Paul Grey


Career development 19h
Hi everyone! Can someone please tell me what these ridiculous interview questions are and how you’re supposed to answer them? Yesterday, at what seemed like a respectable company, they asked me which part of a bicycle I associate myself with. Is that even normal? I don’t associate myself with a bicycle at all.

What would you have answered? And what should I have said? Thanks.

3   

  • Calvin Mulligan

    2h

    The question is similar to the question, "If you could be any animal in the jungle, what animal would you choose to be." Presumably, the interviewer... interprets your choice of animal as indicative of how you view yourself and your personality or capabilities. If you said, "a lion" for example, it may suggest that you are a confident individual with leadership aspirations.

    While the bike analogy is different, you can appreciate that there are nonetheless parts of the bike associated with different functions or contributions to the whole. Consider there are parts associated with steering, (handlebars), providing structure or support (frame), propelling the bike forward (pedals), supporting the rider, etc. While you don't know how your particular choice will be interpreted, you can ensure your response isn't misinterpreted by saying why you chose the part that you did. For example, "I identify with the gears because I am a specialist at transforming energy (applied to the pedals) into action and forward movement by the bike or analogously a team."      more

  • Peter Byrd

    2h

    I thought of it as a chance to be creative, like "I'm a wheel that functions for forward motion". Don't let it throw you.

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Anonymous member


Career development 3d
An employee took a bigger salary without asking permission from employer. Her daughter iz processing salaries. She said she rewarded herself for working overtime. What shall the employer do?

  • Anyole Cymon

    8h

    the process should first go through internal controls before its payed

  • VIOLET WASIKE

    12h

    1.employer should initiate disciplinary process against the employee
    2.The employer should enhance checks and the balances on payroll preparation... process; it looks like there are gaps in the process. more

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Taofeeq Oyelade
Career development 1w
Why Your Resume Might Be Working Against You — Even When You’re Qualified

Hi everyone — I’ve read through many honest and powerful posts here: people who feel qualified, experienced, and ready — but still getting rejected or ghosted. I want to share a few common resume issues that aren’t about lack of skill or experience — but about how your strengths are being communicated, and that might be... what’s holding you back.

1. Your resume isn’t telling your story.
It’s not just about listing your tasks and roles. Recruiters — and even hiring systems — want to see impact. What changed because of you? What problem did you help solve? When your resume shows that, it suddenly feels more real, more valuable.

2. ATS systems are filtering out strong candidates.
Unfortunately, many companies use automated tracking systems before a human ever sees your application. This isn’t just a numbers game — it means real, capable people are being passed over simply because their resumes aren’t perfectly tailored for the system. It’s not a reflection of your potential — it’s a limitation of the process.

3. Your choice of words matters.
I’ve seen resumes full of “helped,” “assisted,” or “worked on” — and while those are honest words, they don’t show the scale of your contribution. Using verbs like “led,” “implemented,” “optimized,” or “designed” helps hiring teams understand the real weight of your work.

4. The way your resume is formatted makes a difference.
Even a powerful experience can be missed if the layout is confusing — too many tables, odd graphics, or clutter. A clean, simple, and readable structure works best. It helps both the ATS and real people see what you actually did.

If any of this resonates — if you feel like your resume is good but isn’t doing its job — I’d be very happy to review one sentence or bullet point from it (or your LinkedIn headline) and give you a honest tip. Just drop it below, and I’ll respond. more
21   
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Vronwyn Su


Career development 1w
Yesterday I went to an interview for a junior economist position. They offered me to work for a month or two for free like an internship, and then, if a vacancy opens up, they might hire me.
Is this some kind of scam? The company seems respectable, but I don’t understand why they’re holding interviews if there isn’t an actual job available.
Would you agree to something like that?

11   

  • Arikoj Jennifer

    4h

    If you are not busy take it up ,gain experience i was once offered such an opportunity i took it up and was hired a few months along the way.

  • Emmanuel Matsyetsye

    2d

    If you are not paying for the interview, you are a beneficiary in terms of experience besides the offer to be employed if the place falls vacant. I... also.imagine you need to be busy if you were actually looking for placement. I think it is better you evaluate that opportunity better than the advice you are seeking. more

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Tom Lockridge


Career development 4d
Yesterday during an important meeting with some clients, I accidentally broke a glass and ended up spilling champagne on a couple of people.
First, the director practically burned a hole through me with his stare and now our accounting department wants to deduct the cost of the glass from my salary. And honestly, it seems like they’re planning to fire me.
But seriously, can someone really lose... his job over such a small thing? It could happen to anyone, right?

 more
2   

  • Arikoj Jennifer

    4h

    There is more to this than just breaking a glass ,apologize let them decide and move on

  • Arikoj Jennifer

    4h

    There is more to this than just breaking a glass ,apologize let them decide and move on

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Career development

 4h

Tertiary Unlock 2025 preps over 200 students for work


The Virtual Career Office, in partnership with Calbank, has prepped about 200 Senior High School (SHS) leavers and tertiary students with real-world insights on the world of work.

Through the Tertiary Unlock Initiative - a youth career development initiative, the Virtual Career Office brings together high school graduates and tertiary students annually to equip them with practical skills for the... world of work.

This year, the Accra-based career development consortium launched the Task2Hire mobile app in an effort to expand its reach.

Speaking at the programme, the Founder and Lead Coach at Virtual Career Office, Akua Ampah, noted that the platform will help young people develop crucial soft skills by completing real-world tasks, while connecting them to career opportunities.

"This year we are really excited because it comes with a lot of initiatives. One of the things we are doing is that we have launched an app which helps young people build soft skills for work by doing real-world tasks," she emphasised.

"Having a partner like Calbank allows us to provide these young people with not just career guidance, but crucial financial literacy and direct pathways to experience," she added.For the past half a decade, Tertiary Unlock has impacted over 1,000 young Ghanaians through mentorship, internship opportunities and counselling. "We create awareness for young people to be intentional about preparing for their careers. We help them find opportunities to build skills that are relevant for work, even if they want to start their own businesses," she said.

The initiative, facilitated through Calbank's dedicated Youth Banking unit, aims to provide students with the needed support to enter the job market with ease. This shows the bank's commitment to youth empowerment.

Through this partnership, participants of the Tertiary Unlock programme 2025 will benefit from mentorship, financial literacy training and internship opportunities.

The Head of Youth Banking at Calbank, Nannie Abankwah, stated that the bank's involvement is an investment in the nation's economy through the youth.

"We believe in the youth. For us, it's not just about account opening. We need to mentor them. From our space, we will serve as advisors, coaches and mentors. We give them internship opportunities -- this is our aim," she stated.

Mrs. Abankwah emphasised the long-term vision of the partnership, noting that the bank's relationship with these young individuals can extend into the future. "Our youth banking grows up to 30 years. So for the next 6-7 years, these kids will still be with us; and we hope for them to be better people for our dear country," she prayed.

The Tertiary Unlock 2025 was on the theme 'Designing Your Tertiary Journey: Learn, Innovate, Succeed'. more

Career development

 5h

Mastering Career Momentum in Your Hometown's Business Landscape - Leader Publications


Building a career is rarely a straight path. It shifts, bends, and evolves with the choices you make and the environment you live in. Your hometown -- no matter its size -- holds a business landscape that can either accelerate your progress or leave you feeling stuck. Understanding how to navigate that landscape with intention helps you turn familiarity into advantage. With the right mix of... strategy, insight, and consistent action, you can create meaningful career momentum without needing to uproot your entire life.

Every hometown has an economic rhythm. Some industries dominate. Others quietly sustain the community. When you understand the drivers behind your local economy, you can better position yourself for growth.

Start by observing what's expanding. Maybe new tech-related services are emerging, or perhaps healthcare facilities are growing. Retail, construction, logistics, or creative services could also be on the rise. Trends often show themselves long before the general public notices. Pay attention to job postings, new businesses, local government announcements, and community development plans.

Short observations can reveal long-term patterns. If you know where opportunity is heading, you can align your professional efforts accordingly.

Different communities prioritize different skill sets. A manufacturing-heavy town values reliability and technical expertise. A tourism-forward city rewards communication and service excellence. Urban centers emphasize adaptability and digital proficiency.

