r/careerquestions

Anyone have any input on the absolute best answers for these questions, first round tomorrow, non-technical panel, director has a background in IT project management

Honestly I've felt I've studied pretty well for it, based on multiple AIs they all conceded to about the same set of 10 to 15 questions.

When they ask why should we hire you, this to me is another huge selling point I'm curious about. How would you go about answering these what do you focus on?

Also, is there anything else that's going to make sure that I go ahead and seal an offer, the pool is made up of locals, I'm a candidate willing to relocate, strongly committed to the cause, this job is basically a dream come true, there's probably about 5 or so other contenders.

I feel like because I'm only 27 what reason is there to actually take me seriously versus someone that's 60 years old and potentially has institutional knowledge.

Thank you

I’ve always used poetry as a way to understand myself. Whenever life felt heavy, lonely, confusing, or emotionally overwhelming, writing somehow made everything quieter in my head. Even random thoughts used to become lines, and lines became poems without trying too hard.

But lately, I sit down to write and feel completely blank. The emotions are still there, maybe even stronger than before, but I can’t turn them into anything meaningful anymore. And honestly, it feels upsetting losing connection with something that once felt like the only safe place for my mind.

So I genuinely want to ask other writers or poets here — have you ever gone through a writer’s block like this?

What helped you reconnect with writing again?

Hi everyone,

I’m trying to transition into cybersecurity and get my first SOC Analyst role from a non-IT background.

So far, I have:

- Completed cybersecurity certifications

- Built a few SOC/home lab projects

- Practiced log analysis, SIEM monitoring, networking, and incident response basics

Even after learning and doing hands-on practice, getting the first opportunity still feels challenging for freshers from non-IT backgrounds.

I’d like to ask professionals and recruiters here:

- What helps a fresher stand out for entry-level SOC roles?

- What skills are companies actually expecting?

- Are home lab projects valuable during interviews?

- What should I improve to increase interview calls?

I’m continuously learning and improving my practical skills, and I’d really appreciate guidance from this community.

Thank you!

I hate interviews because I feel like it's never a representation of what you're actually capable of and it's extremely awkward

I've got one this thursday, for a pretty big opportunity, I did my research on the panel for this round and they're all a non-technical background, so I'm not expecting this to be a deep grill, but either way, it's like, what gives?

I'm looking into mock AI interviews, probably with ChatGPT or something tomorrow or Wednesday, I'd prefer if I could fully simulate what the entire hour would be in advance even AI faces would help.

My concern is just freezing up on some question out of the blue, I'm not memorizing shit, no point to it, but I have outlined some attributes from the JD they're interested in and I used that to develop answers to most of what I believe are the questions

Starting with tell me about yourself, and why do you want this role

I would love to give up my FT job to do web design/developing but I would need 5-6 clients per month. Is that realistic? Should I aim to become an expert in any certain aspect (thinking accessibility)?

I’m currently trying to get a degree in CIS but I’m wondering if it’s worth it? A few people I know with CIS degrees are getting laid off and/or just can’t find a job. I work at a dealership and a ton of people have CIS degrees. They ended up here because they couldn’t get jobs. So I thought I’d get more perspectives here. Thank you everyone

Hey r/careerguidance!

I have been job hunting recently and found it
really time consuming to tailor my CV for every
single job application.

I started using AI to help rewrite my CV to match
job descriptions and it has been working really
well for me personally.

I built a simple tool for myself that automates
this process and wanted to know if others have
tried something similar.

My questions for the community:

- Do you tailor your CV for every job you apply for?
- How long does it take you each time?
- Have you tried using AI to help with this?
- What results did you get?

If anyone wants to try the tool I built and give
me honest feedback I am happy to share it in
the comments!

Would love to hear what strategies have worked
for people here when applying for multiple jobs.

I recently graduated and I have minimal software experience and most of my experience are projects completed through the course of school. I'm thinking of heading in a Network or eventually cloud direction, what certificates would you recommend to help and Kickstart and I don't mind recommendations of other pathways like Security or Data analysis, I'll appreciate every good advice and a nudge in the right direction

I genuinely thought recruiters were ignoring my applications.

For almost 2 months I was applying with same resume everywhere. SEO roles, content roles, digital marketing roles, even some growth positions. Hardly any replies. Then one HR friend told me most resumes are getting filtered before anybody even sees them.

After that I started changing resumes based on JD and honestly doing it manually everyday became too much headache after some point.

Recently tested Applyzio because I wanted to see whether ATS optimisation tools are actually useful or just another AI trend. Surprisingly the matched resumes were looking much better than what I was sending earlier. Not saying suddenly I started getting tons of interviews. But atleast now I am getting assessment mails and recruiter replies sometimes instead of complete silence.

Feels like job hunting itself has become a full time job now.

I’m about to start at a hospital and wanted to see if anyone had any tips for success when starting out.

I’m finishing up a 2 year stint at community college, getting a AAS in Computer Information Systems. I plan on getting a few certs, or continuing college to get a BAS in management. 37 years old right now, would be 40 when and if I went for the BAS. That is kinda separate from IT, and I’m thinking about it it because I feel like I will have to take a substantial pay cut for a lengthy time if I get in to IT.

I built a job board that runs every listing through an AI pipeline - extracting salary, experience level, tech stack, red flags, and scoring quality 0-100. Hit 201k listings, thought the data was worth sharing.

Salary transparency is bad

~60% of listings have zero salary info. Only ~15% disclose real numbers. When they do, average range is $153k – $215k.

