Notes on getting hired
Practical guides to tailoring a CV, preparing for interviews and keeping a job search going. Each post ends with one thing to try.
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RSS feed- Interviews7 min
The STAR method, with answers that don’t sound rehearsed
STAR means Situation, Task, Action, Result. Keep the first two short, spend most of the answer on what you did, and end on what changed.
- Tailoring5 min
The German cover letter: DIN 5008 layout, subject line and closing
A German cover letter is a formal one-page letter: your details, the employer’s, place and date, a subject line, and “Mit freundlichen Grüßen” to close.
- Tailoring6 min
How to explain a gap in your CV in one honest line
Name a gap of more than two months on your CV in one line: the months, a plain reason, and what you did alongside. Save the detail for the interview.
- Tailoring5 min
How to write a German CV (Lebenslauf) that a German recruiter expects
A German CV is a table: newest first, month and year on every date, two A4 pages at most. A photo is optional, and every gap gets one honest line.
- Tailoring6 min
A cover letter that leads with evidence, not enthusiasm
Name the role, give one reason for this company, then two or three examples from your CV that answer the posting. Enthusiasm comes after the proof.
- Tailoring7 min
Photo, birth date, two pages? How a CV changes across Europe
A photo is expected in Berlin and taken off in London. What each country looks for, and what stays the same everywhere.
- Job search7 min
What an ATS really does with your CV, and the myths it doesn’t
The “75% rejected by robots” figure came from a sales pitch. What applicant tracking systems do, what they don’t, and the few things worth fixing.
- Job search5 min
The seven-day rule: when to follow up after applying
Most applications go quiet. What a week of silence usually means, and a follow-up that doesn't read as pushy.
- Interviews6 min
“Tell us about a feature you owned”: a structure that works
Scale, your part, the result and what you’d change. Four beats that fit in ninety seconds.
- Tailoring4 min
What to cut when the tailored CV runs to two pages
Keep what the posting asks for. Hide the rest in the tailored copy; it stays in your master CV.
- Product3 min
Why Romy leaves blanks instead of guessing numbers
A made-up metric can cost you the interview. How the blank works and what to put in it.
- Job search5 min
Reading a job posting the way the hiring manager wrote it
Must-haves, nice-to-haves and the words that repeat. How to find the three things that matter.
- Tailoring4 min
What to clean up in a CV before you import it
Consistent dates, one role per heading and real text instead of images. Ten minutes that make import work.