Understanding what hiring managers consistently want gives you a clear target for your own development. It also helps you articulate your strengths in a way that resonates with local expectations.

Even in a hometown where personal referrals matter, a polished résumé remains essential. It serves as proof of your ability, work ethic, and ambition. Many candidates underestimate its power simply because hiring feels more informal in local settings. That's a mistake.

A strong résumé helps you show your value clearly. It demonstrates growth, structure, and seriousness. When you combine a good reputation with a compelling document, the result is a noticeable competitive edge. This is the ideal moment to use tools that streamline the process and improve accuracy. For example, some professionals rely on Zety's AI resume builder for professionals to organize their experience into a clean, effective layout. It's a simple way to reinforce credibility while ensuring your skills stand out.

Put simply: even in a small town, professionalism sets you apart. A well-crafted résumé signals that you're prepared for bigger responsibilities.

Career momentum depends heavily on relationships. In your hometown, relationships tend to run deeper and stretch wider. People know each other. They remember faces. This makes networking both easier and more consequential.

Reconnect with former classmates, old colleagues, teachers, and neighbors. These people often become unexpected gatekeepers. A single conversation can uncover hidden opportunities. Even casual meetups can turn into productive leads.

Chambers of commerce, young professional clubs, volunteer groups, and entrepreneurship circles exist in most towns. Joining them keeps you visible. Visibility builds trust. Trust opens doors.

Your presence in community spaces matters. It signals engagement, reliability, and initiative -- all qualities that employers and collaborators value.

Momentum builds when people see you more than once. Attend workshops. Participate in events. Offer small contributions. These repeated interactions help your reputation grow naturally over time.

In a hometown setting, reputation carries more weight than job titles. People remember how you communicate, the energy you bring, and the expertise you share.

Ask yourself what you want people to associate with your name. It could be problem-solving, creativity, reliability, organization, leadership, or technical mastery. When you consistently demonstrate that trait, your identity strengthens.

Community Facebook groups, local LinkedIn circles, and hometown events provide space to express your professional voice. Share insights, comment on trends, and support others. Your digital footprint matters, even in a small town.

Authenticity is more noticeable -- and more appreciated -- in familiar environments. People recognize sincerity. They also recognize exaggeration. Be honest about what you know, and open about what you're learning.

Momentum grows when your capabilities meet a clear demand. To strengthen that alignment, focus on targeted skill development.

Short online classes, certification programs, and workshops add practical weight to your background. Choose ones that match what businesses in your area actively need -- project management, digital marketing, customer relations, data handling, or technical training.

You don't need to make dramatic changes. Small, steady steps signal commitment. When employers or collaborators see continuous improvement, they gain confidence in your potential for long-term contribution. more

Career development

 6h

Beyond the CV: How to Spot Potential in Unpolished Candidates | Pulse Nigeria


Learning to spot potential beyond the paper has become one of the most valuable hiring skills a recruiter or employer can develop. Here are some tips to keep in mind:

A polished résumé might show years of experience, but an unpolished one can show hunger: the drive to learn, grow, and adapt.

Learning agility can be one of the top predictors of long-term job success, even more than prior... experience.

If a candidate has consistently improved their skills, taken free courses, or switched industries successfully, that's a strong sign they'll thrive once given the right support.

Technical skills can be trained; mindset and attitude can't.

Listen for curiosity, initiative, and accountability in an interview. Candidates who ask thoughtful questions, admit what they don't know, or share how they overcame challenges often demonstrate strong emotional intelligence which is a key predictor of performance in any role.

Someone who's worked in customer service might excel in project coordination. A content creator could evolve into a brand strategist.

Instead of fixating on industry-specific experience, identify how their existing strengths can translate into your company's needs.

Rather than relying only on résumé achievements, try practical assessments. Give candidates real-world tasks or scenarios that reflect the role.

Their thought process on how they structure a solution, adapt feedback, and stay calm under pressure often reveals far more than polished credentials ever could.

Some candidates may not interview perfectly, they may be nervous or less articulate but authenticity often signals self-awareness and humility.

With mentorship and training, these are the people who tend to become loyal, high-performing team members.

Spotting potential beyond the CV takes intuition, openness, and a willingness to see beyond surface-level polish. The next great hire might not have the perfect résumé but they might have the right mindset, heart, and determination to grow with your team. more

Career development

 6h

Beware the Black Friday job offer: Not every bargain is a career upgrade


Shoppers rush for Black Friday deals, much like job seekers who make hasty career moves without considering long-term consequences.

* Job hunting resembles Black Friday shopping where appealing opportunities frequently conceal disappointing realities and compromises.

* Before accepting offers, ask whether the role supports long-term growth rather than short-term problem solving.

* Contract... roles may pay 35% more but often lack stability and career development opportunities.

Black Friday brings with it flashy promotions and pressure to act fast to tap into some pretty sweet deals.

But all too often, shoppers discover that their impulse buys weren't as deeply discounted as they thought, came from old clearance inventory, or were simply not the right purchases for them at the right time.

READ: Personal Finance | Necessities over luxuries: What we spent on Black Friday

Likewise, there are many jobseekers who make a big, bold career move - only to discover that it does not live up to their expectations.

Many professionals are prone to making impulsive decisions when an exciting job listing catches their eye or a recruiter knocks on their door with a time-limited offer that seems hard to resist.

On the surface, a job that offers an impressive title, a bigger salary or attractive work-from-home options could be a misstep for your career.

Hidden traps to watch for

The headline benefits of the job might be the workplace equivalent of a Black Friday flash sale, catching your eye and putting you under pressure to make a rushed decision.

READ: Personal Finance | Beware of fraudulent sites this Black Friday

But later down the line, you could discover hidden trade-offs in that attractive-looking role.

Some of the reasons the new role could be disappointing include:

* The high salary may come with extreme demands in terms of workload or working hours, putting you at risk of burnout.

* The glamorous title might mask unclear responsibilities or a role that is not nearly as senior or impactful as it first appears.

* Your new role involves less of the work you love and more of the office politics and people management that you don't.

* The 'hybrid work' promise may translate into long hours rather than genuine flexibility.

* The job could be a dead-end that offers fewer chances for learning and advancement than your real role.

* A high-paid fixed-term contract may offer fewer perks and less stability than a full-time, permanent contract job.

Thinking beyond the 'deal': Questions to ask before you say yes

Before accepting any offer, pause and ask some of these questions:

* Is this role solving a short-term problem for me or is it a strategic career move I am making for long-term growth?

* Will this move help me develop skills and experience that matter for where I want to be next year?

* Does the company's culture match what I value?

* How stable is this opportunity, and what does stability look like for me?

* Am I clear on the roles and responsibilities attached to the job, as well as the support the company offers in fulfilling my duties?

* Will perks like hybrid work be written into my employment contract?

Contract versus permanent roles

Something we see often is that people who were otherwise content in their jobs grab a contract opportunity to take advantage of the higher pay.

READ: Don't fall for these scams this festive season

In some sectors, such as IT, the gap between a permanent job and a fixed-term contract job could be as much as 35%, according to Pnet job listings data. But contracting is not the right fit for someone who values long-term stability.

For others, the year-round security of permanent employment and the opportunity to develop a career with a single employer is the stronger foundation. Neither is better - it depends on which one aligns with your needs and goals.

Making career decisions that lasts

A thoughtful change of career is not about responding to the most eye-catching job listing or the most urgent hiring push.

It is about ensuring the role aligns with your long-term direction and that the promises the employer makes are not too good to be true.

READ: Black Friday opens a cybercrime floodgate: Tips to stay safe when shopping online

By approaching each opportunity with a clear view of your goals, you will be able to choose work that supports your growth, stability and job satisfaction over the years ahead. more

Career development

 7h

Why you shouldn't count on humans to prevent AI hiring bias


At a time when artificial intelligence is playing a growing role in hiring decisions, new research suggests that humans working with these systems are more likely to go along with their biases than to counter them.

