Blog · page 2
Resumes, ATS, and the rest of the job hunt
Practical, no-fluff guides written for people actually applying for jobs.
5 min readResume fonts that survive ATS parsing (and the ones that don't)
Most font advice is aesthetic. The real question is which fonts parse cleanly into ATS systems — and which ones quietly break your dates and bullets.
resumeats
4 min readLinkedIn headlines: patterns that pull recruiter searches and don't sound cringy
Your LinkedIn headline does most of the search-surface work. Here are the patterns recruiters search for — and the ones they actively skip past.
linkedinheadlines
4 min readThe weakness question: an answer that doesn't sound like 'I work too hard'
Interviewers know all the fake-weakness tropes. Here's how to answer the question honestly without torpedoing yourself in the process.
interviewsbehavioral
5 min readNegotiating the first offer: a script for the awkward 20 minutes
Most candidates accept the first number because they don't have words ready. Here's a working script for the call where the offer lands.
negotiationsalary
5 min readSTAR for behavioral interviews: when it helps, when it sounds rehearsed
The STAR framework is the standard answer for behavioral interviews. It also fails half the time. Here's when to use it and when to drop it.
interviewsbehavioral
4 min read'Tell me about yourself' in 90 seconds: a structure that actually works
The most-asked interview question has a deceptively simple right answer — and most candidates ramble for three minutes when they should have spent 90 seconds.
interviewsbehavioral
4 min readThe phone screen: what a recruiter is actually evaluating in 25 minutes
The recruiter phone screen sounds like a casual chat. It isn't. Here's the specific set of questions they're answering about you.
interviewsphone-screen
4 min readCover letter opening lines: five patterns that actually get read
The first sentence of a cover letter determines whether the next four get read. Most candidates open with the worst possible line — here are five that work.
cover-letterswriting
4 min readThe career-change resume: how to translate experience the recruiter doesn't recognize
Switching fields makes most of your bullets read as irrelevant — even when they're not. Here's how to translate prior work into the new field's vocabulary.
career-changeresumes
4 min readThe master resume + variant system: tailor without starting over each time
Tailoring every application from scratch is unsustainable. A master resume plus 3-5 variants gives you 80% of the benefit at 20% of the work.
tailoringworkflow