Archive
Career guides (archive)
These guides were written for an earlier version of The Academy, when it was aimed at people looking for work in tech. They're kept here because people still find them useful, but we're no longer adding to them. They are general information, not legal, welfare or careers advice for your situation.
The Academy now runs free tutorials and free live classes for small businesses in Ireland.
Planning a Career Change into Tech in Ireland
Plan a career change into tech in Ireland by checking role requirements, comparing official training routes, building accurate evidence and using public employment supports.
Read — Planning a Career Change into Tech in IrelandHow to explain an employment gap on your CV (without lying)
A practical, honest way to record an employment gap on a CV and discuss it in an interview, based on current JobsIreland guidance.
Read — How to explain an employment gap on your CV (without lying)Staying sharp between contracts: a guide for freelancers and contractors
A practical maintenance plan between contracts: close the last engagement properly, review the pipeline, choose relevant skills work and describe gaps accurately.
Read — Staying sharp between contracts: a guide for freelancers and contractorsTech layoffs in Ireland: where to go from here
A practical Irish checklist after a tech redundancy: record the exit details, check current official supports, update job-search materials and plan sustainable skills work.
Read — Tech layoffs in Ireland: where to go from hereA Flexible Job-Search Plan for Tech Workers
A flexible plan for tech jobseekers in Ireland: check official supports, organise applications, maintain skills and record evidence without job-outcome guarantees.
Read — A Flexible Job-Search Plan for Tech WorkersOlder guides under review
These include claims about recruiters and references that we haven't been able to re-check against evidence. Please don't rely on them.
- Anatomy of a portfolio piece that gets junior devs hired (under review)
- Bootcamp finished, still no job — now what? (under review)
- How recruiters actually read your CV in 2026 (the 6-second scan) (under review)
- Laid off in the AI shakeout? Keep shipping so you don't go stale (under review)
- No experience, no job, no reference: how to break the junior catch-22 (under review)
- Open source vs building a real product: which is better for your portfolio? (under review)
- "Overqualified and ignored": senior engineers and the recency trap (under review)
- Reference vs certificate: what actually moves a hiring decision (under review)
- The stale-CV problem: why recruiters stop looking at candidates who aren't shipping (under review)
- The GitHub graveyard: why tutorial repos don't get you hired (under review)
- Why a public, verifiable reference beats a LinkedIn recommendation (under review)
- Working for free vs internships vs apprenticeships: which builds a career? (under review)