The University of Washington study is among the first to explore how AI influences human decision-making in the hiring process. Participants were asked to review résumés that had been... scanned by large language models with varying degrees of bias built in. When asked to identify their preferred candidates, researchers said they "mirrored" the inequitable choices of the AI. In contrast, participants acting alone or in collaboration with an LLM that "exhibits no race-based preferences" assigned candidates of different races to roles at relatively equal rates.

The research raises important questions as companies increasingly integrate AI into their recruiting and hiring processes, with some simultaneously making deep cuts to human resources teams typically tasked with carrying out these screenings.

"A lot of regulations and recommendations for how to use AI systems in high-risk tasks like hiring say that you should be using human collaboration, that it's one of the most important ways to mitigate harms," said Kyra Wilson, a doctoral student at UW and the lead researcher. The findings show, "that's not really effective."

Such findings have troubling implications at a time when companies are "trying absolutely everything" when it comes to AI, "and in many cases they're making a lot of mistakes," said Herman Aguinis, professor of management at George Washington University School of Business.

Many brands -- including IBM, Workday and Recruit Holdings, parent company of the jobsites Indeed and Glassdoor -- are deploying AI while making deep cuts to human resources teams, he noted.

Workday declined to comment. IBM and Recruit did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

That approach is especially risky considering that AI is like "a power tool," which is used most effectively by more experienced employees but also is "capable of causing lots of damage," said Aguinis, who also is a scholar with the Academy of Management.

"While an expert carpenter uses a power tool in a fabulous way that's much faster and more accurate, if you give that to a beginner, they make mistakes and maybe cut a finger off," he said. "The same thing happens in talent management."

Lisa Simon, chief economist at Revelio Labs, said the study highlights the risk of AI reinforcing human bias in employment decisions instead of making recruiting and hiring processes more equitable. Recruiting "remains an intensely human set of tasks," she noted, for which reducing bias has always been a significant challenge.

"It's so easy for people to become biased, if there's reinforcement to go with gut instinct, it's sort of a snowball effect where it's easier to go with a biased decision if someone else supports it," Simon said.

The study builds on work the researchers published last year, which found that large language models powering resume-scanning programs overwhelmingly favored "white-associated names" over others. Wilson wanted to extend the inquiry because she knew that in the real world "people are interacting with the system and making those decisions in collaboration with the AI" rather than outsourcing the decision-making completely.

In the latest study, which the researchers presented last month at the AAAI/ACM Conference on Artificial Intelligence, Ethics, and Society in Madrid, more than 520 participants worked with LLMs that researchers seeded with varying degrees of racial bias. They evaluated résumés from equally qualified candidates across 16 job categories, ranging from housekeeper to nurse to computer systems analyst.

Participants were given a job description and the names and AI-generated résumés of five candidates, which would include two White men and two who were either Asian, Black or Hispanic. A candidate's race could be ascertained by their names and certain résumé entries, such as involvement in identity-based employee affinity groups. A fifth "distractor" candidate of a randomly selected race (but different from the others) and lacking qualifications was included in each set to "obscure the purpose of the study."

Participants had four minutes to review the application materials and AI recommendations before selecting the three candidates they thought were most suitable for the given occupation, according to the study.

When picking candidates without input from AI, or when working with AI trained to be "neutral," participants chose White and non-White applicants at relatively equal rates, the study found. But when they teamed up with "moderately biased AI" participants, their choices tended to mirror the program's: if the model leaned toward non-White candidates, so did they. If the system preferred White applicants, humans followed suit.

The findings point to potential real-world consequences of AI-assisted hiring decisions, which many companies are exploring, Wilson warned.

"Bias can sometimes be hard to see in these systems," she said. "Especially when you're just making a single decision, you don't necessarily see how that will have broader effects when more decisions are stacked together."

When interacting with the most biased programs, the human participants made slightly less-biased decisions than the AI, the researchers found. Humans went along with AI's picks roughly 90 percent of the time in these cases, which suggests that even when users do register bias in the systems, they don't do much to mitigate it.

Sara Gutierrez, chief science officer at SHL, which offers human resources solutions and psychometric assessments to businesses, said the study is "a valuable illustration of how bias can spread when people are exposed to flawed AI recommendations."

Whenever "any kind of human subjective choices are made," there tends to be some bias at play, Gutierrez explained. While in some cases this is motivating companies to explore AI with the hope it can help "empirically move towards objectivity and fairness," along with speeding up their processes, the study illustrates that the opposite is also possible, she added.

"Efficiency gains you get from an AI tool or process mean nothing if that tool isn't reliable or fair," Gutierrez said. "Speed without accuracy is just going to get you to the wrong outcome faster." more

Career development

 7h

Workers are leaning into entrepreneurship as the job market's Great Freeze marches on


People looking to run a business should think about their finances and skills.

Instead of sending out résumés and job applications during the Great Freeze, it could be a good time to get a business plan in order.

Ege Aksu, an economist at workforce intelligence company Revelio Labs, analyzed shifts in US entrepreneurship and hiring over the past few years, using data from public professional... profiles on platforms like LinkedIn posted between 2019 and this past June. Clear patterns emerged: when hiring fell, the share of job switchers transitioning into entrepreneurship tended to heat up.

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Aksu told Business Insider that people may be starting businesses out of necessity. Despite better-than-expected job growth in September, job gains were pretty concentrated, and Indeed Hiring Lab economist Cory Stahle said the US still has a cooling job market. Job-search platform ZipRecruiter described the labor market's prolonged period of both employers and employees staying put as a "Great Freeze." Bureau of Labor Statistics data showed that quits, layoffs, and hiring have remained low.

"We're seeing employers and job seekers both trying to wait out any of the uncertainty," Nicole Bachaud, labor economist at ZipRecruiter, previously told Business Insider.

Did you make a career pivot into starting your own business? Reach out to this reporter to share at [email protected].

Self-employment in many different forms is on the rise. ADP Research found that the number of independent contractors -- which can include a range of workers, from delivery work to gig economy freelancers -- surged by 50% between 2019 and 2024.

"This growth accelerated in the second half of 2020 and first half of 2021, driven by pandemic-driven labor shifts, remote work, and the expansion of online platform-based services," economist Łukasz Below wrote.

Aksu expects the share of job switchers transitioning into entrepreneurship to continue increasing because she doesn't expect the hiring slowdown to quickly fade next year. Aksu expects more graduates to turn to business ventures because of the tough job market, too.

Sharon Miller, president of Business Banking at Bank of America, said aspiring business owners should consider whether their idea matches their skills and passion, and if there's demand for it. She suggested researching the potential competition and identifying the target audience. She said they also need to be ready to resolve problems, pivot when need be, and already have a business plan.

"What is your operation going to look like? What is the competition? What is your mission of the company? All of those things are important to lay out," Miller said. "You've got to revisit those often because things do change, whether it be the economy or trends."

You could give your idea a go as a side hustle, depending on your workplace's rules.

"You have to be careful that you're not doing anything competitive or anything that would concern your primary employer," Ted Rossman, senior industry analyst at Bankrate, previously told Business Insider.

Meghan Lim, who pivoted from a financial analyst job to self-employment, previously told Business Insider that people should start with just one side hustle. She also suggested having an emergency fund and waiting until your side earnings exceed your day job's income for a few consecutive months.

"It's also important to ask yourself why you're doing it. Are you fulfilled with doing it? And do you see yourself doing this for the next few years?" Lim said.

Aksu said it may be easier for people to start their own businesses than in the past, with the help of AI tools and flexible work options.

"It's maybe speaking to work culture and autonomy, flexibility that are more talked about in today's job market," Aksu said. more

Career development

 8h

Entrepreneurship is a bright spot as hiring cools


People looking to run a business should think about their finances and skills.

Instead of sending out résumés and job applications during the Great Freeze, it could be a good time to get a business plan in order.

Ege Aksu, an economist at workforce intelligence company Revelio Labs, analyzed shifts in US entrepreneurship and hiring over the past few years, using data from public professional... profiles on platforms like LinkedIn posted between 2019 and this past June. Clear patterns emerged: when hiring fell, the share of job switchers transitioning into entrepreneurship tended to heat up.

