Resume guides
Straight answers to the questions that actually change whether you get an interview - written without the myths that follow résumé advice around. 34 guides, and counting.
How to write an ATS-friendly resume
What an applicant tracking system actually does to your resume, the formatting choices that break it, and how to fix them without making your resume ugly.
Read the guide →4 min readHow long should a resume be?
One page or two? The honest answer, when the extra page helps you, and how to cut a resume down without deleting the things that win interviews.
Read the guide →5 min readHow to tailor your resume to a job description
A repeatable way to match a posting without lying, rewriting from scratch, or spending an hour per application.
Read the guide →4 min readHow to write a resume summary that gets read
The three lines at the top of your resume are the most-read and most-wasted space on the page. Here is what to put there.
Read the guide →5 min read10 resume mistakes that quietly cost you interviews
Not typos - the structural mistakes that make strong candidates look average, and the fix for each.
Read the guide →7 min readHow to write a resume with no work experience
A first resume has to be built from coursework, projects, part-time work and volunteering - here is how to turn those into a page an employer takes seriously.
Read the guide →6 min readCV or resume: which one to send
The same word means different documents in different countries. What each one is, and which to send for a job in the US, the UK, Europe, the Gulf, South Asia and academia.
Read the guide →7 min readResume format for jobs in the UAE and the Gulf
Photo or no photo, nationality, visa status, notice period and the Arabic question - what employers in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Riyadh and Doha actually expect on a CV.
Read the guide →5 min readHow to explain a career gap
Gaps are common and rarely fatal. What matters is that yours is visible, brief, and followed by evidence you are current - here is how to write one.
Read the guide →6 min readHow to find the keywords a job actually wants
Keyword advice is usually either stuffing or superstition. Here is a method: read the posting properly, pick the terms that repeat, and place them where they belong.
Read the guide →5 min readHow to write a cover letter that gets read
Most cover letters repeat the resume and say nothing. A short, specific letter - four paragraphs, under 250 words - still moves applications forward.
Read the guide →4 min readPDF or Word: which file should you send
PDF keeps your layout, Word is still requested by some agencies, and the wrong choice occasionally breaks parsing. A short answer, with the exceptions.
Read the guide →6 min readWriting a resume when you are changing career
A career-change resume has one job: make the relevance obvious in ten seconds, so nobody has to work out how your last field maps to this one.
Read the guide →5 min readTurning your resume into a LinkedIn profile
A profile is not a pasted resume. What to copy, what to rewrite, and the fields recruiters actually filter on when they search LinkedIn.
Read the guide →5 min readHow to put numbers on your work
Every resume guide says quantify your achievements, then leaves you staring at a job where nobody measured anything. Here is how to find real numbers.
Read the guide →6 min readShare your resume as a link instead of a file
A link opens on any phone, never lands in spam as an attachment, and tells you when it was read. How to publish one, when to use it, and when to send a PDF instead.
Read the guide →5 min readTurn a resume you already have into a shareable page
Upload the PDF or Word file you already use, and get a clean, mobile-friendly page with a link and a QR code - without rebuilding anything.
Read the guide →6 min readKeeping track of job applications without losing your mind
Twenty applications in and nobody remembers which CV went where. A simple tracking habit, what to record, and when to follow up.
Read the guide →5 min readApplying faster with the browser extension
Save a job from LinkedIn or Indeed in one click, and fill application forms from your saved details instead of typing them again.
Read the guide →6 min readTranslating your resume for another country
What to translate, what to leave in the original, and how to keep an Arabic or French version of your CV without maintaining two documents by hand.
Read the guide →6 min readPractising interview answers from your resume
The questions you will be asked come from what is on your page. How to predict them, structure an answer, and rehearse without a friend to help.
Read the guide →5 min readOne set of details, many resumes
If you apply for more than one kind of role - or write resumes for family and friends - saved profiles stop you retyping the same history every time.
Read the guide →6 min readJob alerts that actually match your resume
Most job alerts match on a job title and nothing else, which is why they are mostly noise. Here is how to set up alerts that score each opening against what you have actually done.
Read the guide →5 min readWhy applying on company career pages works better
Applications sent through a company's own careers page reach a different queue from aggregator applications. Here is why that matters and how to find the postings.
Read the guide →6 min readHow many jobs should you apply to each week?
The honest answer depends on how you apply, not on a magic number. Here is what the volume-versus-quality trade-off actually looks like and how to find your own rate.
Read the guide →6 min readDo auto-apply job tools actually work?
Services that submit applications for you promise volume without effort. Here is what they do, what they risk, and where automating a job search genuinely pays off.
Read the guide →6 min readHow to answer the salary expectations question
The question comes early, usually in writing, and most people answer it badly. Here is how to research a number, when to give one, and what to say when you cannot avoid it.
Read the guide →7 min readWhy you get no response to job applications
Silence after applying is rarely personal and usually has one of a handful of mechanical causes. Here is how to work out which one is yours, and what to change.
Read the guide →6 min readHow to get a remote job with a company abroad
Most remote jobs are open only to one country, and the posting rarely says so clearly. Here is how to spot the difference and how employers actually hire across borders.
Read the guide →7 min readHow to write a software engineer resume
What to put on an engineering resume, how to describe work so it survives a keyword filter, and the habits that make reviewers stop reading.
Read the guide →5 min readFollowing up after applying, without being a pest
When a follow-up helps, when it does nothing, and what to write. Includes the one situation where chasing genuinely changes the outcome.
Read the guide →6 min readHow to email a recruiter about a job
A short email to a named recruiter outperforms an application form, but only if it is short. What to write, what to leave out, and when it is worth doing at all.
Read the guide →5 min readWhich resume should you send for this job?
Most people keep one resume and send it everywhere, or keep five and lose track of which is which. Here is how to decide what to send, and when a second version is worth the upkeep.
Read the guide →7 min readLooking for a tech job from Pakistan
What actually works when applying from Pakistan: which employers hire locally, how remote roles are restricted, and what to put on a resume for a reader abroad.
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