My boyfriend got laid off 7 months ago.
Unlike hotshot AI jobs, he works in instructional design and was struggling to adapt.
And like a lot of people in tech right now, he was suddenly thrown into one of the most frustrating job markets I’ve seen.
More applicants.
More screening filters.
More “we went with another candidate” emails.
More advice that sounds helpful but isn’t specific enough to actually change anything.
“Fix your resume.”
“Network more.”
“Practice interviewing.”
“Build a portfolio.”
ok, cool.
But what does that actually look like when you’re trying to land the job?
That’s where I stepped in.
Not as his cheerleader.
As the person who could look at the whole job search and say:
“This is why you’re not getting through.”
And we did not just tweak his resume.
We rebuilt the foundation.
First, I rewrote his resume around the roles he was actually trying to land.
Not a generic “motivated professional” resume.
Not a long list of tools.
Not a document that made the reader hunt for the point.
We made it obvious:
What problems he could solve
What experience mattered for the role
What outcomes he could support
Why he was worth moving to the interview stage
Because your resume is not a biography.
It is a screening tool.
And if the person reading it has to work too hard to understand your value, they usually won’t.
The next problem?
He landed multiple screening interviews, but never got past the first hiring manager calls.
That indicated one thing:
His resume worked, but his interview skills needed work.
So we got to work!
We then did 2 custom mock interviews.
Not random questions pulled from Google.
Not “tell me about yourself” practice for the 12th time.
We practiced for the actual job description.
The scenarios.
The explanations.
The stories.
The way he needed to communicate his experience under pressure.
Because being qualified is one thing.
Being able to explain why you’re qualified when someone is evaluating you is a completely different skill.
Then we turned my interview prep kit into a portfolio item.
I knew his skills were special.
So I asked him to review my content for learner experience.
That part mattered.
Because instead of walking in with only claims, he had proof.
Proof that he understood the role.
Proof that he could organize his thinking.
Proof that he could communicate clearly.
Proof that he was not just another person saying, “I’m passionate about this field.”
We also revamped his portfolio website.
Updated his headshot.
Cleaned up the way he showed up online.
Not because a headshot magically gets you hired.
But because every piece of your job search is either building trust or creating friction.
And the goal was to remove as much friction as possible.
The result?
He got past screenings.
He showed up prepared.
He landed the job.
And now he’s making $45K more after being laid off.
That experience confirmed something I already believed:
Most early-career professionals do not need more random job search advice.
They need a system.
And this is especially true for early-career network engineers.
Because technical people are often told:
“Just get more certs.”
“Just apply more.”
“Just lab more.”
“Just keep going.”
But effort is not the same as strategy.
You can apply to 100 jobs with a resume that does not position you well.
You can study for interviews and still freeze when asked to explain your troubleshooting process.
You can have skills and still look invisible online.
You can be good at the work and still make it hard for hiring teams to understand why they should choose you.
That is exactly why I created the Network Engineer Career Accelerator.
It is built for early-career network engineers who are tired of guessing their way through the job search.
Inside, we work on:
Resume rewrites
Custom mock interviews
Interview prep
Portfolio strategy
Structured job search planning
Not vague advice.
Not “just believe in yourself” fluff.
A real system for getting clearer, sharper, and more prepared.
Because the goal is not to apply harder.
The goal is to become easier to hire.
So if you’re an early-career network engineer and you’re tired of getting ignored, screened out, or walking into interviews feeling underprepared, this is for you.
You can check out the Network Engineer Career Accelerator here.
See you inside!
P.S. if you made it this far this is me with Michael, my favorite person and someone I believe in 120%:
Until next time,
Eva