Aksu told Business Insider that people may be starting businesses out of necessity. Despite better-than-expected job growth in September, job gains were pretty concentrated, and Indeed Hiring Lab economist Cory Stahle said the US still has a cooling job market. Job-search platform ZipRecruiter described the labor market's prolonged period of both employers and employees staying put as a "Great Freeze." Bureau of Labor Statistics data showed that quits, layoffs, and hiring have remained low.

"We're seeing employers and job seekers both trying to wait out any of the uncertainty," Nicole Bachaud, labor economist at ZipRecruiter, previously told Business Insider.

Self-employment in many different forms is on the rise. ADP Research found that the number of independent contractors -- which can include a range of workers, from delivery work to gig economy freelancers -- surged by 50% between 2019 and 2024.

"This growth accelerated in the second half of 2020 and first half of 2021, driven by pandemic-driven labor shifts, remote work, and the expansion of online platform-based services," economist Łukasz Below wrote.

Aksu expects the share of job switchers transitioning into entrepreneurship to continue increasing because she doesn't expect the hiring slowdown to quickly fade next year. Aksu expects more graduates to turn to business ventures because of the tough job market, too.

Sharon Miller, president of Business Banking at Bank of America, said aspiring business owners should consider whether their idea matches their skills and passion, and if there's demand for it. She suggested researching the potential competition and identifying the target audience. She said they also need to be ready to resolve problems, pivot when need be, and already have a business plan.

"What is your operation going to look like? What is the competition? What is your mission of the company? All of those things are important to lay out," Miller said. "You've got to revisit those often because things do change, whether it be the economy or trends."

You could give your idea a go as a side hustle, depending on your workplace's rules.

"You have to be careful that you're not doing anything competitive or anything that would concern your primary employer," Ted Rossman, senior industry analyst at Bankrate, previously told Business Insider.

Meghan Lim, who pivoted from a financial analyst job to self-employment, previously told Business Insider that people should start with just one side hustle. She also suggested having an emergency fund and waiting until your side earnings exceed your day job's income for a few consecutive months.

"It's also important to ask yourself why you're doing it. Are you fulfilled with doing it? And do you see yourself doing this for the next few years?" Lim said.

Aksu said it may be easier for people to start their own businesses than in the past, with the help of AI tools and flexible work options.

"It's maybe speaking to work culture and autonomy, flexibility that are more talked about in today's job market," Aksu said. more

Career development

 8h

Dark web attracts laid-off workers, teenagers, and elite talent, with a median job seeker age of 24 - Global Security Mag Online


Kaspersky Digital Footprint Intelligence prepared a new report Inside the dark web job market: Their talent, our threat. There was a two-fold increase in the number of résumés and jobs (1) posted on underground forums in Q1 2024 compared to Q1 2023, and this number remained on the same level in Q1 2025. Overall, in 2025, résumés outnumber vacancies 55% to 45%, driven by global layoffs and an... influx of younger candidates. Age distribution among the candidates shows a median seeker age of just 24, with a marked teenager presence.

Jobs found on the dark web are predominantly related to cybercrime or other illegal activities, although some legitimate positions are present as well. Kaspersky findings show a shadow economy where 69% of job seekers did not specify a preferred field, openly signaling they'd take any paid opportunity - from programming to running scams or high-stakes cyber operations. The most in-demand IT roles posted by employers on the dark web reflect a mature criminal ecosystem:

developers (accounted for 17% of vacancies) create attack tools;

penetration testers (12%) probe networks for weaknesses;

money launderers (11%) clean illicit funds through layered transactions;

carders (6%) steal and monetize payment data;

traffers (5%) drive victims to phishing sites or infected downloads.

Gender-specific patterns emerged in specialized applications. Female applicants predominantly sought interpersonal roles, including support, call-center, and technical-assistance positions. Male applicants, by contrast, more frequently targeted technical and financial-crime roles - developers, money mules, or mule handlers.

Salary expectations varied sharply by specialization. Reverse engineers commanded the highest compensation, averaging over $5,000 monthly, followed by penetration testers at $4,000 monthly and developers at $2,000. Fraudsters tended to receive a fixed percentage of a team's income. Money launderers average 20%, while carders and traffers earn approximately 30% and 50% of the full income, respectively. These figures reflect a premium on scarce, high-impact skills within the shadow ecosystem.

"The shadow job market is no longer peripheral; it's absorbing the unemployed, the underage, and the overqualified. Many arrive thinking that the dark web and the legal market are fundamentally alike, rewarding proven skills over diplomas, with the dark web even offering some benefits - like offers landing within 48 hours and no HR interviews. However, not many realize that working on the dark web can lead to prison," comments Alexandra Fedosimova, Digital Footprint Analyst at Kaspersky.

Young individuals contemplating dark web employment must recognize that short-term earnings carry irreversible legal and reputational consequences. Parents, educators, and the community are urged to report suspicious online solicitations immediately. Children should be shown that there are multiple skill-building and career pathways in legitimate technology sectors, such as cybersecurity. Check out Kaspersky's special project What we should do with kids who hack on how teens can be rehabilitated and taught to use their skills for good.

Kaspersky offers several recommendations to stay safe.

Individuals:

Don't follow links to suspicious-looking webpages. Never respond to unsolicited "easy money" offers, especially via Telegram or obscure forums. Verify job legitimacy through official channels.

If you are a teen - report suspicious posts to parents or authorities. No high wage is worth a criminal record.

Organizations:

Train employees to recognize phishing and suspicious links.

Implement dark web monitoring for employee credentials and ex-staffer résumés. Train HR to spot "shadow experience" in applicant histories. Mandate multi-layered fraud detection - money mules and carders are entry-level roles in larger attack chains.

Continuous monitoring of dark web resources significantly improves the coverage of various sources of potential threats, and allows customers to track threat actor's plans and trends in their activities. This type of monitoring is a part of Kaspersky's Digital Footprint Intelligence service.

Use multiple sources of Threat Intelligence information (with coverage of surface, deep and dark web resources) to stay aware of actual TTPs used by threat actors.

(1) The analysis was based on 2,225 job-related posts - vacancies and resumes - published on dark web forums between January 2023 and June 2025. Some of the forums and resources reviewed may no longer be accessible at the time of publication. more

Anonymous member


Career development 5d
Hi everyone,
I'm currently working on my thesis and I'm facing serious challenges with designing my questionnaires. Every time I try, I realize the structure or logic isn't accurate enough for the kind of analysis I need. I am currently on my 6th design and still feels worthless.
Earlier this year, I lost contact with the few people who used to guide me through these things. I know I should... reach out to my supervisor, but I’ve been genuinely afraid to do so. Since I was assigned to him, I’ve found it difficult to communicate he feels very unapproachable to me, and that’s made me hesitant.
Now my thesis is pending, and I’m stuck with no clear path forward.
 more
4   

  • Ebeneza Jibrian

    10h

    Contact me on ebenezajibrian1@gmail.com, I'll help you with that, good morning.

  • mwaura david

    1d

    You should share your field of research. That way somebody here may be willing to help

    1
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Career development

 18h

Entry-Level Healthcare Cover Letter


I'm looking for a polished, job-winning cover letter that positions me as a strong candidate for an entry-level role in the healthcare field. You'll be working from my current résumé and a specific job posting I'll share once we start. The finished letter must remain under one page, speak to my transferable clinical and interpersonal skills, and flow naturally while still being friendly to modern... ATS filters. Please draw clear connections between my background and the employer's stated needs, use concise language that showcases both empathy and professionalism, and close with a confident call-to-action. I'd like the draft in editable Word format plus a final PDF, ready for me to submit. If you can turn this around quickly without sacrificing quality, let's get started. more

Career development

 21h

CISOs Get Real About Hiring in the Age of AI


Dark Reading Confidential Episode 12: Experts help cyber job seekers get noticed, make an argument for a need to return to the hacker ethos of a bygone era, and have a stark conversation about keeping AI from breaking the sector's talent pipeline for years to come.

Becky Bracken: Hello, and welcome to Dark Reading Confidential. It's a podcast from the editors of Dark Reading, focused on bringing... you real world stories straight from the cyber trenches.

Today we are talking about the cybersecurity job market, talent pipeline, and the disruption of both as automation and AI start in earnest to take over those traditional entry level tier one analyst roles.

