Pixie Dust, Purple Dragons, and Carrier Pigeons
- Danielle Hughes
- Nov 21, 2025
- 5 min read
The untold story of how to get hired
By Karen Worthy, Worthy Career Paths, Executive Career Transition Coach
I get SO many questions about resumes. Everyone thinks they are THE thing that’s going to get them that interview, and get them that job.
But let’s be real for a minute. While resumes are important, and can help open doors, they’re not the thing you should be obsessing over the most. They aren’t even the second or third thing to obsess over.
When you see a job posting online, think of it as the tip of the iceberg. There's a lot going on underneath that you can't see.
Let me tell you a story to illustrate this point...
Once upon a time, in a cubicle far, far, away, there lived a hiring manager (Holly McPicky) and a recruiter (Riley Rejectwell). Holly wanted to hire a VP of Marketing (also known as a Marketing Knight).
So, Holly wandered over to Riley's cubical, waved her magic wand, and said "Hire me a VP of Marketing. I want them to have a million years of marketing experience, only cost two gold coins, and be willing to work in the office 5 days per week."
Riley rolled her eyes and said "Sure Holly, whatever you want." Let me just dust off my old job description parchment from two years ago and we'll get started.
Riley asked, "what do you really care about in this person?"
Holly said, "they have to know how to use pixie dust and they have to have experience slaying a purple, three-legged dragon."
"Do you know anyone like that around here?" asked Riley.
"Nope. But I'm sure there are lots of them out there," answered Holly.
[author's side note - they just completed Step 1 on the chart below - look for internal candidates]
Riley then started her quest for the purple-dragon-slaying, pixie-dust wielding, VP of Marketing. She wandered over to other kingdoms (like Finance and Sales) to see if they knew how to find this person. She even asked the kings and queens in their castles (like board members, and investors) if they knew of people like this. She also talked to all her friends. But no one could help her.
[author's note - Step 2 done]
So then, Riley pulled out her magic wand, entered in her Boolean spell, rubbed the magic LinkedIn wishing stone, and worked her magic. And like magic, the LinkedIn genies returned billions of "qualified" people.
But Riley's boss was yelling at her, her kids were yelling at her, and her magic chariot needed to be taken to the shop, so she prioritized, and just looked at the first couple pages of search results.
And she found some good ones. She sent carrier pigeons to 50 people who swore that they were experts in pixie dust, and that they’d been slaying three-legged purple dragons their entire lives. For good measure, she also sent carrier pigeons to people who had slayed violet and magenta colored dragons as well.
In two weeks Riley had gotten responses from 25 of the marketing knights she reached out to, had spoken with 15 of them, and had found 3 people who are "perfect" fits for the job.
She proudly shares this news with Holly, who promptly says, "Great! I'll speak with them. But shouldn't we have 5 people at this point? And where's the job posting? What have you been doing all this time?"
[author's note - Step 3 done. we're skipping Step 4 here too, because Holly doesn't want to pay an external recruiter to do Riley's job.]
So Riley, after muttering some choice words under her breath, gets her job posting up on the website, posts to the LinkedIn parchment, and tells the town crier to spread the word.
A flood of carrier pigeons with resumes and cover letters start descending on Riley's desk, covering it in so much bird poop that she can barely see her magic wand. After shooing away most of the pigeons, she stumbles upon a couple resumes that seem like they have potential, talks to the knights who sent the resumes, and adds two more people to the list for the hiring manager.
In the meantime, Holly has been desperate for this knight of marketing to start, so she's already talked with all three of the original candidates. She really likes one of them, and is about to make an offer when...
Riley shares the two new people that came from the LinkedIn magic posting.
Holly says, "do I have to talk to them?"
Riley says, "yes, you do."
So, Holly talks to them.
They’re good. They’re just as good as the other three people Holly's already talked with. But Holly already liked someone from the first batch.
So after she talks with them, she tells Riley, "make an offer to that knight I loved from the first batch of people." (author’s note - the people from Step 1-3 are typically who get hired.)
And they all lived happily ever after. The end.
[author's note - Step 5 completed. And they didn't really all live happily ever after, but this is a story, so I've got to wrap it up somehow.]
So what can we learn from this story?
Dragons are real.
Pixie dust matters.
You want to either be found on LinkedIn when the recruiter searches, or even better, you want to be top of mind when she's asking everyone who they'd recommend.
If this story felt depressing to you, I'm so sorry. It's not real, I promise. I just made it up. However, the lessons are real. And like many good stories, it's based in some truth.
So, here's what to do.
First, network like your income depends on it.
Second, fix your LinkedIn profile.
Third, go slay some dragons.
You've got this!
Author’s note: If you’re not sure where to start, reach out and I’ll share a guest pass for one of my upcoming workshops and we’ll go slay some dragons together!
Karen Worthy
Karen Worthy is an executive career transition coach, helping senior leaders define their goals and land their dream role. Her approach is often practical and tactical, stemming from her generalist background that includes Engineering, Operations, Supply Chain, Recruiting, and HR. She’s led organizations within multiple Fortune 50 companies (Amazon, Procter & Gamble) as well as multiple start-up companies. Her hands-on approach with her clients helps them accelerate their job search, often landing roles in half the time of their peers. She specializes in everything from personal branding (resumes/LI profiles), networking for the search, interview preparation, salary negotiations, and more. You can connect with her on LinkedIn or learn more about her services on her website, Worthy Career Paths.
Do resumes really matter as much as everyone says when I’m job searching?
Short answer: yes, they matter — but not as much as you think. Your resume is a door-opener, not the whole house. Networking and a strong LinkedIn presence usually get you in front of the hiring manager faster than a perfectly polished PDF.
Why do companies post jobs if they already have candidates in mind?
Because hiring is a messy mix of internal favorites, recruiter searches, referrals, and then — maybe — the job posting. By the time you see the role online, they may already be meeting the first batch of “knights” they found through referrals or internal channels.
How do I actually get noticed by recruiters on LinkedIn?
By making it ridiculously easy to find you. That means a LinkedIn profile packed with the right keywords, a strong headline, a clear story, and actual activity. Think: be the knight with the polished armor, not the one hiding in the woods waiting to be discovered.