thinkers50 Innovation Award, the author of four bestselling books, and her brand new one, The Energy Game, lands in July.

In this episode, we discuss Amantha's burnout year and the tiny experiments that crawled her back, the ones she calls boosts, rest, and protect. Why "fake rest" (Netflix while you scroll) won't fill the bucket. And we talk about the childhood praise imprint that drives so many of us: what if the goal isn't to be more, but to be okay with being ordinary?

We explore:

• The pressure we accept being human and thinking we must do it all
• The hit-by-a-bus fantasy and what it tells us about how women carry stress
• AI as a thought partner, and how Amantha uses it without losing the human bit
• What we want for our daughters, and the thinking skills we don't want to outsource

Connect with Humans, being™:

• Web: humansbeing.au
• YouTube: @humansbeingwithlaelstone

My latest book The Energy Game is out on July 7, 2026. You can order a copy here: https://amzn.to/48ID29M

Connect with me on the socials: Linkedin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanthaimber)

Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/amanthai)

If you are looking for more tips to improve the way you work and live, I write a weekly newsletter where I share practical and simple to apply tips to improve your life. You can sign up for that at https://amantha.substack.com/

Visit https://www.amantha.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes.

Get in touch at amantha@inventium.com.au

Credits:

Host: Amantha Imber

Sound Engineer: Martin Imber

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.