I'm Becky Bracken, your host, and I am thrilled to welcome two Dark Reading regulars to the conversation. Both are members of our CISO advisory board: Fred Kwong, vice president and chief information security officer (CISO) for DeVry University, and Jessica Sica, who is head of security for Weave Communications, a billing platform for medical practices. Thank you both so much for joining us and welcome.

Jessica Sica: Happy to be here.

Fred Kwong: Thanks, Becky.

Becky Bracken: So, we were chatting a little bit before we started, and this conversation actually started last summer over chips and salsa. We were at a luncheon for Dark Reading and Jessica was telling me a little bit about some of the roles that she is hiring for and how she found the sort of talent pipeline had been upended a bit. And so, I'm hoping maybe Jessica, you can start us out with explaining sort of your journey through that and what we can take away from it.

Jessica Sica: That's a great question to start with. Yeah, I mean, I think we can get into this in a lot more detail as we go, but AI, of course, is impacting every area of work. Certainly, it's impacting how we hire, how we recruit. It's impacting the talent pools. I don't even know that we are always seeing the full talent pool anymore because of AI. I'm not convinced we are always seeing the top talent.

There's a lot of demand for security jobs and the HR teams themselves are using tools to screen out those initial résumés, right? You can't review 500 applicants by manual process. There has to be some sort of automated process for that. If you're any size company trying to fill any size number of roles, they're going to use AI, and they do use AI. For some of our India positions, we get thousands of applicants, and you just can't look at (all of) those.

So, I think the first thing to talk about there probably is, are we even seeing all the best candidates? If your résumé doesn't match what AI is looking for, you may get screened out.

And personally, when I'm trying to hire a security engineer or a security analyst, I don't care if they can write a good résumé. I don't care if they are good at having their résumé match AI rules that they don't even know what the rules are. There's other things I care about.

So that's certainly a concern for me, is who you're initially even seeing upfront based on current hiring practices and trends.

Becky Bracken: That is such a great point. And so, does it then come down to, do you having to proactively then go out to HR? Are you just waiting for AI to catch up with you, like how did you address it? What's the right way to attack that?

Jessica Sica: I don't know that they're caught up yet. I don't know that AI is caught up yet. I think AI is probably always going to miss some good applicants. Hopefully you're getting enough applicants that you can still get the right person and still lean very heavily on your network and on your referrals. We hired somebody over the summer and he ended up being a referral. Of course, we looked at others that came through the HR process, but relying on that referral network I think helps a lot given the current climate, if you can.

Becky Bracken: That's great. Fred, what do you have to say about that?

Fred Kwong: I think Jessica's right. The human interaction component is critical, right, when we're looking for either new candidates or new jobs for that matter. I will take a referral from one of my CISO peers of a candidate over, you know, someone that's, you know, call it just going through the applicant process and then those referrals become important. And so therefore, the network that the applicants have is very important, right, to build that network, build those relationships so that you can get recommendations for specific roles that you're looking for, or at least try to attempt to find those roles. And I think part of what Jessica mentioned is that there's, you know, AI or HR screening has always been something that's been a little bit of a challenge, right, for our candidates and how do you get your foot through the door? You know, do need to have certain certifications or certain keywords in your résumé before the system flags you and allows you kind of through the initial offerings. And so I think it's still important to kind of understand, what those are: Keywords that folks are looking for and I think a lot of times if the applicant is smart they'll be able to extrapolate what those keywords need to be in their résumés when they look at those job descriptions, right? So it's a little bit of a two-way street now with the AI Injecting itself into HR processes.

I think what you're seeing now is an acceleration of that need to make sure that you're screening yourself appropriately and that you're getting through some of AI checks and balances that exist. And the best way to do that then is to also use AI to screen your own résumé. And are you putting in those keywords? Are you putting in the things that the other AI, if you want to call it, wants to see? And that's a very good use of things like ChatGPT, and ensuring that you're getting through those application screening processes, right? Especially those that are more automated or more rely on the machine learning or AI.

Becky Bracken: That's interesting. So what are some tips that you guys have to share? Like what would the keywords be for instance, if I wanted to be a security engineer at Weave, like what are some of the things that you would be looking for beyond just the normal, like you said, you don't care if somebody can ace a résumé writing test, that's not your business. So what are the things that you're on the lookout for?

Jessica Sica: I mean, I think if the candidate is looking and trying to cater their résumé to that position, you need to look at the job description, but sometimes it goes beyond that. You need to look at the website. I would look at the other people on the team, find them on LinkedIn, look at what their skills are, see how you can kind of match up with that environment. And as Fred said, take your résumé and run it through AI yourself.

If you want to get noticed, we kind of talked about what managers can do, but on the other side of that, what the potential candidates can do is take the job description, give the job website, give your app your résumé, and then send that through AI and say, how can I make sure that I get noticed at this company? And you'll probably get some pretty good tips back and, hopefully it'll be the keywords and things that AI is looking for in your résumé. It'll at least give you a little better, you know, foot up than if you had not done that at all.

Becky Bracken: Go ahead, Fred, you seem like you have something to add to that.

Fred Kwong: No, I was just going to say that's at the heart of what these screening capabilities are doing for employees is they're doing pattern matching. And now you're just layering AI on top of that to help you screen for how certain résumés may match for specific skill sets that you're looking for, specific tools that you use in your organization, but then also look to see if they have a more broader diverse background. A lot of folks inside of human resources are going to look for, know, what are these candidates bringing to the table outside of what they're seeing in the résumé. So the AI will go out and scour and take a look at, well, where else is this guy or girl?

You know, what are we seeing on the Internet, right? You know, what does their Facebook look like? What is their LinkedIn profile look like? You know, what is their Instagram look like or Twitter, et cetera, right? And that's the, some of the power of AI is combining that additional data points in addition to the résumé. So one of the things that you want to make sure that if you're on the job hunt that you look at, well, what is, what am I broadcasting out there about myself? Are those things aligned to the culture that that organization is interested in. And if not, maybe there are certain things that I need to remove on the internet. Well, we know that's not always possible, but try to clean up a little bit in terms of some of our posts, some of the things that may exist out there, just so that we can paint a better picture of ourselves.

Becky Bracken: That's such a good point. A company doesn't have to invest in a big, expensive background check anymore. They can push a button and get probably a pretty good idea of your entire footprint. Let's sort of also pivot to this idea of how new entrants into the cyber sector are going to gain experience. Those tier one SOC analyst jobs that were labor intensive and sort of a grind were also, as I understand it, excellent proving grounds for learning the business of cyber. With those getting automated and AI'd away, what is the correct way for people to gain that kind of experience?

Fred Kwong: I can start on that one. So at the university we have something called a cyber range that we employ with our students and this is a way for our students to get practical knowledge or practical experience working inside of that kind of cyber range where you're using real world tools to do exercises; whether it's a capture the flag exercise or if it's a threat simulation or it's threat hunting they get some of that real world experience through our cyber range.

Outside of those particulars if your student and your university doesn't offer those things you know you're going to look to other hunts that exist out there right there are capture the flag programs that exist on the Internet that you can join. There's caregiver exercises that you can join, all of which will help you train in those skill sets. And then outside of those components, I would say internships are critical, right? Trying to get as much real world experience as you can while you're going through your education.

Jessica Sica: I'm gonna pick on education just a little bit, but only in the context of, I think, going to a university or doing the program in and of itself. If that's the only thing you're doing, it may not be enough. I think Fred talked about the hands-on component of that, and I think that's really important. I think, you know, we saw a lot in the past about people trying to get jobs is you would build your own lab, you would build your own home network, you would tear it apart, take it down, rebuild it again. You know, the DEFCON self-taught hacker type security people who you see less of today because of all the boot camps and all the security programs. And those aren't bad. But if they're the only thing, it's probably not the best place to gain your experience. I think you can, you know, do that hands-on stuff at home. And that shows a lot to a potential to future employers, that you really want to understand this stuff and you dig into this stuff and maybe you couldn't get that entry-level SOC job, but you built your own network and this is what you built and here's what it consisted of and then you tore it down and rebuilt it or then you hacked it, right? I mean, I think there's some things you can do to get that experience at home that's outside of the job environment as well and those certifications as well, they help, but a lot of that is just kind of the knowledge of security versus the depth of security. I think that home stuff that I've talked, I would really dig into that. really personally, somebody who's doing this outside of education is a lot more somebody that I would want to hire. Because there's a lot of people today who, security is growing, security, I'm going to make a lot of money. So I'm just going to go to this two year program and go try to get a job, right?

