I'm particularly excited about this week's content roundup. We have a brand new article about how AI should (and shouldn't) be used in job applications, an announcement about our Stripe integration, and a guest appearance in the Wildcard section from my most bookish coworker.

Let's dive in!

There’s no sugarcoating the reality of today’s job market: job seekers are under an immense amount of pressure and up against increasing competition. But does that mean you should outsource the application process entirely to AI?

In a new article, our VP of people outlines some of the smartest ways to use AI in your job search, and a few wrong ways that may end up doing more harm than good.

Feature update: Stripe 🤝 Help Scout

With the Stripe + Help Scout integration, you can view payment history, check subscription status, and issue refunds without leaving the conversation. Get the context you need to resolve billing questions fast, right where you already work!

Wildcard: Dan's reading rituals and recs

Our senior sales account executive Dan Svizeny is a famously voracious reader, always ready with a good recco for the team. And every year (for the last 20 years!), he's kept a handwritten list of all the books he reads in a year.

For this week’s Wildcard, I asked Dan if he’d share why he reads and how he makes the time:

I always set my alarm about an hour before I have to start the day — before I need to think about packing my kids’ lunches or feeding the dog — and I use that time to drink coffee and read on the front porch for half an hour or so. I’m prone to habit-forming activities, and reading is one of the better ones.

We all have time to read, it just comes down to what you choose to prioritize: the latest TV series or a book. Most of us can’t have it both ways. I know how it sounds (annoying, pretentious, etc.) but I don’t watch TV! Giving it up actually wasn’t that hard. I’ve also seen The Sopranos in full, so I feel culturally covered.

Reading builds emotional intelligence and empathy in a way few other things do. It lets you sit inside someone else’s interior world for a while, track their contradictions, feel their shame or joy, and come out of it with maybe a bit more empathy for the human condition.

You can’t really fake that kind of understanding. It has to be practiced.

Dan's all-time favorites:

• The Easter Parade by Richard Yates — a stark, elegant novel about two sisters shaped by disappointment and the quiet tragedy of ordinary lives.

• Dog Soldiers by Robert Stone — a tense, gritty novel about a drug deal gone wrong and the moral decay of America during the Vietnam era.

• The Days of Abandonment by Elena Ferrante — a raw, intense novel about a woman’s unraveling after her husband suddenly leaves her.

Dan's recent good reads:

• Perfection by Vincenzo Latronico — a cool, precise meditation on beauty, control, and the quiet suffocation of a life built on appearances.

• Rejection by Tony Tulathimutte — a sharp, darkly funny novel about ambition, failure, and the absurd extremes of the creative ego.

What are you reading (or watching) lately? Anything good? Hit reply and let me know!