Free email course · Stop applying blind
Pick your target before the first application goes out.
The 5-Day Career Strategy Sprint: 1 short email a day, each ending with something to do that evening. Day 1 lands the minute you sign up.
how it started
Why I wrote it
Most searches I see run the same loop: update the CV, apply to 30 jobs, wait, repeat. After 2 months the result is silence, or calls for roles nobody wanted.
The work went in. The search never picked a target.
With clients, the first thing we settle is the target: 1 role, 1 level, a list of companies. Everything after that gets easier. The Sprint is that framework from my paid strategy sessions, cut into 5 emails. You do the work yourself, 1 piece a day.
if this sounds familiar
You want to move, and the target isn't settled yet.
- Applying to whatever was posted that week
- A target that's still "something in project management"
- No list of the companies you'd actually want to work for
- A search that runs in bursts, then stops when the day job takes over
- A few free hours a week, and no plan for them
The call usually goes to the candidate whose recent projects look most like the team's next ones. Day 2 is how to make that match obvious.
how it works
3 steps, 5 days
Just the address. No card, no form to fill in.
The first email arrives the minute you sign up, with 1 question for you. Reply to it: I read every reply myself.
Days 2 to 5 arrive on the next 4 mornings. Each ends with 1 task for that evening.
My newsletter, on Saturdays. Every issue has an unsubscribe link.
what you get
What lands in your inbox
Each email is short and ends with something to do. Here's part of Day 4, with notes on what to look for.
Week 1: Research only. Finalise your target company list and find the right people at each company: the hiring managers, not only HR. Read their recent news. Don't apply yet.1
Week 2: Warm contacts first. Before a single cold application, reach the people you already know inside your target companies. One warm introduction does more than 50 cold applications.2
- You apply once you know where to aim
- The people you know come before the job board
Week 3: Targeted outreach. Now you apply, to your 20 to 30 targets only,3 with the CV you checked on Day 3 and a direct message to the hiring manager alongside the job board.
Week 4: Follow up and review. Follow up on everything from week 3; most candidates never do. Then look at what got replies, drop what didn't, and add new targets where the list is thin.4
- Every application goes to a company you chose
- The plan corrects itself after a month
↑ Part of 1 email. The Sprint has 5, 1 a day.
Why a search stalls
The loop most searches run, and the 3 questions to settle before the next application.
The 3 questions
1 target role at 1 level, 20 to 30 companies, and why they'd pick you over 200 other candidates.
The CV check
2 checks to run on page 1 against your target, and the CV template I use with clients.
The 30-day plan
4 weeks, 1 job for each, warm contacts before any cold application.
The weekly system
Your hours, your days, booked in the calendar and prepared on Saturday, with tasks you can start without thinking first. 3 hours a week is enough.
all 5 days, for
no card needed
I'm Vitalii Lavelin.
Career advisor · 15 years in capital projects · Stockholm
I've worked on the operator side of capital projects for 15 years, and today I'm on a 6.5 billion EUR programme in Sweden. I hire for these roles, so the Sprint is written from the seat that decides.
- Written from the hiring seat. 600+ interviews run, 10,000+ CVs read.
- Taken from paid work. The same framework I use in my paid strategy sessions.
- Real searches in it. Day 2 follows a client reframing his record for a director role, and Day 4 quotes a client who got her offer.
- I read the replies. Every email is from me, and you can answer any of them.
goes with the Sprint
3 tools I hand to clients, free by email
CV template
Role-first, 2 pages, ATS-safe. A filled example and a blank with a prompt in every block.
Interview prep toolkit
The one-page answer structure and a bank of the questions you'll actually get.
LinkedIn profile agent
A GPT agent that rewrites your profile one section at a time and drafts the messages that follow.
questions
Before you sign up
Is it really free?
Yes. You get the 5 emails and my Saturday newsletter, The Next Move. Every email has an unsubscribe link.
How much time does it take?
A few minutes to read each email, then 1 task for that evening. The plan on Day 4 is sized to a few hours a week.
Will it work for my field?
It's written for people who work in capital projects: engineers and discipline leads, project and construction managers, planners and cost people, commercial and contracts people. The examples come from energy and heavy industry, where I hire.
I'm not actively searching yet.
Then Day 2 is the one to keep. A target role and a list of 20 to 30 companies are worth having before you need them.
What happens to my email?
Kit, my email provider, stores it to send the Sprint and the newsletter. Every email has an unsubscribe link. Privacy.