That's not really the experience that you're trying to gain. It's the background to get you there and not the experience in and of itself.

Becky Bracken: It's so interesting you bring that up because I hear this theme a lot. This idea of getting sort of injecting that hacker mentality back into cybersecurity, particularly in the enterprise space. And it sounds a lot like what you're talking about, embracing the thrill of the chase, the thrill of the work when you can.

Jessica Sica: Yes. Yeah, I see. I don't know about Fred, but I see too many people who are getting into security now because it's a field in demand or they're going to make money. And I've had people literally tell me that. And I'm like, well, if you're not passionate about it and you're just in it for the money, I appreciate that honesty, but I'm going to move on to the next person.

Fred Kwong: Yeah, agreed. And I think it also depends on what part of security that you want to invest yourself into, right? Or what type of security role are you looking at? Because there's so many different aspects in security, right? Security is as wide as IT is, right? So you can be a network engineer, you can be a system engineer, can be a DBA, right? You can be a programmer. And security is very much the same way. There's so many different security jobs. You can be a pen tester, you can be a SOC analyst, you can be an architect, can be a GRC (governance, risk and compliance) person, you can be in security awareness training, right? You could be in sales, right? There's so many aspects of security and I think that's one thing that as people try to figure out their journey, it's figuring out what parts of security that you have interest in and then try to gain those experiences based off of those interests. if you're into it, then yeah, taking pen testing courses and doing an OSCP certification, right? That might be your path to show that you can do things outside of the classroom. But if you're a GRC specialist or someone that wants to go into GRC, then you really need to get those internships where you can get more practical knowledge on how to do a vulnerability assessment or a third party assessment or, you know, name the, you know, acronym assessment of, you know, whatever sort of government entity or state or federal regulation that you need because without that practical experience, it's very hard to get that GRC knowledge, right? Even in the classroom, yes, you can run some theoretical assessments and how would you, you know, scope those things. there is, so there are some technical aspects to that, but then there's also a practicum of like looking at someone's center of excellence and trying to grade, How are they as an organization? How secure are they as an organization?

Becky Bracken: It's interesting too what I'm hearing you both say are very, the reaction to AI and automation are very human things. Building your network, getting out there and meeting people, know, taking a look at the people that you're going to work with on the team, getting practical real world experience. It's almost sort of the antidote is more human involvement in the work, which is sort of an interesting twist, I think.

Jessica Sica: It is for sure.

Fred Kwong: I think one other component I'll add in there is that for people that are getting into the field now, understanding how AI can impact security jobs and using that knowledge and gaining that knowledge will put you ahead of everyone else. So if you're trying to be a SOC analyst, just as an example, going to school for that, great. Getting some certifications around it, fantastic. But understanding how you could create an AI agent to help you with that job or that function, that will be massive because now you're 2x-ing 3x-ing your skill set compared to those that Or that you're bringing more to the table than your your competitors or other folks that are looking for that job or bringing right because you can say hey, you know, someone can say they do threat hunting, but I know how to do threat hunting with AI and therefore your return as an employee or employer is going to be significantly more because, this person can do it this much quicker and they can return results faster. And being able to leverage the AI to build, create agents, help with the job, I think that's going to be very practical. And then once you kind of learn those components, you also understand how to secure AI, which is something new that everyone is, I want to say struggling with, but they're all learning, right?

What is the new how do we deal with AI a little bit differently than we would normally normal data governance right and what does that look like so those newer skill sets if you can bring those to the table I think that really gives you a leg up as well.

Becky Bracken: Does that get your attention too, Jessica, when you're looking at résumés?

Jessica Sica: Yeah, it certainly does. I mean, our world is changing and if people who are applying for the jobs aren't changing with it, that's not somebody that you may want there. And if they are, they're showing that aptitude, they're showing that growth, they're showing that learning. And I did want to touch, I think there's some other unconventional ways you can get that experience if somebody's entry level jobs are not there anymore. There's other things you can do that maybe aren't security specific or IT specific.

Maybe you get a QA testing role, which shows that you can troubleshoot and find problems and solve them. I mean, I think that's a very valuable skill, especially if you want to parlay that into a mid-level security person or maybe a help desk. And from help desk, then maybe you can get into security. Help desk is how I got in way back in the day. It certainly translates, but there's other ways I think that you can get.

Some of that experience, a call center job that is not even necessarily technical is a good background, especially if you wanna start getting into that tech support channel. So I think people need to think outside the box a little bit too and not necessarily jump right into a security job and say, I can't find a security job. It's like, well, what skills are they looking for? And is there a related job that you can go do to get those skills, right? I think that's important too.

Fred Kwong: Yeah, absolutely. like Jessica was saying, I started out on the help desk as well. know, we're brothers in arms in that sense. And I think that the concept really is what are the, I think the expectation that there are a number of entry-level security jobs out there that meet the needs of all those looking for trying to get into security for the first time do not exist, right?

Jessica Sica: I love that.

Fred Kwong: There are very few entry-level security jobs that exist out there. So to Jessica's point, it's what else can you do to get your foot in the door at an organization and then potentially transition from there into security, whether that's a help desk or desktop support or maybe even something from an internal audit perspective, right, if you're interested from a GRC perspective. Anything that gets you those skill sets that will help you showcase your talent in the organization, but then allow you to pivot into security once you're there is critical as well.

Becky Bracken: But I am struck by the fact that if there are no entry-level security jobs and it is up to other sectors to train up talent for security jobs, are we not at some point going to face a talent problem? I mean, is that going to stunt the sector's growth and ability to grow its own talent?

Fred Kwong: Absolutely. I think one of things that I'm trying to talk with my peers about is championing the concept of having those junior level positions available so that we can grow the pipeline to your point, Becky, right? Because right now the problem is a lot of organizations are focused on AI acceleration and AI replacement for individuals, especially in those lower level roles, right?

Jessica Sica: Yeah.

Fred Kwong: We're causing a gap in our pipeline to exist, especially here in the US, right? Where we're already outsourcing a lot of those lower level jobs to begin with. And now that you're taking in AI in addition to that, now it's just like, OK, well, where's the next level of pipeline coming from, right? Well, how do we feed that pipeline so that we can grow more security leaders and more senior level individuals? And I think it's up to all of us to try to champion for those types of roles in our organization so that we can help build that pipeline for the security world, if you want to call it that.

Jessica Sica: Yeah, Fred is right. I think champion those positions within our own organizations and creating those junior positions because they are going away. And that is a concern for the future of the talent pool. If you're trying to jump from entry level to mid level with nothing in between because AI and outsource jobs are taking all those roles, right? That's a concern. And I think it's getting more prevalent from what I've heard. And it's going to get more prevalent. AI is not replacing every entry level SOC analyst job. But if you have a huge company with 50 entry-level SOC analysts, you might replace half of them with AI. And in another five years, maybe you only have five of them left. So there's a lot fewer of those jobs. And if you can create ways and create that pathway within your organizations, I think that's important to the industry as a whole, because they need somewhere where they can go and somewhere where they can learn, besides just internships, which there aren't really a lot of those available anyway. But you need somewhere to go and somewhere to grow and learn and security leaders are gonna have to create that pathway somewhere.

Fred Kwong: Yeah.

Becky Bracken: Yeah, because that's a tall ask. Work for free at an internship to gain skills. Build your own networks at home, which is not an inexpensive proposition. That does ask a lot of upstarts, know, recent college grads and that sort of thing.

Jessica Sica: It does.

Becky Bracken: Well, OK, so where are we going? Do you think that there is going to be success in creating those entry level jobs? Are we going to need as a sector to start getting serious about looking elsewhere to nurture talent? How is this gonna shake down like in the next two to five years when sort of that bulk of those entry levels would be sort of rising in the ranks?

