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103 lines
4.7 KiB
Markdown
103 lines
4.7 KiB
Markdown
---
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name: technical-job-search
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description: 'Use this skill when a software engineer asks for help with job search tasks: parsing or analyzing a job description, tailoring a CV/resume, writing a cover letter, evaluating a job offer, or drafting a post-interview follow-up email. Do not activate for general career advice unrelated to an active job search action.'
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license: MIT
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argument-hint: 'Optional: the specific task — e.g. "analyze this JD", "tailor my CV", "write cover letter", "evaluate this offer"'
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---
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# Technical Job Search
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Helps software engineers with discrete job search tasks: job description analysis, CV tailoring, cover letter writing, offer evaluation, and follow-up emails.
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---
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## Job Description Analysis
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When given a job description, extract and structure:
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**Must-haves** (explicitly required or repeated multiple times):
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- Technical skills, years of experience, specific domain knowledge
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**Nice-to-haves** (preferred, a bonus, or mentioned once):
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- List these separately. Candidates often disqualify themselves over requirements that are actually optional.
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**What the role actually solves** (inferred from the description):
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- Summarize in 2-3 sentences what business problem this hire addresses
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**Red flags to surface**:
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- "Wear many hats" with no clarity on scope — risk of undefined ownership
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- 10+ must-have technologies for a single role — unrealistic bar or poor team planning
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- No mention of team size, tech stack, or what the role ships — may indicate disorganization
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---
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## CV / Resume Tailoring
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When tailoring a CV to a specific job description:
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1. **Match language exactly** — use the same terminology as the JD, not synonyms. If the JD says "distributed systems", do not write "large-scale systems".
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2. **Lead with impact** — every bullet should have a result: "Reduced P99 latency by 40%" not "Worked on performance improvements".
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3. **Quantify everything possible** — users, QPS, team size, cost saved, revenue impact.
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4. **Cut what does not match** — a two-page CV tailored to the role beats a four-page generic one.
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5. **Mirror the seniority signals** — entry roles want "built", senior roles want "designed", staff and principal roles want "drove" or "defined".
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Do not keyword-stuff. Write for the hiring manager reading it, not for an ATS parser.
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---
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## Cover Letter Writing
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A cover letter should answer three questions in under 300 words:
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1. **Why this company?** Something specific — a product, a technical challenge they have written about, a problem space you care about. Not "I admire your mission."
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2. **Why you?** One or two concrete things from your background that directly match what they need. Link to the specific role, not your full career history.
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3. **Why now?** What is your motivation at this point in your career? One sentence.
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Format: three short paragraphs. No preamble ("I am writing to apply for..."). No summary of your CV.
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Avoid:
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- Restating your CV in prose form
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- "I am passionate about..."
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- Generic company praise ("a leader in the industry", "innovative company")
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- Going longer than one page
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---
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## Offer Evaluation
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When evaluating a job offer, compare across these dimensions:
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**Compensation**
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- Base salary: check against market rate for role, level, and location (levels.fyi, Glassdoor, Blind, Comprehensive.io)
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- Equity: current valuation, vesting schedule (4-year with 1-year cliff is standard), dilution risk for early-stage companies
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- Bonus: target percentage vs actual historical payout
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- Total comp = base + expected bonus + annualized equity value
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**Role clarity**
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- Scope: what does "owning" this role actually mean vs what is already decided?
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- Team: size, structure, who you report to, tenure of the team
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- Growth: what does the next level look like and how long do people typically take to get there?
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**Company health**
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- Stage: runway, revenue, growth rate — ask directly if not public
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- Engineering culture signals: PR review process, incident postmortem culture, on-call burden
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- Remote or hybrid reality: written policy vs actual practice
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**Red flags in an offer**
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- Pressure to decide in under 48 hours — a reasonable window is one to two weeks
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- Equity with no clear liquidity path for a company that has been private for 10+ years
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- A role described as greenfield that turns out to have 6 months of existing unmaintained code
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Get everything in writing before accepting.
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---
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## Follow-up Emails
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After an interview, send a follow-up within 24 hours:
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- One sentence thanking them for the time
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- One sentence referencing something specific from the conversation (a problem discussed, a question they asked)
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- One sentence reaffirming interest, if genuine
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Do not write multiple paragraphs. Do not restate your qualifications. Do not follow up more than once if there is no reply.
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