You’ve probably seen the LinkedIn posts, the conference talks, and the articles confidently declaring that AI hasn’t taken jobs in PPC, it’s cutting down work time and allowing practitioners to focus on being strategic thinkers.
Good for them. Genuinely.
However, those voices are coming from people who already have a seat at the table. People are already hired, who were promoted, successfully went freelance on their own terms, or built enough of a reputation that the market shifted around them rather than against them. They’re not wrong, but they’re just not talking to those trying to break into the industry or find a job right now.
This article is for the people still trying to get in the door or re-enter the door.
Let’s Talk About What the Data Actually Says
I ran a poll across my newsletter of 3,000 PPC professionals. Of the 321 who responded, the results were pretty clear.
A whopping 90% had been job hunting for over six months. Not weeks. Months. And they weren’t entry-level candidates either, these were PPC specialists with real experience & real results, who were incredibly frustrated.
When asked when they first noticed the market getting harder to break into:
- 36% cited January 2025 as the turning point
- The rest pointed to various points across the preceding two years
- Many said they genuinely couldn’t pinpoint when it shifted, only that it had
This tracks with the State of PPC Report 2026, which surveyed 1,306 professionals and found that 53% say managing PPC is harder than it was two years ago, with only 16% saying it’s gotten easier. And critically, individual contributors report greater difficulty than senior practitioners or executives, who are in a bit of an ivory tower from day-to-day platform responsibilities.
So, in other words, the higher up you are, the easier it looks from where you’re standing. And because it looks easier, most of us know companies are using AI as both a tool and an excuse to eliminate applicants. 20% of clients now plan to replace agencies with AI entirely. That’s not a rumor, that’s survey data.
You’re Being Rejected Before a Human Reads Your Name
Here is the part nobody explains clearly enough.
Most large companies and many mid-sized ones are using Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) to pre-screen every CV that comes in. The system scans for specific keywords pulled directly from the job description. If your CV doesn’t contain enough of them, you may not move forward. No human ever looks at your resume.
This isn’t personal. It’s a volume problem. A single job posting in PPC right now can attract hundreds, sometimes thousands, of applicants. Companies don’t have the bandwidth to read every single one.
What this means practically:
- Read the job description carefully and mirror its exact language in your CV where it shows how you’ve completed similar tasks.
- No, don’t rely on AI to re-write your resume because it doesn’t understand nuance, industry specific language, and finesse the way real PPC practitioners do.
- If the job says “Google Ads” and your CV says “paid search,” you may be getting filtered out over terminology.
- Use the job description as a keyword map, not just a list of requirements
- Tailor your CV for each application rather than sending one generic document everywhere
When a human is reviewing CVs, the problem shifts. Higher application volume, uneven quality of candidates’ skills and experience, and the rise of AI-generated resumes are making it harder for leaders to assess potential hires quickly and confidently. Hiring managers are spending less time per CV, not more. Sometimes the person reviewing your resume has no experience in PPC at all. They see your previous job titles that include “Strategist” and automatically assume you don’t have in-keyboard experience, you just sit on a high-horse directing coordinators – which can’t be further from the truth.
The best way to make the few seconds that use reviewing your resume is to ensure your most relevant experience is at the top with actual wins, examples, and strategies. Treat your resume like it’s an application for a Paid Search Award for best case study.
Once You Get the Interview, Communication Is Everything
This is where most candidates lose the opportunity and don’t understand why.
Telling a hiring manager you “managed Google Ads campaigns” is not proof. Saying you “improved ROAS” without context is not proof. Claiming you are “highly proficient in paid search” is not proof.
Proof looks like this:
- A case study that walks through a real campaign: the objective, the strategy, what you tested, what the results were, and what you learnt
- A screen recording or video walkthrough of an account structure you built, showing your actual thinking
- A portfolio page or a simple document that a hiring manager can look at before or after an interview that shows your work visually.
- Being able to clearly, confidently explain what you’ve successfully done in a way that someone would understand.
Employers are actively dropping degree requirements and shifting toward skills-based hiring, with 85% now reporting they use skills-based hiring practices. They no longer care where you learned it; they want proof you can do it.
The bar is higher. You used to be able to walk in, talk confidently about your experience, and get hired on personality and resume points. Now the companies worth working for want to see receipts laid out in front of them in their face.
If you don’t have formal case studies yet, start building them now. Document your current or most recent work. Write up what you did, why you did it, and what happened. Create videos walking through accounts or just explaining how you would handle different scenarios in accounts.
