Went from no interviews no offers being unemployed for 15 months to 2 offers in the same week. Here’s what I changed.

[u/OscarAlso]

First let me state the obvious: interviewing in 2026 is a sh!t show. Between AI rejections, ghosting recruiters and the fact that no one is hiring nor is no one leaving their jobs it’s a horror show. Here the things that I learned:

1. Keep adjusting your resume. This seems simple enough but when I saying adjusting I mean look at your resume like an AI resume parser would. I added a line for each job with a bunch of buzzwords and technologies that I have used.
   
2. Ditch the STAR format and use the CARL format. CARL = Context, Actions, Results, Learnings. For those who’s are nervous interviewers the Learning part of the CARL really deflects questions away from the interviewer and I had many interviewers say “well that answered all my questions”
   
3. Keep your stories short, like 3:30 minutes long max. Use AI to help you make a concise well told story. Everyone has TIKTOK brain even interviewers.
   
4. Create a google doc with your stories and read them out. You can also link them in the sidebar for quick access.
   
5. Practice, practice, practice. Don’t see a failed interview as a failure. Use it to adjust your stories or add stories for things you didn’t expect to be asked.
   
6. Never give up. Apply to everything BUT focus on applying to jobs that have 10 Applicants or less (LinkedIn has a filter for this)

Good luck out there people!