The first minute
The Shortlist Scorecard
What a hiring manager actually extracts in the first minute.
You are buying their attention a few seconds at a time. Something that catches them. Then something that keeps them. If they have to hunt, they open the next tab.
This is the pass I run. Use it on your own CV, GitHub, portfolio, and LinkedIn tonight.
Check 01
CV
Need
Role you want. Last 2–3 jobs. Three bullets that match this posting's language.
I leave
PDF that will not parse. Skills dump. No impact. Keywords only in a sidebar ATS never reads.
Check 02
GitHub
Need
One pin. A README I can run. Commits in 90 days. A live demo.
I leave
Tutorial graveyard. Snake animation. final-v3. Last commit 14 months ago.
Check 03
Portfolio
Need
What it is. Who it is for. A decision you made. A URL.
I leave
Course clone with a nicer font. No write-up. Localhost screenshots.
Check 04
LinkedIn
Need
A headline that says what I would hire you to do.
I leave
Job title plus “open to work” and nothing else. Featured empty.
Check 05
The screen
Need
You name the interface before you chase the happy path.
I leave
Silent typing until tests go green. No tradeoffs out loud.
If any of those fail, I rarely open the code.
21 days
Shortlist 21: The full checklist
Week 1
Noticed — stop vanishing
Do these on one live posting, not 80.
- 1Paste the posting. Highlight the words they repeat. Those go into your CV in sentences about your work, not a keyword footer.
- 2GitHub 60-second pass. Fix pin, README, recency, demo. Nothing else this week.
- 3Portfolio: one project. What it is, the hard decision, what you would do next. Cut the rest from the top of the page.
- 4LinkedIn headline: the job they are hiring, not a biography.
- 5Tracker: 10 honest targets. Follow-ups written. Not 200 spray.
Time: 45–70 minutes a day. If you cannot name which line you are fixing, you are scrolling, not prepping.
Week 2
Shortlisted — how you get marked
I am not marking “solved it”. I am marking: restate the problem and name the interface first; edge cases before the happy path; talk tradeoffs (time, complexity, a11y, API shape) out loud; explain a portfolio project as decisions, not a tour. Practise one scored loop. Same rubric every time.
Week 3
Hired — treat it as a system
Interview-day checklist. Recap note the same day. Tracker updated. One more scored loop if you are in a live process.