Blog
Resumes, ATS, and the rest of the job hunt
Practical, no-fluff guides written for people actually applying for jobs.
6 min readNegotiating after you've already accepted: when it works and when it ends the offer
Reopening compensation after you've already said yes is one of the riskiest moves in job-search. Here's the narrow window where it works — and the much wider one where it doesn't.
negotiationoffers
5 min readThe LinkedIn URL on your resume: small detail, surprisingly common parse failure
Most resumes include a LinkedIn URL and most of them format it wrong for the ATS. Here's the small fix that prevents the click from breaking.
atsresume-format
6 min readFinance and consulting resume tropes: what's expected, what's tired, what actually signals
Finance and consulting resumes follow a tight house style. Here's which conventions to keep, which to drop, and where the real differentiation happens.
roles-and-industriesresume
5 min readListing certifications on a resume: what to include, where, and what to skip
Most resumes either over-list certifications and dilute the strong ones, or under-list and miss easy keyword wins. Here's the right cut.
resumecertifications
5 min readJob-search timing: when companies actually hire, and when they don't
Hiring is seasonal, and the seasonality matters more than candidates realize. Here's the rough shape of the year — and the few weeks that are genuinely bad to apply.
job-search-strategytiming
6 min readThe career-change cover letter: structure for explaining the pivot without apologizing
A career-change cover letter has to do extra work — explain the pivot, prove transferable skills, and not sound defensive. Here's the structure that does all three.
cover-letterscareer-change
5 min readReturning to work after caregiving: the resume framing that opens doors
A caregiving gap doesn't need to be hidden or apologized for. Here's how to position the time away so the gap reads as a chapter rather than a question mark.
special-situationscareer-gaps
5 min readResume section names the ATS actually expects (and the cute ones it ignores)
Calling your work history 'My Journey' looks creative on paper and breaks the ATS parser. Here are the section names that survive parsing — and the ones that don't.
atsresume-format
6 min read'Tell me about a conflict with a coworker': what the question is really testing
Interviewers ask about coworker conflict to test how you read other people and handle disagreement — not to confirm that you've never had one. Here's the structure that works.
interviewsbehavioral
5 min readThe resignation letter, written like an adult: a template that works
Two paragraphs, no theatrics, no apologies. Here's the structure of a resignation letter that keeps the door open and gets you out clean.
post-interviewoffers