Career guides
Practical how-tos for finding, applying to, and landing better jobs — plus tips for employers who want to hire faster. For pay data and hiring trends, see the blog.
Applying through a recruitment agency vs applying direct
The same job often appears twice: once from the employer, once from an agency. Which route you take changes your speed, your feedback, and sometimes your salary.
Read guide →How long hiring actually takes, and how to plan around it
From advert to start date is usually measured in weeks, not days. Knowing the shape of the timeline stops you panicking in the gaps.
Read guide →How to answer the salary expectations question
What to say when a recruiter asks what you want to earn — at the application stage, on the phone screen, and when the offer lands.
Read guide →How to apply to jobs on JobWatch
The fastest path from finding a role to a submitted, well-targeted application.
Read guide →How to explain a gap in your CV
Career breaks are normal. What loses interviews is a gap that looks hidden. Here is how to present one honestly and briefly.
Read guide →How to follow up after applying without being annoying
When to chase, who to contact, what to write, and when to stop — with templates you can adapt.
Read guide →How to negotiate salary without burning the offer
The exact script and posture for asking for more — and knowing when to stop.
Read guide →How to post a job that attracts real candidates
A short guide for employers: what to write, how to price the role, and how to filter applicants effectively.
Read guide →How to prepare for a job interview
The routine strong candidates use before every interview: research, stories, questions, and logistics that make you memorable.
Read guide →How to read a job advert properly
Job adverts are written to attract, not to describe. Here is how to decode the requirements, the salary, and the warning signs.
Read guide →How to read hiring demand in your own field
You do not need a market report. A job board tells you what is happening in your field this month, if you count the right things.
Read guide →How to read layoff and redundancy news as a jobseeker
Headlines about job cuts are worth reading, but not the way they are usually read. Here is what the news does and does not tell you about your prospects.
Read guide →How to research an employer before you apply
Twenty minutes of research changes what you write, what you ask, and whether you apply at all. Here is what to look at and in what order.
Read guide →How to set up job alerts that are actually worth reading
Most people set alerts too broadly, get 200 emails a week, and stop opening them. Here is how to set alerts you will still read in a month.
Read guide →How to spot a ghost job before you apply
Ghost jobs waste time. Here's how to tell whether a listing is real, and what to do when it isn't.
Read guide →How to tailor a CV to a job advert in 20 minutes
A repeatable method for adapting one master CV to a specific vacancy without rewriting it from scratch every time.
Read guide →How to write a CV that gets interviews
A practical, no-fluff guide to a CV that recruiters actually read — structure, length, keywords, and common mistakes to avoid.
Read guide →Remote, hybrid and "remote": how to tell what a job really means
The word remote in a job advert covers everything from fully location-independent to four days in an office. Here is how to find out before you accept.
Read guide →Remote, hybrid or on-site: how to choose and how to check
What each working pattern actually costs you, the questions that reveal an employer's real policy, and how to get it in writing.
Read guide →What actually happens to your CV after you hit send
Applications do not disappear into a void, but the path they take explains most of what candidates find baffling — including the silence.
Read guide →What AI has changed in job adverts, and what it has not
Both sides now use AI to write and read applications. Here is what that actually changes about how you should apply.
Read guide →What to do in your first 90 days in a new job
A practical plan for the probation period: what to learn, who to meet, what to deliver, and the mistakes that cost people the role.
Read guide →When employers actually hire, and how to use the calendar
Hiring has a rhythm. Knowing which weeks are dead and which are busy changes when you apply, when you push, and when you rest.
Read guide →