Blog & Engineering Notes
Things we built, measured, or got wrong. Written by the developer, dated, and updated in place when code or benchmarks change.
Articles (9)
#careerMulti-Offer Compensation Modeling: How to Compare Equity, Bonuses, and Cost of Living
Static salary boards show median figures but cannot model conflicting job offers. Learn how to compare base salaries, equity vesting schedules, sign-on bonuses, and tax brackets using Ravina's free client-side compensation modeller.
How to Run AI Mock Interviews With the STAR Method (Using Your Own API Key)
Proprietary interview prep platforms charge $25 to $50 per session for AI coaching. Learn how the STAR method rubric works and how Ravina lets you practice behavioral mock interviews with your own OpenAI or Gemini API key for pennies.
Rezi Alternative: Free ATS Resume Builder Without Export Paywalls
Rezi locks clean PDF/DOCX downloads and AI generation behind credits and subscription paywalls. Ravina is a 100% free, zero-signup alternative providing unlimited ATS-compliant single-column exports, local diagnostics, and BYOK AI directly in your browser.
Resume Worded Alternative: Free ATS Bullet and Layout Checking
Resume Worded locks line-by-line bullet rewriting and full scoring behind a $49 monthly paywall. Ravina is a 100% free, zero-signup alternative that runs 13 deterministic ATS formatting and bullet syntax checks locally in your browser with unlimited scans.
The Unquantified Bullet Penalty: Eye-Tracking Data on Recruiter 6-Second Scans
Eye-tracking research proves initial recruiter resume scans follow an F-pattern lasting between 6 and 8 seconds. Experience bullets lacking leading numerals suffer an 80%+ skip rate. Here is the Action Verb + Technical Scope + Measured Outcome syntax formula enforced by Ravina's deterministic bullet checker.
Why LaTeX Resumes Fail ATS Parsers: The pdflatex Ligature and Virtual Font Pitfall
Default pdflatex builds convert character pairs like 'fi' and 'fl' into composite ligatures that legacy ATS extractors drop or turn into whitespace. Here is why 'efficient' becomes 'e cient' in recruiter databases, and how to fix your LaTeX preamble.
Why Bring-Your-Own-Key (BYOK) Architecture Protects Candidates from AI Training Loops
When candidates upload resumes to closed AI SaaS platforms, personal salary history and patent drafts often enter fine-tuning pipelines. Here is how direct client-side BYOK API calls enforce enterprise zero-retention policies, reduce audit costs to $0.003, and protect candidate privacy.
The "We Did" Penalty: How Enterprise Interviewers Detect Candidates Hiding Behind Team Accomplishments
In behavioral loops at Amazon, Google, and Meta, using the collective pronoun "we" is the fastest way to earn a weak hire signal. Here is how calibration rubrics detect ambiguity, the 15/15/50/20 STAR scoring formula, and how to rewrite answers with individual ownership.
The Invisible ATS Trap in AI-Generated Resumes: Letter-Spacing and Broken Parsing
Why ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini produce PDF resumes that look visually pristine to humans but extract as disconnected glyphs in enterprise applicant tracking systems like Greenhouse and Workday.