@KeyCareerCoach

I read thousands of resumes over 12 years as a hiring manager at Meta. Here's what actually separated the ones that got interviews from the ones that didn't: 🧵

Most senior engineers who get stuck aren't failing technically. They're still playing the senior engineer game. Staff isn't a harder version of senior. It's a completely different job with different rules that nobody actually explains to you. resources.keycoaching.co/blog/senior-to…

70 applications, no offers isn't always a "tough market" problem. Most engineers are losing at one of 3 specific stages — and fixing the wrong one wastes months. The hard part: each stage needs a completely different fix. resources.keycoaching.co/blog/70-applic…

The resume coaching industry is mostly people charging to tell you to use bullet points and action verbs. The actual problem is that your bullets don't show impact. That's a thinking problem, not a formatting problem.

'Culture fit' is what hiring managers say when they mean 'reminds me of myself.' It's how homogenous teams stay homogenous and call it a meritocracy.

The resume coaching industry is mostly people charging $300 to tell you to use bullet points and action verbs. The actual problem is that your bullets don't show impact. That's a thinking problem, not a formatting problem.

Your resume goes in the same pile as 400 others. Your friend's Slack message to the hiring manager does not. The job market has never been a meritocracy and pretending otherwise just hurts people who didn't go to the right school.

'Culture fit' is what hiring managers say when they mean 'reminds me of myself.' It's how homogenous teams stay homogenous and call it a meritocracy.

The resume coaching industry is mostly people charging $300 to tell you to use bullet points and action verbs. The actual problem is that your bullets don't show impact. That's a thinking problem, not a formatting problem.

Testing reply functionality

LeetCode is a hazing ritual that has nothing to do with whether you can do the job. Companies know this. They do it anyway because it filters candidates efficiently, not accurately. Fight me.

'Culture fit' is what hiring managers say when they mean 'reminds me of myself.' It's how homogenous teams stay homogenous and call it a meritocracy.

Ask 5 people what a TPM does. You'll get 5 different answers. That confusion extends to hiring — which is both a problem AND an opportunity if you're trying to break in. Here's what TPMs actually do (and how to get hired as one): resources.keycoaching.co/blog/tpm-role-…

The startup CTO skimming 300 applications on a Tuesday afternoon isn't reading your resume. He's scanning it for 7 seconds and moving on. Good engineers lose to clear communicators every time. Be both.

@blitzlilz Time zones are brutal for that. One thing that helped me — batch your recruiter calls to the same window so you're not context-switching all day.

@KeyCareerCoach Thanks! I'm learning new tricks everyday on how to deal with them efficiently. 🫠

Apologies for the sub delays this season. I decided to apply for new jobs in Tokyo and I underestimated how time consuming talking to recruiters is. On the other hand, anyone interested in list of tech/resume vocab?

Most engineers write their resume for ATS. The hiring manager who actually decides still reads it like a human. Write for the human first — ATS is just the filter you have to pass.

@DataCamp Solid list. The "clear in 10 seconds" one is underrated. Most engineers write for themselves, not for someone skimming 200 resumes in an afternoon.

Your software engineer resume isn’t getting interviews? Before blaming the market, check: • Impact > responsibilities • Real metrics (% lift, latency, revenue) • Clear in 10 seconds • ATS-friendly • Ownership shown • No 2018 relics datacamp.com/blog/software-…

@pandeyragini24 The resume is usually the issue. Most engineers undersell themselves badly on paper even when their actual work is strong. Here's a free breakdown of the mistakes I saw most at Meta: resources.keycoaching.co/blog/resume-mi…

If you’re struggling to get shortlisted, it’s probably not you It’s your resume not doing you justice 😭 This Software Engineer Resume Checklist is such a good “let me fix this real quick” resource 👇 map.sistilli.dev/public/coding/… It helps you sanity check stuff like: ✅ clean 1 page layout ✅ strong first impression (headline, links, keywords) ✅ bullets that actually show impact (not just “worked on”) ✅ projects that feel real, not tutorial-coded Bookmark it and run it before you apply. It’s low effort, high return ✨

@adrianveracom Seen it from both sides. Recruiters are drowning in volume, so your resume has about 6 seconds before it's gone. The fix isn't applying more, it's making sure your signal cuts through the noise fast.

I don't know if anyone is still doing tech recruiting the manual way but the job search and resume review is completely broken. 700 applicants in less than 24hrs, mostly AI slop.

The SWE Resume System has an ATS-optimized template built in: store.keycoaching.co/l/swe-resume?u…

You can have the best resume on paper. If the ATS can't parse it, no one sees it.

Your resume is being filtered by an ATS before a human ever sees it. Here's how to get through: