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Your salary negotiation shows exactly what you're like to work with. And I’ve seen brilliant candidates get it horribly wrong. Here are 5 tips to go about negotiating: 1. Know your own requirements first Before you even start, understand what you need financially, what matters for your career progression, and what's important to you personally. You can't negotiate well if you don't know what you're hoping to get out of it. 2. Remember there's more available than you realise It's not just about base salary. Think about office days, pension contributions, bonuses, equity, learning budgets, flexible working arrangements. These are all individual topics worth discussing that can tilt the balance one way or the other. 3. Position competing offers properly Don't say: "XYZ Corp is offering me double." Do say: "I'm expecting another offer in this range, but I prefer you as a company. How can we close the gap?" The first sounds like a threat. The second shows you want to be there, and you're not trying to mug them off. 4. Stay collaborative, not adversarial The person across the table needs to feel like you actually want the role. If you make it too much of a head-to-head battle, you need this person to go and fight on your behalf for the offer you want - you need them to believe it's worth putting their neck on the line for you! 5. Be polite and explain your reasoning Don't just demand things. Explain why something matters to you. Context helps people understand your position and makes it easier for them to say yes. — Remember: they've already decided they want you. Now it's just about finding terms that work for everyone. Any weirdly specific negotiation tactics that have worked for you (not mentioned here)?

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90% of CVs are complete rubbish. I've read thousands in my 10+ years as a recruiter. Here are 6 Do's and Don'ts to keep in mind: 1) Don’t list activities without impact ❌ “Implemented a payment processing system in C#” ✅ “Built a payment system that reduced transaction failures by 40%, improving customer retention.” The difference? One says, “I existed today.” The other says, “I moved the needle.” 2) Don’t use skill ratings ❌ “JavaScript — ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆” 4/5 stars mean nothing. ✅ Show what you built with JavaScript instead. Projects > Points 3) Don’t write in third person ❌ “Paddy managed cross-functional teams and delivered projects on time.” ✅ “I led a team of 8 engineers to deliver our product 3 weeks ahead of schedule.” Third-person CVs are just weird. Are you a royal narrator? 4) Don’t include your photo ❌ A headshot smiling like it’s prom night ✅ Let your work speak for itself Your code, results, and impact matter. Not your smile or your hair. 5) Don’t make it 26 pages long ❌ Yes, someone actually sent a 26-page CV. ✅ Rule of thumb: 1 page per 10 years of experience. Long CVs scream: “I can’t filter what’s important.” Don’t be that person. 6) Don’t try to serve a thousand purposes ❌ “Also worked in a coffee shop in uni, volunteered once…” ✅ Tailor it to the role. Relevance wins interviews. --- Your CV isn't a memoir. It has one job: get you an interview. Focus on making the reader think, "I need to speak to this person." Make every line count.

I’ve conducted 10K+ interviews over 15 years in tech, and I've noticed <1/3 of people do any meaningful prep. So I’ve put together a checklist to ace your next interview: ✅ Do the bare minimum research ☐ Understand what the company does (seriously, look at their website) ☐ Check out the profiles of people you'll be interviewing with ☐ Know their market, potential buyers, and USPs NOTE: If you can't be bothered to do this, you subconsciously don't want the role. ✅ Don't be vague ☐ "I worked on a variety of projects." Alright, James Bond. Top Secret, is it? ☐ Be specific about your achievements and contributions ☐ Strike a balance between "I" and "we" - show personal impact without sounding like an egotistical maniac ✅ Demonstrate you have a plan ☐ Know what you want to achieve in your career ☐ Explain how this role fits into that journey ☐ Interviewers don't care if your exact plan is X, Y, or Z - they want to see you have one ✅ Be clear about your decision criteria for your next role ☐ Explain what's important to you (compensation, growth, culture, etc.) ☐ Do your research on market rates and ask for what you're worth ☐ Don't withhold information on salary aspirations, thinking you'll get more - most companies have bands ✅ Show you care ☐ Ask thoughtful questions - things you’re genuinely curious about ☐ Be open and forthcoming with answers ☐ Demonstrate you've leaned in in your past roles and in this one --- You don't need to be perfect. You just need to be better than the 70% who show up having done zero preparation. And this list will get you there.

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