Stop Cold Applying and Use Referrals
Here is the most underused tactic in PPC job searching, and it works.
Most companies pay their own employees a referral bonus when they recommend an external candidate who gets hired. These bonuses can range from a few hundred pounds to several thousand. Employees are genuinely motivated to refer good people because there is money on the table for them.
Here is how to use this to your advantage:
- Identify specific companies you want to work for rather than applying randomly to everything posted
- Search LinkedIn for people who currently work there, ideally in marketing or paid media roles
- Send a genuine, short connection request — not a sales pitch, just a note saying you admire their work or the company
- After connecting, start a conversation. Comment on their posts. Be a real person, not a bot.
- Once a relationship has started, reach out and ask directly: does the company have a referral programme? If so, would they be willing to submit your CV?
- Join PPC Lives Freelance network
Most people will respect the directness if you’ve built even a small amount of rapport first. You are also doing them a favour by flagging the bonus opportunity.
This approach also bypasses the ATS entirely in many cases, because referred candidates often get passed directly to a hiring manager. That alone makes it worth the effort.
Speak Their Language, Not Yours
This sounds obvious. It is not.
Most candidates talk about their experience in the way that makes sense to them. The hiring manager is sitting there wondering how your experience maps to their specific problem.
Before any interview, do this:
- Research the company’s industry, their likely customer base, and the types of campaigns they would be running
- Look at their ads if you can. What platforms are they on? What does their creative look like? What keywords seem to be driving their strategy?
- Prepare specific examples from your own background that mirror what they are doing, not just generic wins from past roles
When you speak in the interview, frame everything around their world. “In a similar industry, I saw this problem and solved it this way” lands infinitely better than “at my last job, I did X.”
If they ask why you want the role, the answer is not about what the role gives you. It is about what you bring to them. The more you can show you already understand their challenges before they have explained them, the more you stand out.
There are now employers who require you to do PPC assessments (free/paid) to test your strategies and/or presentation style. I’m at a standstill on how I feel about this. I’ve seen cases where the assessments were easy enough considering the role that it was just a matter of using sunken cost. However, I also have legal proof of companies using “assesments” & “interviews” to essentially get free work, free consultations, & free advice from multiple candidates. Use discernment when you choose or choose not to do these interview steps.
A Few More Things That Actually Move the Needle
Build a public presence, even a small one. A LinkedIn post sharing a lesson you learnt from a recent campaign, a short article, a comment adding value in a thread or anything really. These all compound over time. Hiring managers absolutely do look you up before an interview and sometimes before they even invite you to one.
Get certified, and keep them current. I’m not a fan of the PPC certifications, but some companies are. If someone asks if you have Google Ads certifications, Meta Blueprint, or similar credentials it’s smoother to have a quick yes than any answer other than that. They are not proof of skill on their own, but their absence can knock you out early if your competition already has them.
Follow up after every application and interview. A short, genuine email after an interview to say thank you and reference something specific from the conversation is still rare enough that it gets noticed. Do not skip this.
Depending on where you are in your search: Be specific about what you are looking for.
If you are comfortably looking without much stress, you should start to consider the type of account where you do your best work in lead gen vs ecommerce, a specific industry, a specific vertical, or in-house vs agency.
Depending on where you are in your search: Be broad about what you are looking for.
Sometimes life happens and you don’t have the luxury to be selective. Many industry experts I know prefer working in-house over agencies, but there are more agency opportunities than in-house. If you needed a role or client yesterday, it’s best to keep your options open.
Practice talking about your numbers out loud. Most candidates know their results but fumble when asked to explain them clearly under pressure. Before any interview, sit down and narrate your best case study from start to finish as if you are explaining it to someone who knows nothing about PPC. Do it until it flows without hesitation.
The Bottom Line
The “AI Success Narrative” is a survivor bias and it’s okay if you don’t relate to that. It’s okay if you’re on the other side where you genuinely feel like AI & the people who’ve mastered utilizing AI have taken PPC jobs. Yes, AI when used correctly can help optimize campaigns & eventually get promotions, but it does not describe the reality of trying to get hired in PPC right now in 2026. It’s hard right now.
The market is competitive. Companies are hiring more selectively. The bar for proof of work has never been higher. And most candidates are still applying the same way they did five years ago and wondering why it is not working.
The good news is that the people doing the things outlined above: tailoring CVs carefully, building visible proof of work, using referral networks strategically, and speaking directly to what a hiring manager needs – are still getting hired. The path is narrower. It’s more competitive, but it is not closed.
