Ghost postings: spotting a job ad that leads nowhere
Between a fifth and a third of online postings match no real opening. Here is what they look like.
Guides
What nobody explains to you.
Ten short, sourced pieces on what actually decides an application. Every claim carries its source in the text.
Why applying within 24 hours changes everything
Nine interviews out of ten go to people who applied on day one. This is not about merit, it is about the queue.
What a screening tool actually reads in your resume
Recruiters read less and less, parsers filter first. Here is what breaks machine reading, and how to check it yourself.
The cover letter: what gets it binned in thirty seconds
The problem is not using a machine to write. The problem is producing generic text, and it shows.
Resumes by country: photo, age, page count
A photo on a US resume gets the file dropped. A German resume without one looks incomplete. This is not a detail.
Putting numbers on your work: the three-question method
A bullet without a number reads as an opinion. With one, it becomes checkable. Here is how to find numbers when you think you have none.
Why auto-apply tools do not work
They optimise for volume. The market has started penalising exactly that.
How many applications a day? The answer is not 'as many as possible'
Past a certain point, each extra application lowers the quality of the previous ones. Here is where to draw the line.
Silence after applying: what it means, and what to do
77% of candidates think less of a company that does not reply. That does not help you. Here is what does.
Negotiating pay when the posting shows nothing
Most postings publish no range. That is no reason to walk in blind.
Changing careers: defending a record that ticks no boxes
The problem with a career change is not missing skills. It is that nobody knows where to file them.
Reading a job ad like a recruiter: hard requirements versus wishful thinking
Every ad mixes three things: what will eliminate you, what will rank you, and what fills the page. Telling them apart changes what you write.
The photo on your resume: where it helps, where it eliminates
The same photo is expected in Berlin, tolerated in Paris and disqualifying in New York. The job's country decides, not your taste.
The no-experience resume: building proof when you are starting out
A first resume does not lack experience, it lacks translation. What you have already done counts, provided you tell it in results.
Applying in Germany: the full file, the photo, the dated letter
The German market does not read a resume, it reads a file. Format, photo, date and attachments follow precise customs.
Comparing two offers: what converts to money and what you pay for later
The advertised salary is one line of the calculation. Commute, remote days, bonus and growth convert too, and often change the ranking.
Preparing an interview from the ad, not from stock questions
Question-and-answer lists prepare everyone the same way. The ad, your application and the employer's history prepare you.
The resume gap: explaining it without apologising
A career gap does not disqualify you, a disguised one does. One honest, dated, closed line beats every layout acrobatic.
Applying abroad: the work authorisation before the letter
A foreign recruiter's first question is not your skill, it is your right to work in their country. Answering it upfront changes the file's fate.
A first job abroad from the Maghreb: where to start
The project rarely fails on skills. It fails on the order of steps: picking a country before understanding who can actually hire a foreign candidate there.
Remote work: what “remote” actually means in a job ad
The same word covers five realities, from a worldwide role to an office in disguise. Confusing them costs weeks of wasted applications.
The first 90 days: making a new job stick
Probation is decided less by performance than by three observable things: understanding fast, delivering small, and making work visible without selling yourself.
Applying in Switzerland: customs, permits, and what the salaries say
The Swiss market pays well, reads fast, and follows precise rules. A file that ignores them is set aside before being judged on substance.
Writing a resume in English as a non-native speaker: the translation traps
A word-for-word translated resume gives itself away in three lines. It is not the grammar that betrays it, it is the conventions: degrees, verbs, and false friends.
The speculative application: when it works, how to build one
Sent at random, it ends in the bin. Sent at the right moment, to the right person, with a precise reason, it skips the queue entirely.
Transferable skills: naming them without jargon
“Soft skills” convinces nobody. A skill transfers when it is told as a fact: what you did, under what conditions, with what result.
Recruitment agency or direct employer: two games, two strategies
The same ad does not play the same way depending on who posted it. The agency sells a candidate to a client; the employer is looking for a colleague. Everything follows.
The video interview: the technical preparation everyone skips
The first twenty seconds of a video interview judge your image and sound before your answers. Everything is fixed the day before, nothing is fixed live.
Running several hiring processes in parallel without burning yourself
Applying in series is slow; applying in parallel is risky only when improvised. The difference comes down to rigorous tracking and three prepared sentences.