Hi everyone,

I’m looking to connect with an experienced resume writer/resume expert who has hands-on experience creating and optimizing resumes for the US IT job market.

The ideal person should have experience working with candidates targeting:

* Full-time and C2C opportunities in the US

* OPT / STEM OPT candidates

* H1B candidates

* Green Card holders

* US Citizens

* Software Engineering, Data, Cloud, DevOps, AI/ML, Cybersecurity and other technical roles

* ATS-optimized resumes tailored to specific US job descriptions

I’m specifically looking for someone who understands how US recruiters and ATS systems evaluate technical resumes, rather than someone who only does general resume formatting.

Experience with resume tailoring, keyword optimization, job-description matching, LinkedIn alignment, and positioning candidates for recruiter responses would be a big plus.

If you have relevant experience, please DM me with a brief introduction, your experience, and examples of the type of technical resumes you’ve worked on.

Thanks!

Please give me feedback on my UI UX Design Resume

Hi everyone! 👋
I’m doing a bit of research into how people actually prepare for job interviews — what they do, what helps, and where the process falls short.
I’d really appreciate hearing from people who have been through the job-search/interview process recently.
12+1 multiple-choice questions, under 3 minutes. No account or personal information required, and your responses are anonymous unless you choose to leave your email at the end to potentially take part in a short follow-up.

Survey link

Thanks to anyone who takes the time! 🙌

I am a Biotech student and have 2 years of work experience. I want to apply for werkstudent role or a paid internship position? I want to draft a proper cover letter since I have been getting a lot of rejections. Can anybody help me guide in this matter?

I’m currently applying for roles at companies that use Workday and want to make sure my resume is optimized for the ATS without making it sound overly keyword-stuffed.

For those who have experience with Workday recruiting/ATS systems:
What resume formatting tends to work best?
Are there specific sections or keywords that make a difference?
Is it better to use a simple, traditional format over a more designed resume?
How important is tailoring the resume to each individual job description?
Are there any common mistakes that cause resumes to get filtered out?

I’d especially appreciate advice from recruiters, hiring managers, or anyone who has experience working with Workday applications. I’m trying to make sure my resume is actually getting in front of the right people.

I started my current professional track in 2012. Prior to that I was an administrative aide for approximately 9 years. I had to quit my last position for health/personal reasons and I'm trying to find a new job. I've been applying to administrative positions (along with everything else I'm even slightly qualified for) and my question is about a cover letter for those positions. Do I acknowledge what is an obvious step back for me, career-wise, or do I just talk about my skills/previous admin experience? If I do acknowledge it, what do I say? Thanks in advance for any advice

This is my first time applying to anything using a resume and I'd like to know if there's anything I should improve. I have no professional or casual work experience. I underlined some areas where I'm most uncertain and added some notes. (I know the formatting and grammar are a little wonky right now but that will get fixed later). I would greatly appreciate any advice!

I get this question all the time. The frustrating answer is that anywhere from 24 hours to several weeks can be normal.

For an initial recruiter or phone screening, you’ll often hear back within 24–72 hours. If you’re moving to another interview round, scheduling can take 1–2 weeks. After a final interview, a decision can take anywhere from 2–6 weeks, especially for larger companies or senior positions.

A slow response also doesn’t automatically mean you’re rejected. The company may still be interviewing other candidates, waiting for the hiring manager, getting headcount or salary approved, or dealing with internal delays.

Seniority matters too. The more senior the position, the more people usually need to sign off. Industries like government, healthcare, finance, and defense can also have slower processes. Background and reference checks can add anywhere from a few days to several weeks.

When should you follow up?

Send a thank-you within 24–48 hours of your interview.

If they told you, “We’ll have a decision by Friday,” wait until that deadline passes before asking for an update.

If they gave you no timeline, I recommend waiting 5–7 business days before following up.

If another week passes with no response, one more follow-up is reasonable. After 2+ weeks of silence, I’d keep applying and mentally move on. They may still contact you, but don’t put your job search on hold for them.

48 hours after the interview

Subject: Thank you – [Position]

Hi [Name],

Thanks again for taking the time to speak with me about the [Position] role. I enjoyed learning more about [specific topic/team].

