The Dealt blog

Notes on hiring, broken.

Why verified credentials matter, what we're building, and how the hiring funnel actually breaks. From the Dealt team.

d.
Featured·3 August 2026·3 min read

Some of the jobs you're applying to don't exist

Ghost job listings, postings for roles that were already filled or never seriously intended to be filled, are a measured phenomenon rather than paranoia. Here's how common they are and how to spot one.

CandidatesHiringTrust
d.
27 July 2026 · 3 min

Your application is one of 242. Here's how to not disappear.

The average job posting now draws about three times as many applications as it did in 2017, which means most resumes get seconds of real attention. Here are six ways to survive that first pass.

CandidatesHiringMarket
d.
20 July 2026 · 4 min

How North Korea turned remote IT jobs into a $500 million operation

North Korea runs a documented, ongoing fraud operation that places IT workers in remote roles under false identities, and U.S. prosecutors have already tied it to more than 300 companies.

FraudVerificationCompanies
Abstract banner illustration for "What 'verified' actually means on Dealt"
20 July 2026 · 2 min

What 'verified' actually means on Dealt

A "verified" badge is only as good as the verification behind it. Here's exactly what we check, how we check it, and what we don't.

VerificationProductTrust
Abstract banner illustration for "Building proof of work when you're between jobs"
22 June 2026 · 2 min

Building proof of work when you're between jobs

Layoffs happen. Sabbaticals happen. The gap on your resume isn't the problem — the lack of evidence during it is.

CandidatesCareer
Abstract banner illustration for "Why your applications aren't getting callbacks (and what does)"
15 June 2026 · 2 min

Why your applications aren't getting callbacks (and what does)

If you're applying and not hearing back, the issue is rarely your CV format. It's usually that nothing on your application can be confirmed in 90 seconds.

CandidatesHiring
Abstract banner illustration for "ATS vs source: why Greenhouse can't fix your funnel"
8 June 2026 · 2 min

ATS vs source: why Greenhouse can't fix your funnel

Your ATS is excellent at managing applicants. It cannot, by design, do anything about the people entering it. That's a different problem with a different fix.

HiringCompaniesTools
Abstract banner illustration for "References are dead. Here's what replaces them."
1 June 2026 · 2 min

References are dead. Here's what replaces them.

The reference call as we know it is a polite formality that helps no one. Here's what a useful version of it actually looks like.

HiringVerificationReferences
Abstract banner illustration for "You don't have a hiring problem. You have a top-of-funnel problem."
25 May 2026 · 2 min

You don't have a hiring problem. You have a top-of-funnel problem.

Companies obsess over interview loops, ATS workflows, and offer letters. Almost none of those changes will help if the wrong people are entering the funnel in the first place.

HiringCompanies
d.
18 May 2026 · 2 min

The stealth startup problem

Two years at a company you can't name, building something you can't describe. The phrase has a lot of legitimate uses — and a lot of illegitimate ones.

HiringVerificationCompanies
Abstract banner illustration for "Why we don't call ourselves a discovery platform"
11 May 2026 · 2 min

Why we don't call ourselves a discovery platform

Most platforms turn candidates into a searchable list. We chose not to. Here's the reasoning, and what we built instead.

ProductCandidatesEthics
Resume screening is broken. Here's what we're building instead.
5 May 2026 · 2 min

Resume screening is broken. Here's what we're building instead.

We're not optimising the funnel. We're rebuilding what enters it. A short note on why we started Dealt — and the mess we keep tripping over.

FoundersHiringVerification