How a 'brag doc' can help you ace interviews and land a job, says recruiter: ‘No one's reading cover letters'

One of the best pieces of advice Maddie Machado received from a former boss at Microsoft was to keep track of all her career wins.
Machado would log "anytime I did a good job, anytime I made someone's life easier, anytime I got kudos" first in a Microsoft document, then a running email draft and now in a slide presentation. She calls it a "brag doc" and says she's used it in every interview for the last 10 years.
Machado, 35, is a reverse recruiter and founder of SkillScript, a resume platform, in Tampa, Fla.
The concept of documenting your career wins isn't new, but her method categorizes four specific aspects of your professional success:
Machado says having a brag doc on hand can help you network and could make a bigger impact than a traditional resume or cover letter.
"No one's reading cover letters," Machado says. "Even when I was a recruiter for so many years, I can count on maybe one hand how many times I actually read a cover letter."
A brag doc, meanwhile, is "a time for you to toot your own horn," Machado says. "It's hard to see on your resume the amount of impact and the things that you actually owned and are actually proud of."
It also shows off the most important aspects of a candidate a hiring manager wants to know, Machado says, based on her time working with hiring managers at companies like Meta and LinkedIn.
Hiring managers will generally already know what you do day-to-day in your role, Machado says, but are looking for what you'll bring to a new company and things that will make them think, "Wow, look at what she did there. Imagine what she could do here," she says. "And that's what your brag doc is doing."
A brag doc is a useful resource to attach to your application, to follow up with a hiring manager on LinkedIn after you've applied for a role, or even to cold-message someone to network, Machado says. It won't necessarily get you the job right away, but it could get you in the hiring pipeline that much faster.
Then, use it to prepare for interviews and negotiate a strong offer, Machado says.
"It's nice to be able to remind yourself what you've accomplished so far, whether it's big or small, and also be able to share with other people," she says.

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

Forbes

24 minutes ago

• Forbes

Microsoft Confirms Windows 11 Automatic Deletions: Take Action Now To Protect Yourself

Microsoft's Windows 11 creates System Restore points, that is, snapshots of your PC's system files, settings and registry. But those points expire and are automatically deleted after 60 days, Microsoft has now confirmed. Users can protect themselves by creating regular System Restore points. 'With System Restore you can revert your PC's state to a previous point in time. By using System Restore, you can undo these changes without affecting your personal files,' Microsoft says. Windows 11 Which is great, but those restore points don't last forever, so it's important to know exactly how long they are there for. Previous documentation suggested that on Windows 10, restore points could last as long as 90 days. Windows Latest reports that 'After Windows 11's release in 2021, the retention period has been anywhere between 10 and 90 days (mostly 10 days),' it says. Ten days really isn't long, but there's good news. In a new support document relating to the June 10 update, Microsoft is a bit more specific. 'After installing the June 2025 Windows security update, Windows 11, version 24H2 will retain system restore points for up to 60 days. To apply a restore point, select Open System Restore. Restore points older than 60 days are not available. This 60-day limit will also apply to future versions of Windows 11, version 24H2,' it says. In other words, Microsoft has confirmed that Windows 11 System Restore points will be deleted after 60 days, so you need to periodically create restore points. That's not as good as 90 days, obviously, but way better than 10 days. 'This will give you multiple snapshots, but Windows will still delete the oldest ones once they exceed the retention window (now 60 days on Windows 11 24H2 by default),' says Windows Latest. To create your own System Restore point, as Windows Latest explains, you open Start and search for 'Create a restore point,' which will open System Protection tab in System Properties. Next, under Protection Settings, check that one of the partitions where you're going to put the backup is protected. Choose that partition and Configure to turn on protection. Then, click Create and follow the onscreen instructions. This will last for 60 days. Now that the deletion date is clear, it seems like creating one every few weeks is good practice.

