The story behind CareerStack
I've spent 25 years in software — starting as a developer, doing a stretch in the US Navy, then building systems for fintech and healthcare companies before moving into engineering leadership. Along the way I ended up on the other side of a lot of tables: reviewing hundreds of resumes, running interview loops, writing more performance reviews than I can count, and coaching engineers who were stepping into management for the first time.
What struck me was how much of this was invisible knowledge. The candidate with the stronger resume often just understood how the parsing worked. The person who "interviewed well" had usually seen the patterns before. New managers weren't failing for lack of talent — they'd just never been handed the playbook.
So I started writing it down. The templates I'd have wanted when I was job-hunting. The interview answers with the reasoning shown, not just bullet points. The 1:1 questions, the review language, the 90-day plans I actually use with my own teams.
CareerStack is that collection — practical tools, tested against real hiring and real teams, for engineers and the people who lead them. No fluff, no recycled filler. Just the stuff I wish someone had handed me.
— Stephen