Episode Description
GROWTH PILLAR: Sales & Revenue
WHO THIS IS FOR: Job seekers / Career pivoters / Solopreneurs who hire / Anyone rebuilding after a layoff
WHAT THEY'LL GAIN: Honest resume tips from a recruiter who sees them daily, a clear look at how the hiring process actually works, and a job search strategy that stops you from getting filtered out before a human ever sees you.
Everyone blames the ATS for rejections. The real filter is a human with ten seconds and coffee. If your resume doesn't land in those ten seconds, no amount of keywords will save you.
Colin McIntosh knows both sides of the table. He built Sheets & Giggles — a sustainable bedding company — from a Techstars pitch into a multi-million dollar brand featured on Good Morning America, and exited in 2025. Today he recruits C-suite tech leaders at Riviera Partners by day and runs SheetsResume.com at night — a free AI-powered resume platform used by tens of thousands of people every month.
In this episode, Colin explains what the job market looks like right now, why the average search takes five months and two hundred applications, and what you can do differently starting today.
What you'll learn:
- Why the ATS is not the enemy — and where rejection actually happens
- The resume sections that hurt qualified people before a human ever reads them
- One thing most candidates skip that gets more people hired than they expect
Key topics covered:
- The hiring freeze across most US industries and what's driving it
- How a recruiter processes a thousand resumes in five hours
- Why summaries, objectives, and LinkedIn links belong off your resume
- How to handle employment gaps without misrepresenting yourself
- How to reach the hiring manager directly — and why it still works
- The values, abilities, and skills framework companies actually hire on
- Why overqualified is a polite word for budget mismatch
Guest offer: Use code K4B for 50% off a lifetime membership of SheetsResume's resume builder and other AI tools at SheetsResume.com.
Connect with Colin McIntosh:
SheetsResume.com | LinkedIn | YouTube | Reddit | X | Instagram
Listen on Simplecast | Watch on YouTube | Read the blog
— PARTNERS ON THIS EPISODE —
East Trade Winds — Free weekly networking where you bring one challenge and make one introduction. Join Tuesdays 8–9 AM EST.
Profit10™ — Take the free Profit Snapshot. Ten questions. Find out what's really holding your business back.
Web Indexer — Turn your website into a 24/7 sales assistant. See it live on knack4business.com.
Next Steps:
- Email: info@kreativinsight.com
- Join Canada Growth Network — $1 CAD first month, $47 CAD/month. Real tools. Real people.
- Subscribe to the K4B blog
- Search K4B episodes
- Register as a K4B guest
- Visit Knack 4 Business
- Past episodes
Disclaimer: Everything you heard today is for educational purposes only. It's not professional advice. Before you act on anything — talk to a certified expert in your area. Your accountant. Your lawyer. Someone who knows your situation.
We share perspectives. You make the decisions.
Want more? Head over to blog.knack4business.com — packed with practical episodes on AI, marketing, leadership, and growth. No fluff. Just the good stuff. Subscribe while you're there.
Until next time; keep building.
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