Career preparation
Make your experience legible.
Most people underestimate what they have done and then describe it in terms nobody outside their old field recognises. Both are fixable.
Resume organisation
Five things that consistently help
- 01
Choose the direction first
A resume aimed at everything reads as aimed at nothing. Pick one path and let it decide what goes near the top.
- 02
Lead with relevance, not chronology
The reader is scanning for evidence that you can do the job described. Arrange your history so that evidence appears first.
- 03
Describe outcomes, not duties
"Responsible for reporting" says nothing. "Rebuilt the weekly report as a query, cutting four hours of manual work" says what you can do.
- 04
Use the vocabulary of the destination
Translate your experience into the terms used in the field you're applying to — without claiming more than you did.
- 05
Cut anything you can't discuss
Everything on the page is fair game in an interview. If you'd struggle to talk about it for two minutes, remove it.
Portfolio planning
What a portfolio needs to contain
Four pieces cover most of what a reviewer is actually looking for.
One project with real depth
Something that handled genuine edge cases and that you can explain decision by decision. Depth beats volume every time.
A written account of the thinking
The problem, what you tried, what you rejected, what you'd change. The write-up is often read more carefully than the artefact.
Evidence of working with others' work
A contribution, a review, a fix in an unfamiliar codebase or process. Most jobs are changing what exists, not starting fresh.
Something honest about limits
Stating what your project doesn't do demonstrates judgement. Hiding it just means someone finds it in the interview instead.
Frequently asked