Tauseef FayyazA to Z
Glossary
Every concept in this sheet, plus the smaller terms it uses. Select a concept to open its card.
A
- Applicant tracking system
- Software companies use to receive applications, parse resumes into fields and let recruiters search and filter candidates by keywords, titles and answers to screening questions.
C
- Career gaps
- Periods without a job on your resume, such as study, caring, health, layoffs or relocation.
I
- Impact bullets
- Resume bullets written as what you achieved, how you measured it and how you did it, starting with a strong verb and including a number where you honestly can.
J
- Job level
- The rung a role sits on in a company's career ladder, such as junior, mid, senior or staff.
K
- Keyword mirroring
- Using the exact words a job description uses for skills you genuinely have, such as "Kubernetes" rather than "container orchestration", in your skills and bullets.
M
- Market pay
- The range companies actually pay for your role, level and location, taken from pay data sites, salary ranges in listings and people you trust.
O
- One-page, single-column resume
- A resume that fits on one page for early and mid career, in one column, with standard section headings, a readable font and exported as a PDF.
P
- Projects section
- Two or three projects with a one-line description, the stack, one or two results or scale facts, and links to the repository and live demo.
R
- Reading job descriptions
- Collecting 10 to 20 real listings for your target role and noting which skills, tools and phrases appear again and again, separating must-haves from nice-to-haves.
T
- Tailoring
- Adjusting a base resume for each group of similar roles: reordering bullets, swapping a project and matching the summary and skills to the listing.
- Target role
- The specific job title and specialism you are applying for, such as backend engineer or mobile engineer, written down before you apply anywhere.
- Tiered company list
- A list of target companies grouped into tiers: reach (dream companies), match (a realistic fit) and safer options, each with a link to its careers page.
Y
- Your constraints
- The non-negotiables you set before applying: location, remote or on-site, visa sponsorship, minimum pay, notice period and the hours you can give to the search.