I'm happy whoever wants to take that one first. I know it's not an easy one to answer.

Fred Kwong: I think one of things is kind of again, and we go back to this idea of creativity, right? Even inside my organization, it's very difficult for me to get a entry level position. I don't have that many positions to begin with. We're a pretty small shop. But what I'm trying to do is work with my third parties to help them build in those pipelines as well. It's like, hey, you know, I want you to have an internship program, know, bill me for it if you need to.

Like, let people work on my account and gain that experience, right? Get those DeVry students in there so they can gain that experience.

And it might be working with our third parties, especially a lot of us outsource our socks to MSP providers and working with them to say, hey, I want to make sure that we're nurturing talent as part of that. And if that means there's a little bit of upcharge to my costs, be it. But at least I'm helping to build that pipeline. Because I've also worked in large organizations where we've had internal socks. And it's tough for the organization as well. Because what happens is you're one of the few people that are growing talent and what happens is they'll come in, they'll learn, they'll leave after a year because they're gonna get offered 30K more to go work someplace now that they have that experience, right? And so it's a challenge for all of us and I think we're going to continue to fight this challenge for quite a bit. Becky, there's no, I don't want to say silver bullet here to help us through this challenge, but that's just some ways to again think creatively as how do we nurture this talent and how do we build it up.

Becky Bracken: Yeah. Jessica, how do you think the conundrum will unfurl?

Jessica Sica: Yeah. I don't have a lot of ... great input to add other than what Fred just said, but maybe part of it too is we need to create more specialized entry level roles that people can take on. So maybe the role is in a SOC analyst, but maybe it's a very specific piece of that that is working with the AI tool that you have, right? So maybe there's a pathway there. Maybe you come in and you're doing AI prompting. That can be from a very low level to a high level position, but there's certainly low level positions where you can do that.

Maybe we have to create new roles today that don't exist in order to find pathways for these people trying to get into security in the next two to five years.

Becky Bracken: Yeah, well you've given us all a lot to think about and some good advice today. I guess if you could leave us with one piece of advice. I am out there on the grind trying to snag these very few roles that are out there. What is the first thing that I should do today to improve my chances of landing a new gig? Jessica?

Jessica Sica: Wow, you're gonna make me go first on this one.

Becky Bracken: I'm sorry. Do I join a organization to meet people? Do I get AI to take a look at my résumé? What is something today I can do to help?

Jessica Sica: Yeah, you know.

I have several and you're saying pick one, but I'm gonna throw a couple at you. Learning IT and knowing the basics. There's a lot of people that come and try to jump right into security without understanding how networking works or without understanding some of the basics of IT. And I think that goes a long way to set you apart in today's market. So that's definitely a big one. Networking and learning from others. You touched on that.

Becky Bracken: Great.

Jessica Sica: Do I need to join an organization? Maybe go to conferences. There's low cost conferences you can go to. DEFCON you can go to, you can go to B-sides. They still cost money, but they're not thousands of dollars, They're hundreds plus potential travel. Going to conferences does a few things. It shows that you care and that you're passionate about the industry, I think. And it allows you to connect with people. And sometimes connecting with people is the best way that you can find a job.

The larger your network, the more connections you have, the more likely you are to hear from somebody who's hiring. And if you know somebody who can get you in that door without going through the AI screening in the first place, that's going to give you a lot better chance to land that position.

Becky Bracken: Excellent, excellent advice. Fred, what do you got?

Fred Kwong: I'll add one more to the mix and that's volunteering. There's a lot of great volunteer opportunities and it helps to just showcase that you're part of the community, whether it's local not-for-profit conferences, there's a bunch in Chicago, just as an example, that you could volunteer, even if it's something as simple as just checking people through the door. But then, while that's simple, you get to meet and greet.

Every single person that runs through that that conference right and so that's going to be hiring managers That's gonna be CISOs directors right or even peers There are analysts that can tell you a little bit about how they got started or positions They may know about right so again It really is part of that is the big pieces the networking component and then as Jessica mentioned earlier.

You know build yourself a passion project right at home figure out. What is it that? Learn about and build it out. It doesn't cost a lot.

Just as an example, you can build a little bit of a mini lab in the cloud in AWS [Amazon Web Services] for pennies on the dollar, right? They have a lot of free tier things that you can build out. There's a lot of courses that you can take right now, especially in the AI world that are free to take and learning those things.

That becomes really important because it shows that you are willing to put in the effort for one thing. And I think that's the one thing that a lot of people miss is that as we as hiring managers, we're looking to understand, especially if you don't have the experience, what type of passion do you have? What type of level of effort are you putting into growing yourself? Because in the security world, the good and the bad about the security trade is that you constantly have to learn new things.

And I'm still continuing to learn even now, right? And I've been in the industry for 20-plus years and I probably will continue to have to learn to stay relevant in my position. And if you're not staying relevant, if you're not keeping up, then, and if you don't have passion for that, then this is not the right field for you because you are going to be a continuous learner throughout your career in security. And that's just the way that goes.

Becky Bracken: I want to thank you both. That was really great advice. I think that even people who aren't in security could probably get something out of that. That was wonderful. Fred Kwong, Jessica Sika, thank you so much for being here with Dark Reading Confidential. This is a podcast from the editors of Dark Reading, where we bring you real world stories straight from the cyber trenches.

My name is Becky Bracken. I will see you next time. more

Career development

 21h

Creative Resume Document Design


I'm ready to refresh my résumé and need it laid out as a polished, creative-looking Microsoft Word file. The document must highlight my Work Experience section prominently, with eye-catching typography, smart use of colour and intuitive spacing so recruiters can scan it quickly. The file has to remain fully editable in Word -- no locked graphics -- so I can update wording or future dates myself.... Feel free to leave subtle placeholders for Education or Skills, but the star of the page should be the professional experience timeline. Deliverable: a single .docx resume template (A4 and US-Letter friendly) that opens seamlessly in the latest versions of Word, complete with sample text so I can see the styling in context. If you've crafted inventive layouts before and know how to balance creativity with ATS-friendly structure, I'd love to see your approach and get started right away. more

Career development

 23h

Mastering the Opener: Why 'Tell Me About Yourself' Wins or Sinks Job Interviews


In the high-stakes arena of job interviews, few questions carry as much weight as the seemingly innocuous 'Tell me about yourself.' This opener, often the first substantive query from hiring managers, sets the tone for the entire conversation. A recent CNBC article published on November 24, 2025, underscores its pivotal role, quoting career coach Madeline Mann: 'This is your chance to deliver a... knockout pitch.'

Mann, who has coached thousands through interviews at Google and elsewhere, advises structuring the response around three pillars: past achievements, present skills, and future fit. 'People struggle because they ramble about their life story,' she told CNBC. Instead, she recommends a 60-90 second elevator pitch tailored to the role, drawing from her experience where mismatched answers led to 70% rejection rates in mock sessions.

Industry insiders know this question isn't casual -- it's a filter. Data from LinkedIn's 2025 Workforce Report reveals that 62% of recruiters decide on candidate viability within the first five minutes, often hinging on this response. Robert Half's insights echo this, noting in a December 2024 analysis that top answers focus on professional relevance, avoiding personal anecdotes unless directly tied to career pivots.

The Structure That Seals Deals

Diving deeper, Mann's formula -- past, present, future -- mirrors sales pitches refined in tech and finance boardrooms. For past: Highlight quantifiable wins, like 'Led a team that boosted revenue 25% at XYZ Corp.' Present: Pivot to current expertise, 'I'm skilled in data analytics using Python and SQL.' Future: Align with the company, 'Excited to apply this at your firm to drive AI initiatives.'

This approach, per Indeed's November 2025 guide, transforms vagueness into precision. Recruiters on X, formerly Twitter, amplify this: Posts from career advisor Andrew Lokenauth stress keeping it '1-2 minutes, focusing on education, experience, and skills.' A November 2025 X thread by @TheJobfather__ outlines: 'Who you are professionally, top skills, value you bring, why this role.'

