Practical tips for interview prep.
Short, useful notes and resources — separate from the blog, focused on quick wins.
How to take notes in an interview without losing eye contact
A short system for capturing the details you'll need later — company names, numbers, follow-up questions — without turning the conversation into a dictation exercise.
More tips
Do Employers Actually Call Your References?
Reference checks aren't random — company size, seniority, and how the interview went all predict whether anyone picks up the phone. Here's how to brief the references who will actually answer.
The “Entry-Level” Posting Is Lying To You
Title says entry-level, requirements read senior, and the salary field is empty. Here's how to read a posting's actual filter and close the gap in your application.
The Hiring Manager Round Is Not About Your Skills
By the time you reach the hiring manager, your skills have mostly already been established. Here's what that hour is actually measuring instead.
Fired, Nearly Fired, and Afraid to Ask: A Field Guide
The dread of being fired does more damage than the firing. A timeline of actual moves — before, during, after — including the two calm sentences that answer the interview question.
How to Prepare for an AI Interview — From Someone Who Builds Them
AI interviews punish people who wing it in very specific, very fixable ways. Field notes from a builder who sat on the candidate's side of the call.
“Not a Ton of Experience” Is a Framing Problem
Experience, in the room where it matters, is not a duration — it's a set of stories that survive questioning. How to excavate and translate the past you already have.
Job Assessments: When to Grind, When to Walk
The frustration with assessments is rarely difficulty — it's asymmetry. One rule sorts nearly every assessment into 'do it' or 'close the tab'.
The Degree Question, Settled by Two Contradicting Careers
One person built an IT career on a faked degree. An Ivy League graduate can't get started. A degree is a filter at the front gate — here's how to route around it honestly.
The Market Is Brutal. Play a Different Game.
Yes, it used to be easier — and no, it's not a referendum on you. What changed is noise, not just jobs. The counter-move is fewer, heavier things.