-----

1. Intern: $70k – $110k
2. Junior: $80k – $120k
3. Mid: $100k – $140k
4. Senior: $130k – $180k
5. Lead: $140k – $195k
6. Director: $170k – $230k
7. VP: $200k – $300k

The market is crazy for juniors

Senior + mid roles = 58% of all listings. Junior + intern = under 15%.

----

Remote isn't dead

On-site ~40%, remote ~30%, hybrid ~12%. Nearly a third are still fully remote.

Most wanted tech

1. Python (25k)
2. SQL (15k)
3. Kubernetes (12k)
4. React (10k)
5. Docker (9k)
6. Azure (8k)
7. JavaScript (7k)
8. C++ (7k)

>!13% of listings have red flags!<

26k out of 201k triggered at least one - mandatory overtime language, hidden salary, third-party recruiters. Average listing quality: 80/100, higher than I expected.

Anyone have a solid AI Interview Prep tool they use that's reliable? I read about trackpoint.ai

I got through a phone screen yesterday and was invited to the first interview on the 21st. The applicant pool is pretty small but I'm guessing I'll be up against some other very good contenders and want to be fully prepared

The role is for a microsoft cloud engineer. I guess the second question would be are certs a pin needle when it comes to who gets the job? Like, if they preferred a cert that was listed in the jd should you get that. I have enough knowledge to obtain it in about the next few days

Thanks for help

Background: I build HAIRED (haired.app), an AI resume tool. I'm sharing this because I've seen more resume data than most people, and the "best AI resume builder" discussions here tend to be either outdated or written by people who tested each tool for 20 minutes. I tested all of these properly. I'll be upfront wherever my bias might show.

The short version for people who won't read the whole thing:

— Best pure ATS optimization → Rezi — Best for managing a complex job search → Teal — Best design + ATS balance → Kickresume — Best for European/LATAM markets + iOS → HAIRED (yes, mine — take that with appropriate salt) — Best for optimizing an existing resume → Resume Worded — Most overrated → Canva (great for design, terrible for ATS — and ~80% of rejected CVs we see were built there)

The detailed breakdown:

Rezi — still the ATS benchmark for tech roles. If you're applying to FAANG or any company using Greenhouse/Workday, Rezi's keyword targeting is the most precise I've tested. The Rezi Score (0-100) is genuinely useful — aim for 85+. Downsides: templates are basic, customer support has gotten worse, no mobile app. Pricing is reasonable with the lifetime option.

Teal — the best job search management platform disguised as a resume builder. The real value isn't the resume itself, it's the job tracker + keyword optimizer + LinkedIn import all in one place. If you're running 30+ applications simultaneously, Teal keeps you sane. Pure resume quality is middle of the pack though.

Kickresume — best balance of design and ATS compatibility in the list. The templates actually look good AND pass ATS, which is harder to achieve than it sounds. GPT-powered writing assistant is solid. LinkedIn import saves time. Weak point: cover letter generator is template-based, not truly AI-generated.

Enhancv — strongest for storytelling and non-linear careers. If you've had gaps, pivots, or an unconventional path, Enhancv's narrative approach beats the others. Watch out: some templates use formatting that breaks certain ATS parsers. Test before submitting to large companies.

Resume Worded — not a builder, an optimizer. If you already have a resume and want line-by-line feedback, this is the most thorough tool I've found. Think of it as a code reviewer for your CV. Free plan is very limited — needs a subscription to get real value.

Jobscan — similar to Resume Worded but more focused on keyword matching specifically. Better for rapid iteration across multiple job descriptions. Less useful for overall resume quality.

VisualCV — ignore for tech roles at large companies. ATS will butcher the formatting. Only makes sense if you're sending your resume directly to a human, not through an online portal. Designers and creatives only.

HAIRED — I built this so make your own judgment. What we do differently: built for European CV standards (photo guidelines, A4 format, multilingual English/Spanish), includes LinkedIn profile analysis, native iOS app. Our data shows users who complete the full ATS optimization flow get 36% more interview callbacks. Weakest on template variety compared to Kickresume. Best fit if you're applying in Spain, Germany, France, or LATAM — or if you want to optimize your LinkedIn alongside your resume.

What actually matters more than which tool you pick:

The tool is maybe 20% of the equation. The other 80% is whether you tailor your CV for each application. Our data on 10,000+ resumes is unambiguous on this: people who send one generic resume everywhere get ~2% callback rates. People who spend 15 minutes tailoring per application get 36% more callbacks. Every tool on this list helps with tailoring — most people just don't use that feature.

For tech roles specifically: the keyword gap between how candidates describe their stack and how job postings describe it is surprisingly large. "Built microservices" vs "microservices architecture" vs "distributed systems" — they mean similar things but ATS treats them differently. Run your resume against 3-4 target job descriptions before your next application cycle regardless of which tool you use.

Happy to go deeper on any of these ATS behavior by company/ATS system, keyword patterns by role, or anything else from the data. This community has given me a lot over the years, trying to give something back.

In my country, if I have to join as a full stack developer or backend developer or ai engineer, I have to have at least 1 year of experience even though the job posting mentions junior level hiring. To overcome the experience barrier, I am thinking of going software quality assurance since it's easier to enter and doesn't require that much of an experience. After gaining 1 year of experience in sqa, I want to go and try to apply to the software engineering or ai engineering roles with years of experience in software quality assurance. Is it the right track? Will the recruiters count the experience in sqa and call me back? Will i be able to at least sit in the interview?