Miami Herald

an hour ago

• Miami Herald

OpenAI makes shocking move amid fierce competition, Microsoft problems

A blind man once told me, "I wish I knew what a beautiful woman looks like". He started losing his sight from birth and lost it completely while he was still just a child. What do the engineers trying to make artificial intelligence know about intelligence? To me, they look like a bunch of blind men, trying to build a "living" statue of a beautiful person. The worst part is, they don't even know they are blind. Do you remember the scandal when an engineer from Google claimed that the company's AI is sentient? When I saw the headlines, I didn't even open the articles, but my conclusion was that either Google made a terrible mistake in hiring him or it was an elaborate PR stunt. I thought Google was famous for having a high hiring bar, so I was leaning toward a PR stunt-I was wrong. Related: Apple WWDC underwhelms fans in a crucial upgrade What is amazing about that story is that roughly six months later, ChatGPT came out and put Google's AI department into panic mode. They were far behind ChatGPT, which was not even close to being sentient. Engineers from OpenAI, were the ones to start a new era, the era in which investors are presented with a statue that sort of has a human face, and has a speaker inside playing recordings of human speech, expecting that the "blind" men working on it, will soon make it become alive and beautiful. Of course, investors are also ignorant of the fact that engineers are "blind". OpenAI is now faced with many rivals, and the developing situation is starting to look like a bunch of bullies trying to out-bully each other instead of offering a superior product. Meta's recent investment of $15 billion in Scale AI seems to have hit OpenAI quite hard. OpenAI will phase out work with Scale AI, said the company spokesperson for Bloomberg on June 18th. According to the same source, Scale AI accounted for a small fraction of OpenAI's overall data needs. It looks like Meta's latest move angered OpenAI's CEO Sam Altman. In a podcast hosted by his brother, he revealed that Meta Platforms dangled $100 million signing bonuses to lure OpenAI staff, only to fail. "None of our best people have decided to take them up on that," he said, writes Moz Farooque for TheStreet. Related: Popular AI stock inks 5G network deal Unless Altman shows some evidence, this can also be a way to mislead Meta's engineers into believing they aren't compensated fairly. Not that Zuckerberg wouldn't do such a thing, but only the people involved know the truth. As if OpenAI's competition is closing in, buying partner companies and trying to poach its staff by offering ridiculous bonuses aren't enough, the company has even more problems. It is bleeding money, and has issues with a big stakeholder. More AI Stocks: Veteran fund manager raises eyebrows with latest Meta Platforms moveGoogle plans major AI shift after Meta's surprising $14 billion moveAnalysts revamp forecast for Nvidia-backed AI stock OpenAI lost about $5 billion in 2024. There are no estimates on how much the company will lose this year, but according to Bloomberg News, the company does not expect to become cash flow positive until 2029. Latest developments will likely push that date farther into the future. Microsoft has invested about $14 billion in OpenAI; however, the relationship has turned sour since then. OpenAI has considered accusing Microsoft of anticompetitive behavior in their deal, reported the Wall Street Journal on June 16th. On June 19th The Financial Times reported that Microsoft is prepared to abandon its negotiations with OpenAI if the two sides cannot agree on critical issues. Meanwhile, OpenAI has started shockingly discounting enterprise subscriptions to ChatGPT. This had angered salespeople at Microsoft, which sells competing apps at higher prices, reported The Information. Related: Amazon's latest big bet may flop "In my experience, products are only discounted when they are not selling because customers do not perceive value at the higher price. If someone loses copious amounts of money at the higher price, how will the economics work at a lower price?" wrote veteran hedge fund manager Doug Kass in his diary on TheStreet Pro." OpenAI's price cuts could kick off a price war, with a race to the bottom even as OpenAI, Microsoft, Meta, and Google continue plowing tens of billions into developing it. "My suspicion, although those guys might be good (in theory) at technology, they are not good at business. I think they will find much less in the way of elasticity than they hope, because the problem is the quality of the output more than it is the price," said Kass. What will happen to OpenAI's cash flow positive plan after 2029? I doubt it is reachable with the now slashed prices. Will the company even live to see 2029? I think that is a better question. Related: Elon Musk's DOGE made huge mistakes with veterans' programs The Arena Media Brands, LLC THESTREET is a registered trademark of TheStreet, Inc.

Entrepreneur

2 hours ago

• Entrepreneur

This Windows 11 Pro Upgrade Is a No-Brainer at $15

Disclosure: Our goal is to feature products and services that we think you'll find interesting and useful. If you purchase them, Entrepreneur may get a small share of the revenue from the sale from our commerce partners. You don't need to overhaul your company's hardware to boost performance. Sometimes, the smartest investment is in the operating system itself. Right now, business leaders can grab a lifetime license to Microsoft Windows 11 Pro for just $14.97 (regularly $199) through July 20—a powerful upgrade for any professional environment. Whether you're running a solo consultancy, scaling a startup, or managing a growing remote team, Windows 11 Pro offers the security, productivity, and performance enhancements your operation demands. It's designed for power users and professionals who can't afford downtime, slow systems, or limited features. With tools like BitLocker encryption, Hyper-V virtualization, Azure AD support, and Windows Sandbox, this version goes far beyond the home edition. For entrepreneurs juggling sensitive data or developers working in isolated environments, these are necessities. The modernized interface and snap layouts make multitasking a breeze, while Windows Copilot, the built-in AI assistant, helps you summarize content, generate code, or change settings in seconds. It's a productivity win, especially when paired with Teams and voice-to-text capabilities. For small business owners navigating hybrid teams or IT managers juggling multiple devices, Windows 11 Pro also simplifies device management. With features like Group Policy support and remote desktop functionality, you can easily configure, monitor, and secure multiple machines from a single point of control. This is especially useful for businesses with distributed teams or those handling sensitive client data. Plus, compatibility with Microsoft Intune and third-party endpoint management tools means you can streamline onboarding and enforce security policies—without having to invest in expensive IT infrastructure. This is a lifetime license, so you only pay once, and never worry about renewals or subscriptions again. Get Windows 11 Pro for just $14.97 (reg. $199) through July 20. Microsoft Windows 11 Pro See Deal StackSocial prices subject to change.