Job hunting

How to write a covering letter that adds something your CV cannot, with a three paragraph structure, a worked UK example, and advice on speculative and email applications.

How UK apprenticeships work, what apprentices get paid, and which entry level jobs and short tickets give you the fastest route into paid work with no experience.

If you are not hearing back from job applications, the cause is usually one of six things. Here is how to diagnose it and fix it, from filters and timing to the way you apply.

What to do in the first week, the second and the fourth, how many applications is the right number, and why applying to eighty jobs a week is the least effective thing you can do.

The five fields recruiters actually search, what to write in your headline and About section, and why most profile advice is written for people who want to be influencers rather than employed.

How long your CV is really looked at, why the essential list is a wish list, what the salary band actually is, and the other things employers know about their own process that candidates are never told.

The real reasons applications are turned down in UK small and medium employers, ranked by how often they actually happen, and what each one tells you to change.

Why a large share of UK vacancies are filled without an advert, who fills them, and the two approaches that work for ordinary trades rather than executives.