Why are you here? I hope the main reason why you are here is that you got a good education, you did well and now face challenges in your career. You have learned and excelled, maybe you followed the common career advice. Nothing was easy, all hard work. But now you find that something is not right. Why? I am sure you know that your skill is wanted somewhere, but there is a game of power that has to be played before and no one has told you how to. You apply for jobs, but don’t get any interviews. You have many interviews, but don’t get a job. You learned one of the hot recommendations like CS or MINT – and even internships are hard to get.

Why are you here?

This site, which is mainly about my insightsLab and the dataLab, shows you the structures that are real –power and systems are made by people– and what this means for you. And mainly: what you can do about it. If you are ambitious, but feel there is a hidden fence, you hit your head and don’t know really why as you try to progress to become a young professional – welcome.

Who am I?

You don’t need to know. I will stay anonymous. My view on the labor situation is that of an HR Business Partner.

If you want to know how some big company tries to trick you with specific questions in their assessment center or how many interviews another company arranges for you before you wait forever for a final decision about whether they consider hiring you – this is not the place where you will find answers. I suggest the r/interviews subreddit if you are looking for this. You will find many frustrating experiences described there – and advice like: ‘5 interviews is okay’ and a range of answers that either confirm bad experiences (’welcome to the community, perfectly normal’), help with “bite hard"-advice, as I call it when someone teaches you how to drink a lot of vinegar without vomiting, and some will give you motivating wisdom.

I have a different approach. I once joined a session of one of my coaching mentors. His client had been bullied around by superiors and colleagues alike. It was a very brief session. My mentor made this client even more angry, he poured fuel over his aggression and showed him the matches. I wasn’t sure about this way of helping this client. My mentor said:

I filled his bag with dynamite. He will walk into his superiors office with it and get results.

I want you to get results. That method of my mentor does not fully correspond with my approach. The results depend on what you want, not on what is thrown in your way.

How this site works

This site is a side project. It is a hub to my other productions, which can be found

I also have a Discord server, which is used as a forum, for paid one-on-one consultation and small group meetings. Invite only. Contact me via email and I will send you an invite.

There are two sections of posts, the insightsLab and the dataLab.

1. insightsLab

The insightsLab section contains my shorter texts. Right now you are in the INTRODUCTION category – if you are here the first time I suggest that after finishing this article you read something is broken in our job world and after that basic power structures. The former will shed some light on what is wrong with the system, that decides about your future but noone cared to explain, the latter shows in some rough sketches how this system works. insightsLab has three parts, that you will find nicely structured in the menu on the left.

a. power games

This is about interviews, questioning techniques, HR psychology, CVs, the selection process, assessment centres etc. All of this is the masquerade of a system, that has armed itself against its own decision-making.

b. the files

Case studies, real world scenarios, psychological analysis of what is going on.

c. atlas

Over time you will find advice, the right mindset, random texts, recommended literature, links to valuable sources in this section. Maybe also some things off-topic.

2. dataLab

This is your window into TertiumDatur. You can contribute by providing data about your field of work, the profession and career variables (anonymously) via our discord server and help this site provide better case studies and data analysis available nowhere else. For valuable contributions I provide free analysis and recommendation. The dataLab has two parts, datasets and landscapes.

a. datasets

In the datasets category you will find data provided by the community and from other sources. I will structure it, but this may be rather raw.

b. landscapes

landscapes will connect the dots and try to make sense of it – hopefully that helps you to see more, if you want that, but mainly this helps me to make more sense to you.

TertiumDatur

The name of this project is Latin, meaning “a third [option] is given”. There is a tiring simulation of duality around us. I don’t think this helps. Should I do this or that? Why cut off everything that is not what you have already thought of? Common sense brought you here – something else will get you going again.

And Aristoteles said something similar.

You want more

If you want more I may add – you need more. The system is unfair, it works behind a screen that not only HR departments are responsible for. This site gives you a better understanding, I hope, about how the system works. But do you want knowledge? My service for you is not an end in itself. There is more than knowledge - if I understand your situation, I can analyze it for you, but more important, I can tell you, how you will get your desired job – how to raise your chances to a better level.

  1. go deeper with long articles on Substack and Medium
  2. engage with others and me on my Discord server (invite only → mail me)
  3. join a (paid) group analysis or one-on-one consultation on Discord or via email
If anything on my website helps you – imagine I told you over a good coffee. Would you get the cheque in return? ko-fi on the left and buy me a coffee on the right make that easy. Thank you!