Career insights, resume tactics, and interview strategies from a former recruiter.
If your resume looks like everyone else’s, hiring managers will skim and move on. Use a clean hierarchy, quantify outcomes, and mirror the language of the job description. You’ll pass the ATS and signal immediate fit to a human reviewer.
Mock interviews reveal blind spots: rambling answers, vague examples, or weak openings. Practice with a coach, record yourself, and tighten responses using the STAR method. Confidence follows clarity.
Replace cold asks with value-first messages. Comment thoughtfully on posts, share relevant industry news, and offer help before you request it. Warm relationships surface roles before they’re posted.
Rejection stings—but it’s data. Save job descriptions, compare feedback, and refine your talk track. Each iteration improves your signal to hiring teams and moves you closer to an offer.
Recruiters triage: signal of impact, clarity of fit, and red flags. Show outcomes up front, keep formatting scannable, and align keywords to the role. Make it easy to say “yes” in 10 seconds.
Your cover letter should connect the dots the resume can’t. Lead with a relevant win, show why you care about the company, and end with a confident ask. Two to three short paragraphs are plenty.
Confidence is a system: prepare your stories, practice your opening, and control the controllables—lighting, tech, water, and quiet space. A calm start sets the tone for the whole conversation.
Visibility matters when you’re not in the office. Send crisp weekly updates, volunteer for cross-team work, and share learnings openly. Consistent signal beats occasional visibility spikes.
STAR works best when your stories are tight and conversational. Set the scene in one sentence, focus on the action you took, and quantify the result. Finish with a quick lesson learned.