Marcus Reed
Hiring & Recruiting Contributor
Marcus spent nearly a decade as an in-house technical recruiter, screening thousands of applications through the same Applicant Tracking Systems job seekers are trying to beat. He writes about what actually happens to your resume after you hit 'submit' — how it gets parsed, scored, and surfaced (or buried) — and how to write for the recruiter on the other side of the screen.
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Guides by Marcus
How to Handle Multiple Job Offers at Once: A Former Recruiter's Framework
Two offers at once feels like a luxury problem until the clock starts ticking. A former recruiter's playbook for buying time, comparing offers properly, and using leverage without lying.
How AI Video Interviews Score You, and How to Prepare (A Former Recruiter's Take)
AI video interview tools mostly stopped analyzing faces years ago. Here's what they score instead, and how to prepare for one.
Does Your Resume Need to Match Your LinkedIn Exactly? What Recruiters Actually Check
A former recruiter's honest answer: no one is diffing your resume against your LinkedIn line by line, but five specific details had better agree.
Is Job Hopping Still a Red Flag in 2026? A Former Recruiter's Take
Recruiters still flag frequent short stints, but the whole financial case for hopping quietly flipped in 2026. Here's what actually reads as a risk now, and what doesn't.
Ghost Job Postings: Why They Exist and How to Spot Them (A Former Recruiter's Take)
Why recruiters keep listings live for roles nobody is filling, and a five-signal method for telling a ghost posting from a real one before you spend an evening tailoring for it.
The XYZ Resume Formula Explained (With 20+ Examples)
Google's famous bullet formula, decoded: what X, Y, and Z actually are, worked examples by role, and when to break the rule.
How to List Freelance and Contract Work on a Resume
Freelance work is real experience — if you format it so recruiters and ATS software read it that way. Titles, grouping, and proof.
Why You Never Heard Back After a Great Interview (A Former Recruiter's Take)
Six real reasons hiring goes quiet after a strong interview, from someone who sat in the debrief room, plus what to actually do while you wait.
How to Negotiate a Job Offer: A Former Recruiter's Take (2026 Guide)
A former in-house recruiter breaks down what happens inside a company when you try to negotiate — and the exact scripts that consistently move the number.
What Recruiters Actually Look for in a Resume (A Former Recruiter's Take)
Nine years of screening resumes, distilled into the honest checklist that ran in my head every time I opened an application.
How to Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile to Get Noticed by Recruiters (2026 Guide)
A former recruiter's guide to the four profile elements that determine whether you appear in LinkedIn searches and whether anyone stops to read you.
How to Tailor Your Resume to a Job Description (2026 Guide)
A repeatable 6-step method for matching your resume to any job posting — and the keyword mistakes that get strong candidates auto-rejected.
Should You Use AI to Write Your Resume? (A Recruiter's Take)
A former recruiter's honest take on AI resumes: what it's great at, where it backfires, and the one rule that keeps AI-written resumes credible.