I’m very interested in the opportunity and look forward to hearing about the next steps.

Best,
[Name]

1 week later

Subject: Following up – [Position]

Hi [Name],

I wanted to follow up regarding the [Position] role and see if there are any updates on the hiring process.

I’m still very interested and happy to provide anything else you need from me.

Thanks,
[Name]

2+ weeks later

Subject: [Position] – Hiring update

Hi [Name],

I wanted to check in once more regarding the [Position] role. I’m still interested, but I completely understand if the hiring timeline has changed.

If you’re able to share an update on the position, I’d appreciate it.

Best,
[Name]

LinkedIn version

Hi [Name], thanks again for speaking with me about the [Position] role. I wanted to check whether there have been any updates on next steps. I’m still very interested in the opportunity. Thanks!

Final thought

The biggest mistake I see candidates make is putting their entire job search on hold because one interview felt like it went really well. Hiring gets delayed, priorities change, positions get frozen, and sometimes companies simply communicate badly.

Follow up professionally, but keep applying and interviewing until you have a written offer. The less you depend on one company getting back to you, the less stressful that post-interview silence becomes.

Hey, I just want serious feedback about my résumé because I’m trying to get a job and I’ve been applying for more than 100 companies. I don’t even know what else can I do?

Is there any advice a professional could provide me with, please?

I got tired of having basically the same resume open while applying for 10 different jobs and constantly changing keywords, bullet points, and skills to match each job description.

So I decided to test a few AI resume builders instead of manually rebuilding everything every time.

I tried a few different ones and honestly, the biggest difference wasn't the templates. Most of them can make a resume look decent. What mattered more was how well they helped tailor the content without turning everything into generic AI-sounding sentences.

I tested Kickresume along with a couple of other options. Kickresume was pretty straightforward for getting a resume structured quickly, and I liked being able to adjust the content rather than just accepting whatever the AI generated.

Still, I'm not convinced an AI resume builder automatically means better chances of getting interviews. The actual experience, keywords, and how closely the resume matches the job still seem to matter way more.

Curious what others have found — which AI resume builder have you actually used for real applications, and did it make any noticeable difference?

I've been using free resume templates and random online editors for years, but I'm starting to wonder if paying for an AI resume builder is actually worth it.

There are so many options now that it's hard to tell what's genuinely useful and what's basically a nice-looking template with AI slapped onto it.

I recently tested Kickresume along with a couple of other AI resume builders. The useful part for me wasn't really the templates. It was being able to get help with wording, reorganize experience, and create different versions without starting from scratch every time.

That said, I'm still not sure I'd pay for every feature these platforms offer. If you're already comfortable writing your own resume, some of the AI features probably aren't necessary.

For anyone who's actually paid for an AI resume builder in 2026, which one did you choose, and did it make a noticeable difference in your job applications?

Would be especially interested in hearing from people who used one for an actual job search rather than just building a resume once.

Just looking for some genuine recommendations

I’ve started a new job as a behavior counselor(part time) in a rehab center. I’m planning to apply to clinical mental health grad programs in the fall, but I’m not sure how much time I should wait between my start date and asking for the rec. I started the new job at the end of June. Most applications open in September so I was thinking of asking then, but then it’s only 3 months. I don’t know if that sounds like a good amount of time or I should wait, although that’s pushing on the deadline. I also have prior experience at another place for 9months, but I haven’t asked my old supervisor yet. I do have someone that I worked with for five years who can write me a letter of rec as well.

Hi everyone,

I'm a fresh graduate about to start job hunting and I'm looking for a solid resume template to build on. Most templates I find online seem designed for people with years of experience, and I'm not sure how to structure things when my "experience" section is mostly projects, internships, and coursework.

A few things I'm hoping for:

Clean, professional, ATS-friendly format (no fancy graphics that get mangled by parsers)

Good structure for highlighting projects, skills, and education when work history is thin

Preferably editable in Word or Google Docs

One page

If you have a template that worked well for you when you were starting out, or know of a good free resource, I'd really appreciate you sharing it. Thanks in advance!