The Dispatch

Field notes on the job hunt.

No motivational filler. What LinkedIn really thinks of you, the offers rotting in your inbox, and the moves that actually move you closer to an offer — from the people in the room with you.

The Inbox6 min read

Buried opportunities: the unanswered-inbox problem

When a job hunt stalls, the instinct is to apply harder. But the highest-odds channel most members own is the pile of warm messages they never answered. The case for the follow-up over the fiftieth application.

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The Screen7 min read

The screening call: why the 15-minute phone screen kills more candidacies than the resume

Members will rewrite a resume ten times and walk into the recruiter screen cold. But the screen is a structured gate with predictable questions — and a fifteen-minute script beats an hour of good intentions.

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ATS7 min read

ATS scores: what a real 6-component rubric measures (and what keyword counters miss)

Most resume scores are keyword counters with a progress bar. A serious ATS score weighs six different things — and keyword density is one component, not the whole meter. Here is the full rubric, weights included.

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Inference6 min read

The ad-targeting file: what LinkedIn's ad engine has decided about you

Ad_Targeting.csv is a flat list of the titles, seniority, industries and interests LinkedIn has inferred about you and sells to advertisers. Here is how the inference works — and why the same machinery shapes how recruiters find you.

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Skills6 min read

Are your LinkedIn skills burying you? A recruiter-Boolean audit

Recruiters search for candidates with Boolean strings against your listed skills. The wrong skills — or stale ones — quietly file you under jobs you do not want. Here is how to audit them.

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Positioning5 min read

LinkedIn Premium vs. your own data export

Premium shows you who clicked. Your data export shows you what they saw. One is a subscription; the other you already own. Here is which actually helps you get hired.

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The Inbox5 min read

The job offers rotting in your LinkedIn inbox

Most people treat the LinkedIn inbox as noise. But buried in it are warm intros and recruiter messages you never answered — some waiting years. Here is how to find them before they go cold for good.

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The Read6 min read

What does LinkedIn think you are? Decode your ad-targeting data

Buried in your LinkedIn data export is a file that lists the job titles, seniority, and industries the algorithm has quietly sorted you into. Here is how to read it — and why it rarely matches who you actually are.

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The Export6 min read

What your LinkedIn data export actually contains

The zip file LinkedIn will hand any member holds more than a profile — your full message history, your network with timestamps, and the categories its ad engine sells to advertisers. A file-by-file tour.

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The job hunt is lonely. The Dispatch isn't.

Diagnosis, then the cure. Start with what LinkedIn thinks of you.

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