The Muse's March 2025 update adds nuance for executives: Weave in leadership metrics, such as 'Managed $50M portfolios, delivering 15% annualized returns.' Novoresume's September 2025 compilation of 79 answers shows patterns -- successful ones average 150 words, 80% job-specific.

Tech Sector Nuances

In Silicon Valley, where FAANG interviews dominate, the question probes technical depth. A CNBC November 19, 2025, piece on 'Where do you see yourself in five years?' links it, advising to 'show how goals fit the role.' Google recruiters, via Glassdoor leaks, favor responses tying personal projects to company pain points, like open-source contributions mirroring product roadmaps.

Finance pros adapt similarly. Wall Street veterans, per eFinancialCareers reports, emphasize regulatory wins: 'Navigated Dodd-Frank compliance, saving $2M in fines.' X posts from @FluentInFinance in 2024-2025 garner thousands of likes for brevity: 'Short, sweet, qualified.'

Common pitfalls abound. Mann warns against chronological resumes-in-verbal-form; Robert Half cites oversharing hobbies as a top turnoff, with 45% of surveyed managers preferring 'no personal details.'

Quantifying Impact

To elevate responses, insiders quantify. The CNBC article details Mann's client who landed a VP role at a Fortune 500 by stating: 'Grew user base 300% via A/B testing.' Metrics resonate -- LinkedIn data shows resumes with numbers get 40% more views, extending to verbal pitches.

X sentiment in November 2025 reinforces: @Simon_Ingari's thread, viewed 100K+ times, structures as 'background, skills, excitement,' crediting it for offers. @Jobs_Namibia advises: 'Short. Clear. Powerful.'

For mid-career switches, bridge gaps strategically. Indeed recommends: 'Acknowledge transition, emphasize transferable skills,' as in 'Shifted from marketing to product management, leveraging consumer insights.'

Practice and Pitfalls

Preparation is non-negotiable. Mann's protocol: Record, time, refine 10 iterations. Tools like Big Interview simulate, with AI feedback on filler words -- 'um' counts spike nerves, per their analytics.

Recent X trends show VR mock interviews gaining traction, with startups like Interviewing.io reporting 30% callback boosts. CNBC's November 12 piece on weaknesses ties in: Honesty framed positively, avoiding 'perfectionist' clichés.

Cultural fits vary. In Europe, per Eurofound studies, brevity reigns; Asia emphasizes humility. U.S. tech? Bold alignment, as @Mochievous's 2018 viral post (still retweeted) posits: 'Lead with where you're going.'

Future-Proofing Your Pitch

AI disrupts prep. Tools like Resume.io generate drafts, but humans refine. 2025 X buzz around ChatGPT prompts: 'Craft tell-me-about-yourself for [role] at [company].'

Mann predicts hybrid futures: 'Post-AI, authenticity wins.' Robert Half forecasts 2026 interviews prioritizing soft skills via this question, with 75% virtual.

Ultimately, this opener tests synthesis -- your career narrative distilled. As CNBC captures, nailing it 'knocks it out of the park,' propelling insiders to next rounds. more

Peris Wanjiru
Career development 19h
Hello fellow job seekers and possible recruiters,
Using Gainrep as a job seeker has become easier to spot on opportunities for the last 3 years, although i am yet to get a job id like to say much appreciation to recruiters who reply back after finding a candidate, the act of corporate ghosting needs a conversation and legislation, mental health has been severally jeopardised on the issue, i write... as a survivor  more

Career development

 1d

I have never been offered a 'permanent' position.


Please note: this is an anonymous response to an online survey; I do not have any way of contacting the respondent or verifying responses. Their answers may reflect good, bad, or middling job searching practices. I invite you to take what's useful and leave the rest.

Your Demographics and Search Parameters

How long have you been job hunting?

√ More than 18 months

Why are you job hunting?

√... I'm unemployed,

√ I've been threatened at my job or had to deal with hostility/danger/scary behavior from the public or coworkers

Where do you look for open positions?

Institutional websites, ALA and similar sites

What position level are you looking for?

√ Entry level,

√ Requiring at least two years of experience

What type(s) of organization are you looking in?

√ Academic library,

√ Archives,

√ Special library

What part of the world are you in?

√ Southwestern US

What's your region like?

√ Urban area

Are you willing/able to move for employment?

√ Yes, to a specific list of places

What are the top three things you're looking for in a job?

1) Good pay & benefits 2) Professional work environment 3) Qualified & dedicated co-workers

How many jobs have you applied to during your current search? (Please indicate if it's an estimate or exact)

several 100s

What steps, actions, or attributes are most important for employers to take to sell you on the job?

√ Pay well, Having (and describing) excellent benefits,

√ Prioritizing work-life balance,

√ Other: Staff who are competent & qualified for their jobs

Do you expect to see the salary range listed in a job ad?

√ Yes, and it's a red flag when it's not

The Process

How much time do you spend preparing an application packet?

1-2 hours

What are the steps you follow to prepare an application packet?

ensure my cover letter and resume correlate to the job listing and institution

How do you prefer to communicate with potential employers?

√ Email and mail

When would you like potential employers to contact you?

√ To acknowledge my application,

√ Once the position has been filled, even if it's not me

How long do you expect an organization's application process to take, from the point you submit your documents to the point of either an offer or rejection?

1-2 months

How do you prepare for interviews?

I used to, but I don't bother to anymore

During your current search, have you had any of the following experiences:

* Submitted an application and got no response √ Happened the majority of the time or always

* Had an interview and never heard back √ Happened more than once

* Interviewed for a job where an internal candidate was eventually chosen √ Happened the majority of the time or always

* Asked for an accommodation for a disability √ Not Applicable

* Withdrawn an application before the offer stage √ Happened once

* Turned down an offer √ Happened once

If you have ever withdrawn an application, why?

Because something the hiring committee said & did after my first interview made it clear to me that they already had someone local whom they were going to hire & who wasn't the least bit qualified for the job. (And, when the hiring announcement was made, it turned out I was completely right.)

If you've turned down an offer (or offers), why?

I turned down one job early in my job hunt for many reasons, the top reasons included: they had a wide array of projects they wanted done but with no money budgeted for them; the library director made it clear she was only there for a couple of years passing her time on the way to something better; after visiting for the interview, I didn't like the city or the library/college where the job was located; I didn't like the one employee I would have to work with the most (& it was clear no one else already working there could stand her either); I resented the fact that they persistently lied about the other (non-existent) candidates for the job; it was clearly the workplace from hell

What should employers do to make the hiring process better for job hunters?

1) Quit asking for my SSN before you've hired me.

2) Get rid of online application services that require 'creating accounts' (especially ones that can not be deleted) and that require typing in hours worth of information into 'fields' on the computer in addition to uploading a resume when all the relevant information you need is already contained in the resume. I've gotten to the point where I prioritize applying for jobs where I can just upload or email or mail my cover letter and resume.

You and Your Well-Being

How are you doing, generally?

√ I'm frustrated,

√ Not out of money yet, but worried, I feel alone in my search

Do you have any advice or words of support you'd like to share with other job hunters, is there anything you'd like to say to employers, or is there anything else you'd like to say about job hunting?

A word for employers: if you already know you are going to hire the department head's ne'er-do-well nephew, or the library director's alcoholic mistress, or the long time volunteer who isn't remotely qualified for the job but deserves to be rewarded for all the years of serving up cake and punch during children's programming, don't post the job and waste applicants' time. The 2 most frustrating things about my never-ending job search are: 1) Realizing that most jobs are already filled before they are posted. 2) Realizing that highly qualified candidates are frequently passed over for individuals with little to no qualifications whatsoever.

Job Hunting Post Graduate School

When did you start your first job search for a "professional" position (or other position that utilized your degree)?

√ More than six months before graduating with my MLIS/other LIS degree

In relation to your graduation, when did you find your first "professional" position?

√ Other: I obtained my first full-time professional position before I graduated, but it was only temporary, grant-funded. And all my jobs have been temporary, grant-funded. I have never been offered a 'permanent' position.

What kind of work was your first post-graduation professional position?

√ Full Time

Did you get support from your library school for your first job hunt (and/or any subsequent ones)?

No, my Library School was & is less than useless. more