I have over 25 years of experience in the work force as a greymuzzle who specializes in accounting and office work. I'll go first: if an employer wants you to explain an employment gap or a gap in your resume, just say "No, I signed an NDA" you'll thank me later.
Don't ramble on your resume: only put down relevant skills/experience. It's pretty easy for me to translate corporate speak like interpreting another language. Only put down information that is required when applying for a job. Write in a way to low-key spam corporate buzzwords to be picked out by an AI or a hiring manager with no life. When going in for an interview: if you have any piercings, it's best to remove them in order to increase your chances of being hired. Interviewers unfortunatly will judge an applicant based on appearance despite regulations and an age of ESG garbage being forced on everything these days. If you do have dyed hair make sure it's dyed to have a natural hair color or if you're older just say you're covering up gray hair.
I hate how all applications have to be done online but there's nothing I can do about it. Have a seperate burner e-mail (not your personal one) dedicated to work websites and filling out job applications given how eveything wants to sell your metadata to the United States government or advertisers. For the burner e-mail you don't use your real info (examples: date of birth, Gender 'pick: prefer not to answer', or name), for the burner e-mail username you just want a short string of random characters to prevent a digital footprint entirely connected to you. Another way job sites gather data about you is through the security questions; for security questions do NOT give the answers as anything personal, use nonsensical or backup passwords. Since most company spyware is meant to detect inactivity, invest in some mouse jigglers.
Avoid company spying:
Put tape over your webcams when not in a meeting or when the use of webcams is not mandatory. If you do need a webcam, use the shittiest cheapest one you can find from a thrift store so your employers will eventually just require you to do audio on platforms like Skype or Zoom. Use seperate accounts and computers for work and personal stuff; some company spying can see your device's browsing history and checking for inactivity. Again I stress the use of mouse jigglers. Have two phones; 1 personal phone, 1 used smartphone for work. Better to not use your personal phone number when applying for jobs and job sites. Have the burner phone and its pre-paid SIM paid for in cash to prevent those job sites from collecting metadata about you.
Start off with low expectations from your employers so you don't get a pile of work dumped on you from the get-go. Punch in, do your work, don't gossip, punch out. Someone older like me is not interested in hearing about whatever stupid social media thing you did, I just want to do my job and clock out and talk to as few human beings as possible.
Updated by Earlopain
