Blog
ATS mechanics. Role-specific resume optimization. What recruiters actually do with your resume in the first six seconds. Long-form pieces — most other resume blogs publish 600 words of generic advice; ours go to the technical detail level.
How Taleo actually parses your resume (and why fancy quotes can sink your application)
Taleo is the legacy enterprise ATS still dominant in finance, government, and healthcare. Its parser is the most fragile of the major engines on character encoding and font-fallback. The three things that break Taleo specifically, and why your em-dashes might be costing you interviews.
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Resume action verbs that actually work in 2026 (and the 17 weak verbs to delete)
The "200 power verbs" lists circulating online are mostly synonyms padding the count. The actual short list of action verbs that meaningfully lift ATS scores and recruiter perception, plus the weak verbs to delete from every bullet.
Cover letters in 2026 — when they actually matter (and when they don't)
Cover letters in 2026 are dead at most companies and critical at others. The honest answer for which ones are which, plus the 4-paragraph structure that lands when a cover letter does matter.
How to write a financial analyst resume that lands at investment banks and high-growth startups (2026)
Financial analyst hiring splits into IB / corporate / FP&A tracks with very different keyword universes. The pattern that lands at each, with the modeling vocabulary and tool naming recruiters scan for in 2026.
How to write an account executive resume that lands enterprise sales interviews (2026)
AE resumes get scored on quota attainment + methodology + deal-size signal. The pattern that lands at scaling SaaS, with the specific MEDDIC vocabulary recruiters scan for and the three numbers every AE bullet needs.
How long should a resume be in 2026? (Honest answer by experience level)
The 1-page vs 2-page resume debate has hardened into a few specific rules by experience level. The honest answer for 2026, with the cutoffs ATS engines and recruiters actually apply, plus what to cut when you're over the limit.
PDF vs DOCX resume — which format actually parses better in 2026?
The PDF-vs-Word debate has shifted significantly since 2020. The honest answer for 2026: PDF is the right default for nearly every situation, but the rare cases where DOCX wins are worth knowing — and so is the one mistake that makes both fail equally.
How Lever actually parses your resume (and why "orphan text" is its
A walkthrough of Lever's resume-parsing pipeline — strict section anchoring, candidate-pipeline scoring, the orphan-text problem that drops content most reliably. Includes the formatting choices that survive Lever specifically.
How to write a marketing manager resume that lands B2B SaaS interviews (2026)
Marketing manager hiring in 2026 demands channel-specific tooling and quantified growth outcomes. The pattern that lands at scaling SaaS companies, with the channel + platform vocabulary recruiters actually scan for and the bullet structure that beats generic "led marketing campaigns" framing.
How to write a UX designer resume that gets past ATS and into the portfolio review (2026)
UX designer resumes have to do two things ATS engines reward inconsistently — communicate research rigor + visual craft. The pattern that works in 2026, including the portfolio link placement, the research vocabulary recruiters scan for, and the design-system terms that signal seniority.
How to handle resume gaps in 2026 — what recruiters actually think (and the one-line fix that works)
Resume gaps trigger more candidate anxiety than any other resume topic. The honest reality is that recruiters care less than you think, and the simplest fix — one line of context per gap — closes most of the perception cost.
The career-change resume that actually works (without lying about your experience)
Career-change resumes get filtered by ATS more than any other category — your keyword vocabulary doesn't match the new role. A practical guide to bridging the gap honestly, with the summary structure, bullet translation pattern and section ordering that consistently land interviews in a different field.
How Greenhouse actually parses your resume (and the 3 mistakes that cost you scorecard slots)
A walkthrough of Greenhouse's parsing pipeline — section anchoring, candidate-profile extraction, scorecard workflow. Plus the three mistakes that cause resumes to drop content in Greenhouse parsing more often than in any other major ATS.
How to write a data scientist resume that proves you ship to production (2026)
A practical guide to the academic-vs-production split that determines whether a data scientist resume gets called for interview. Plus the ML, MLOps and tool vocabulary that signals real industry practice in 2026.
How to write a senior product manager resume that lands FAANG interviews (2026)
A practical guide to the four signals modern PM resumes need — strategy framing, discovery vocabulary, quantified outcomes, cross-functional execution. Plus the 30 keywords ATS engines weight highest for senior PM roles.
ATS keyword stuffing vs honest optimization — where to draw the line
Modern ATS engines penalize keyword stuffing harder than candidates expect. A practical guide to the difference between legitimate keyword optimization and gaming the system, with concrete examples of what works and what backfires.
5 reasons your resume isn't getting interviews (validated against 1,000+ resumes)
The five issues we see most often on resumes that don't generate interviews — ranked by frequency. Each comes with how to detect it on your own resume and the specific fix that closes the gap.
The 6-second recruiter scan — what actually gets read (and what doesn't)
Eye-tracking research shows recruiters spend 6 seconds on the first pass through a resume. This is what they actually look at, in what order, and how to design a resume that wins those 6 seconds.
How to write a software engineer resume that passes ATS in 2026
A practical guide to the four sections that move a software engineer resume past the ATS filter — Skills, Experience, Projects, and the GitHub link. Plus the specific keyword vocabulary modern engineering JDs scan for.
How Workday actually parses your resume (and the 3 things that break it)
A walkthrough of Workday's resume-parsing pipeline — how it extracts text, identifies sections, and matches keywords against the job requisition. Plus the three formatting traps that cause Workday to drop content most reliably.
Welcome to the LSI Resume blog
A short introduction to what we'll publish here — long-form posts on ATS mechanics, resume optimization for specific roles, and the science behind why most resume advice on the internet is wrong.