Stop Sending Resumes. Start Sending Skill Signals.
Your resume is very likely DOA. Long live the "Proof Stack". It's long time to stop talking about your skills and start showing them. AI and everything in between.
Long Live the "Proof Stack"
If you’ve applied to 138 jobs and heard nothing back, this one’s for you.
You’ve done the right things. You’ve optimized keywords. You’ve updated LinkedIn.
You’ve refreshed your bullet points, adjusted for “results not responsibilities,” and maybe even paid for a professional rewrite.
Archetype: The Rebuilder - Candidate
And yet?
Silence.
The truth HR professionals don’t say out loud:
The resume isn’t broken. It’s obsolete.
It feels like screaming into a digital canyon, where your voice echoes but never reaches anyone who matters, let alone can actually hire you.
Paper Trails in a Predictable World
The resume made sense in an economy shaped by hierarchy, compliance, and predictability.
It was a paper trail of credibility, a neat narrative that showed where you’ve been, what you did, and who deemed you worthy enough to promote.
In the pre-AI world, that worked.
Hiring was structured. Titles mattered. Gatekeepers read applications.
But in an AI-saturated world?
Algorithms screen your past before humans ever see your potential.
And most resumes sound like they were written by robots, even when they weren’t.
Proof Over Pedigree
Here’s what hiring managers are scanning for now:
Can you solve the problems we have?
Can you think, adapt, and communicate in a system defined by constant change?
Can you work with AI rather than compete against it?
Can you show that you’ve already done something like this, even if it wasn’t your job title?
They’re looking for a signal, not paper.
This is where the Proof Stack comes in.
From Resume to Relevance
A Proof Stack is your post-resume career engine. It doesn’t describe your experience. It demonstrates your relevance.
It’s a layered, evolving portfolio of projects, prompts, systems, and outcomes that show, not tell, what you can do now, not just what you were once paid to do.
And it’s especially powerful for people like Eddy, the job candidate who’s been displaced by AI, who doesn’t know how to “compete” with automation, and who wants to be seen for what he can do instead of what he used to do.
Let’s talk about how you begin building yours.
Why Proof Works (When the Resume Doesn’t)
Resumes talk. Proof stacks show. A resume tells me you led a team. A Proof Stack links to a Miro board, a case study, a systems map, or a before-and-after customer journey you helped redesign.
Resumes summarize. Proof stacks signal. Algorithms love keywords. Humans love clarity. Proof is clarity.
Resumes expire. Proof evolves. Resumes get stale the second they’re uploaded. A proof stack lives. It grows. It reflects your now.
What Goes in a Proof Stack?
We’ll unpack the complete blueprint in the premium issue, but here’s what you can start today:
A Project That Solves a Real Problem
Something you’ve built, fixed, mapped, or launched. It doesn’t have to be perfect. It just has to be real.
Tip: Use a Notion page, Google Doc, or a public blog post. Please explain what you did and why it mattered.
Prompt Fluency
Can you design thoughtful questions for AI? Can you translate ambiguity into action? Show a ChatGPT exchange, a custom GPT, or a prompt-crafting breakdown for a relevant task.
Pattern Recognition
What signal are you seeing before others do? What change are you tracking? A short LinkedIn post or Substack note on a trend you’re watching can serve as a signal.
Your Operating System
How do you work, learn, think, or decide? Document a system you use to manage tasks, evaluate offers, or generate ideas. Please show me how you operate.
An Artifact of Collaboration
Have you co-created something? Led a project with others? Facilitate a sprint? Share the output and the story.
You Don’t Have to Be a Creator. You Have to Be Seen.
Let’s be clear: You don’t need to start a YouTube channel. You don’t need to “build a personal brand.” You don’t need to make everything public.
You need to shift your center of gravity from telling people what you’re capable of to showing them the edge you already live on.
And that doesn’t require a platform. It requires proof.
One case study. One Notion doc. One visual explainer.
When Eddy published his first mini-proof, a breakdown of how he used ChatGPT to build a prototype content calendar, he thought it would go unnoticed.
Instead, it got him three DMs. One project inquiry. And a new sense of agency.
It wasn’t the artifact that changed his life. It was the motion.
The reclaiming. The shift from invisible to evident.
Why This Matters Now
Because AI isn’t just changing job descriptions. It’s changing hiring signals.
The resume is a relic of a permission-based system. The Proof Stack is the foundation of an invitation-based one.
That shift is seismic.
And it means you don’t have to wait anymore. You don’t have to hope anymore. You don’t have to play the game that keeps ignoring you.
You can start building proof. You can begin sending a signal.
You can start now.
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In future newsletters, we’ll break down the five core assets every modern Proof Stack needs and walk you through real-world examples from candidates who’ve used them to rebuild faster, without begging for permission.
Because the future won’t hire you for what you say you can do. It will find you by what you’ve already begun.
Take care -
Daniel
AILKEMY: bookshelf
Your Next Breakthrough Might Be One Chapter Away…
I believe books can do more than inform. They ignite change. That’s why I don’t just write to fill pages…
I write to spark something real. Whether you’re looking to grow your business, build credibility, or tackle the next chapter of your life with purpose. I’ve written these books for you.
Every title serves as a launchpad, designed to educate, challenge, and propel you forward. Take a look. Grab a copy. Let’s start your next big move.
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