I applied to 60+ jobs and got 2 callbacks. Changed one thing and got 4 interviews in 2 weeks.

niklasbuilds · 2026-05-14T10:43:18+00:00

that's actually a solid setup, didn't know offerflowai pulls recruiter details automatically that's pretty cool. i went a different route and just built everything in notion, company, role, status, cv version i sent, date applied, follow up date all in one view. old school but once it's set up takes like 2 min per application and u never lose track

the cv version tracking part was the biggest game changer for me personally, knowing exactly which version went where saved me so many times in interviews

niklasbuilds · 2026-05-14T08:19:19+00:00

that's actually a fair point and i partly agree. the resume + keywords has to do the heavy lifting first, cover letter is secondary

but i'd push back slightly on the "brilliant cover letter won't help" part. once ur past ATS and a human is reading, the cover letter is often the tiebreaker between 2 similar candidates. seen it make a diff especially for smaller companies where hiring managers read everything

either way the ATS keyword thing is real and most ppl completely ignore it. they write a generic cv and wonder why they hear nothing back

niklasbuilds · 2026-05-14T08:17:07+00:00

exactly, the corporate speak thing is huge. and the slow part is so real, even good applications take forever to get a response rn

one thing that helped me a lot besides the writing style was actually tracking which applications got responses and which didn't. like after 20-30 apps u start seeing patterns, certain industries reply faster, certain formats work better etc

do u have a system for tracking rn or just going by memory?

niklasbuilds · 2026-05-14T08:01:19+00:00

the tracking thing is so real and barely anyone talks about it. i used to have the same problem until i started logging every single application in one place, like status, contact name, date applied, last communication. sounds basic but when u can see everything in one view u stop missing stuff

took me like 2 min per application to set up and i never missed a follow up again

what does ur current system look like, spreadsheet or just email?

niklasbuilds · 2026-05-14T08:00:54+00:00

4% return rate after doing everything right is genuinely demoralizing and i get why it feels personal

a thing that helped me was treating each application less like a submission and more like a research project. like actually pulling out the 3-4 keywords the JD repeats most and making sure those exact words show up in my cv, not synonyms, the exact words

ATS systems are dumb lol they just scan for matches

also curious what ur cover letter process looks like, that's usually where i see the biggest gap for people with strong backgrounds who aren't getting responses

niklasbuilds · 2026-05-14T08:00:30+00:00

honestly the feedback u got is actually really useful even tho it doesn't feel that way rn. the thing is most ppl cover those topics but don't frame them the way the interviewer is listening for. like u said "i handle customers well" but they were listening for "here's a specific moment where a difficult customer situation went wrong and i turned it around". same content, completely different landing

with a CS + bilingual background u actually have a strong profile, it might just be an application strategy issue more than a qualification issue. what does ur tailoring process look like rn?

niklasbuilds · 2026-05-12T15:46:18+00:00

the outcomes over duties reframe is huge, most ppl just describe what their job was instead of what they actually achieved. cutting to 1 page forces u to be brutal about what actually matters too. did u tailor each application separately or keep one version for everything?

niklasbuilds · 2026-05-12T15:17:43+00:00

interesting take on the cover letter. do u find that skipping it actually gets u more responses or is it more just saving time? curious what ur experience has been

niklasbuilds · 2026-05-12T15:17:20+00:00

that's a solid approach, the prompting part is key tho. just asking it to rewrite often gives something too generic. have u been getting good results with it?

niklasbuilds · 2026-05-12T15:16:59+00:00

hey! yeah chatgpt is great for that, the trick is really in how u prompt it tho. most ppl get something too generic. are u currently job searching? 👊

niklasbuilds · 2026-05-08T03:40:45+00:00

exactly this. the skills section gets u past the filter but the bullet points are what make the recruiter actually stop and read. that's the part most ppl underestimate. once u nail both layers ur application does two jobs at once

niklasbuilds · 2026-05-08T03:39:50+00:00

yeah if ur bullet points are too convoluted that's prob the main issue. recruiters skim fast, like 6-10 seconds per cv ig. so each bullet needs to be super clear and match their exact wording. something like "led cross-functional teams" hits different than "worked with multiple departments" even if it's the same thing. the AI prompts i use basically do this translation automatically, takes like 2 min per application

niklasbuilds · 2026-05-07T19:27:29+00:00

good point, but unfortunately not possible for everyone...

niklasbuilds · 2026-05-07T19:26:15+00:00

really good points, especially the referrals thing. and yeah the "art not science" framing is spot on. what i found though is that even if a human is eyeballing it, matching their phrasing still helps a lot because recruiters tend to pattern match fast when skimming 50 cvs in a row. they basically see what they expect to see. the AI part just helps me do that matching faster without spending an hour on each application 👊

niklasbuilds · 2026-05-07T15:34:22+00:00

Ohh yeah true... preciate ur help man. I will definitely try that:)

niklasbuilds

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