Hey Little Pineapple,

Last week I had a call with a candidate.

He send me his CV before our chat and what I saw immediately raised my eyebrow:
6 roles in the past 2.5 years, 4-6 months each.

Six short gigs. No context. No explanation.

Just a list of 4-6 month roles that screamed "red flag" to anyone who glanced at it.

So, we hopped on the call and here's what actually happened:
Five of those were contract roles. One ended because the company lost funding and had to let everyone go.

But I didn't know that until we talked.

And when hiring manager would see this CV do you think they would even bother to reach out and ask?
If they are other potentially good candidates in the pipeline? Hell no.

They see the CV, make assumptions, and move on to the next person.

This happens more than you think. And it's completely avoidable.

The Problem: You, Little Pineapple, are making recruiters guess.

And they guess wrong.

When recruiters review dozens of CVs a day, they're pattern-matching.

It's a fancy word for skimming + looking for relevance.

It's basically the same thing you do when you scroll feeds or bump into interesting article.
Because of attention spans nowadays we rarely read everything from start to finish.
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What we do more often is read the first sentence, maybe second and then jump ahead to the 4th paragraph stopping your eyes on bolded or underlined text. And only then we decide if this is worth our time.

And exactly the same mechanism happens here.

They're looking for signals - good and bad.

And when something looks off, they fill in the blanks themselves.

The candidate I spoke with?

On paper, they looked like a job hopper who couldn't hold down a position.
Someone who might have performance issues or cultural fit problems.

But the reality was the opposite.

They were a skilled contractor, who just happened to have 6 contracts gig in a row in past 2 years.

Same person. Different stories.

The version on their CV cost them opportunities.

Context is what makes a difference

Mistake #1: Not labeling contract and freelance work

If you've done contract work, label it as contract work on your resume.

Why this matters:

Multiple short-term roles without context is ding ding ding in recruiters/hiring manager head - they trigger alarm bells.

They see:

- Potential job hopper
- Someone who can't fit into company culture
- Performance issues leading to early exits

The fix is simple:

- Add "Contract Role" next to the job title
- Include a one-line note: "6-month contract, extended to 8 months"
- If a role ended due to company circumstances, say so: "Company lost funding"

Don't make recruiters guess.

When you leave room for interpretation, they rarely interpret in your favor.

Mistake #2: Missing Location and Visa Information for on-site roles

I see this constantly: A job posting clearly states "On-site in Berlin" or "Hybrid in London."

The CV? No location. No visa status. Nothing.

Here's what goes through my mind when I see a CV like this:

- Are they even in the country?
- Will they need visa sponsorship?
- Are they willing to relocate?
- Do they understand this isn't remote?

Each question without an answer is a reason to skip to the next candidate.

And the more candidates apply, the easier it gets to skip and check the next one.

Because it adds completely unnecessary friction.

The fix: If you're applying to location-specific roles, add this information prominently:

- "Based in Warsaw, Poland"
- "Berlin-based, eligible to work in the Germany"
- "Open to relocation to Warsaw"

Make it effortless for recruiters to see you're a match.

Mistake #3: Generalist resume for specialist roles

Let's say you’re applying for a Level Designer role.

Your CV lists: Producer experience, Game Designer work, economy design for a mobile game, some narrative design, and, oh yeah, level design.

The problem?

When studios hire for specialised roles like Level Designer, they want specialists.

Not someone who’s dabbled in everything.

And it's a very common pattern.
Someone’s been a jack-of-all-trades at an indie studio (which is great!), but now they’re applying to a different studio for a specific discipline.

Your diverse experience might be a strength, but on a CV competing with 50 others, it looks like you don’t know what you want to do.

Or worse - that you’re not deep enough in the craft they’re hiring for.

And think about. Let's say you have two people in the process.

One is mid Level Designer, 3.5 years of experience, working in his second company, but doing mostly level design in his job.

The other is a Game Designer with 6 years of experience, but they were all over the place - they were doing systems, mechanics, economy, some producer/project management work and level design.

Who would you invite first to the conversation first if you would be looking specifically for Level Designer?

Even if 60% of the job for the second guy was actually a Level Design, his CV doesn't say that.

The fix? Tailor your CV for the role.

Lead with your level design experience front and center.
Dedicate 70% of your CV to world building, spatial design, flow, pacing, the craft of level design
Move or minimize other roles (or explain how they helped your level design work: “Producer role gave deep understanding of level pipelines and cross-discipline collaboration”)
Use a summary that clearly positions you: “Level Designer with 5 years crafting combat spaces and environmental storytelling for action games”

And to be clear - I don't want you to lie about your experience.

Just frame it for the role you want.

Studios need to know you can own that specific discipline. Show them.

Why this matters today more than ever?

Hiring managers are generally understanding about employment gaps and layoffs today.

They work in the same industry as you. They see what's going on.

But they're also drowning in applications.

They don't have time to investigate every gap, decode every timeline, or assume the best about unclear information.

The CVs that get through?

They make it easy to say yes.

They anticipate questions and answer them before they're asked.

They don't leave recruiters second-guessing whether to move forward.

Your CV is very often your first impression. Make it clear.

Think of your CV as a conversation starter, not a puzzle to solve.

Every piece of missing context is a chance for misinterpretation.
Every unexplained gap is an assumption waiting to happen.
Every generic presentation is a reason to pick someone who positioned themselves more clearly.

The good news?

These fixes take minutes.
And they can be the difference between "maybe later" and "let's talk."

Go review your CV right now.

Look at it through a recruiter's eyes:

- Would you have questions about employment history?
- Is it clear you can work in the location they're hiring for?
- Does your experience clearly match the specialist role you're applying for?

If the answer is "maybe" to any of those, you know what to do.

Don't make them guess. Give them the full picture from the start.

P.S.

Have a CV question or want a second pair of eyes on yours?

Hit reply. I read every email.