Field Notes
The Second Act
October 15, 2026
You stayed fifteen or twenty years because it was a great product and a great company, and now it's gone. What could possibly be as good? More than you think. Here's what's out there, and how to find the one that's yours.
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Still Got It
October 13, 2026
What does twenty years give you that five can't? You learned out of a thousand-page book. You've watched the same idea come around three times under three names. You know how it ends. That's not nostalgia. That's the job.
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Using AI Without Being an Expert
October 8, 2026
The AI train is coming. Get on board or get run over. But it's a tool, not a replacement, and it will make mistakes you won't catch. Here's how I use it in a job search, and the two questions to ask it first.
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The Other Side of the Table
October 6, 2026
I'm the one asking the questions now. Here's what I've seen from that chair: the candidate who couldn't make a two-line change to his own take-home, the résumé that named products the company never sold, and hundreds of applications with the same cover letter.
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Interviewing Again After All This Time
October 1, 2026
Your last interview had a paper résumé on the table. This one has a coding screen, a personality round, a résumé deep-dive that's really an honesty check, and a whiteboard. Here's the whole loop.
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The Comeback Log
September 29, 2026
I once walked into an interview with notes for the wrong company. Here's the system I built after that, what's in it, and the one thing I check before every call.
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Twenty Years Doesn't Fit on One Page
September 24, 2026
Everyone will tell you to cut your résumé to one page. I think that advice was written for people with five years to show. You have twenty. Here's what to do with them instead.
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Look for the Plus Sign
September 22, 2026
With twenty years behind you, most postings aren't for you, and some of the ones that look easiest are the ones you'll never get. Here's how to tell where you fit before you spend a week applying.
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Never Thought I'd Be Looking
September 17, 2026
The first thirty days after the door closes, from someone who's done it cold. Not the résumé. Not LinkedIn. The phone calls, the paperwork, one number to write on the wall, and permission to take a day off.
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The Long Way to Lead
September 16, 2026
Two years. Sixty-some interviews. Almost ten in one week. Here's what finally worked, why the second search took ten weeks instead of two years, and how I ended up in a lead role.
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From Rusty to Ready
September 14, 2026
Twenty-plus courses in two years, a take-home project in a framework I'd never touched, and a side project I dusted off from 2009 because a course doesn't stick unless you use it. That project became Bridani.
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Twenty Years In
September 12, 2026
Thirteen of my last twenty years, I worked alone. Not by choice. I was shipping the whole time. Here's why that's the most dangerous kind of stale, and why you can't feel it happening.
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This Isn't My First Time
September 10, 2026
Five times in thirty years, a job I was good at ended for a reason that had nothing to do with my work. A trade deal, a stock crash, an outsourcing decision, a hiring freeze, an email from HR. Here's the list.
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Stale to Standout
September 6, 2026
My job search didn't start with a layoff. It started with a sentence from my VP, and an interview question I'd been answering in code every day for two years and couldn't answer out loud.
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