Applying widely and holding it all in your head rarely ends well. Drawing on her own experience of redundancy, Paula Donnan explains how to track job applications properly, why the job description matters most at interview, and what your record can reveal about where your search is really stalling.

Registering with a recruitment agency? It's worth knowing exactly what you're asking it to do. This piece looks at how agencies actually work, the hidden positioning problem behind "no one's called me back," and why career strategy has to come from somewhere else first.

One of the things mid-career professionals find hardest is talking about themselves without sounding like they are pitching. The key is to talk about contribution rather than credentials. Instead of leading with titles and tenure, try describing what you make possible. What do you help organisations do better? What do colleagues or clients tend to rely on you for? Where does your involvement change the outcome?