Keep, Ding, Ghost
👋👋🏻👋🏼👋🏽👋🏾👋🏿Hello & welcome to Keep, Ding, Ghost—a (roughly) weekly newsletter that provides feedback to graduate job applicants through FREE CV reviews!
Remember that company that rejected your application despite your strong CV? This newsletter will show you what probably happened.
In other words, this newsletter demystifies the job screening process by providing feedback that reveals the factors—and nuances—that can lead to ‘yes’ and ‘no’ decisions on CVs.
More specifically, we focus on providing feedback on CVs aiming for structured graduate programs (i.e., insight programs, internships, full-time roles, etc—which we here at Keep, Ding, Ghost collectively refer to as ‘graduate jobs’). Given graduate employers are notoriously selective, graduate jobs make for an excellent benchmark: if your CV can pass the screening for graduate jobs, it can pass the screening for any job.
Creator/Founder
Okay, let me take a step back to quickly introduce myself: Hey, I’m LC Serrão! I’m the creator/founder of Keep, Ding, Ghost. My professional background is in investment banking and impact investing, so I’m a recovering all-nighter, lol. I know how you feel as I’ve been where you are: I applied for several graduate jobs and often felt lost because employers seldom provided feedback (yet they were pretty damn reliable when it came to sending out rejections! Lol.😖)
Despite all that, I remained focused and, more importantly, implemented a more strategic approach to graduate recruitment….and it paid off! I completed four graduate programs across three firms (Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and IFC/World Bank Group). Additionally, I have over ten years of experience helping employers recruit Analyst and Associate-level candidates for highly sought-after graduate roles. I was part of the team that interviewed applicants and issued recommendations on which CVs to pass and which to reject. Hence, I have first-hand experience on both sides: applicant and recruiter.
CV Feedback
I will be as candid as the internet allows when providing feedback on the CVs I will share with you if you subscribe to this newsletter. You may not always like what you hear, but it's better to hear it from me and fix any issues raised than be in the dark and let your top-choice employer use the same issues as the reason to reject your CV.
The feedback will primarily be shared as posts categorised as ‘Keep, Ding, Ghost CV Review Sessions,’ which, if you’re really clever, you should use as test runs before you apply for your ideal graduate jobs—i.e., treat them like revision classes or mock exams but for job applications.
In these review sessions, I’ll use CVs submitted by subscribers to create ‘CV batches’ that will compete with each other in head-to-head simulations to mimic the rigorous, fast-paced, competitive CV screening round conducted by top graduate employers. This process will result in one CV advancing to the next round (i.e., keep), one receiving a soft rejection (i.e., ding), and one receiving a hard rejection (i.e., ghost).
Hence the name ‘Keep, Ding, Ghost.’
✨If any of this piques your interest, I invite you to sign up as a FREE subscriber or to consider upgrading to the Premium or Platinum subscription level for bonus content and other exclusive benefits!✨
Support Beyond CVs
One more thing: this newsletter will focus exclusively on CVs. For support with anything else related to the graduate recruitment process (such as cover letters, interviews, and application strategies, or to view our carefully curated list of 150+ graduate employers and the universities they prefer their applicants are from), sign up for The Keep, Ding, Ghost Strategy Board on Patreon.
