After taking a career break, I had to jump back into the job market.
I used ChatGPT to find open roles, write my résumé and cover letter, and prepare for interviews.
I landed my dream job in AI, making it a full-circle moment.
After a well-deserved career break, I decided it was time to look for a new job. The only problem was that I had last done this 10 years ago, and job hunting was a completely different game then.
In 2025, everything has changed, from how roles are advertised to how candidates are evaluated. LinkedIn isn't just an optional platform anymore. It's seemingly essential. Companies are using automated systems to screen résumés, and social media presence matters more than ever. The landscape has drastically changed, becoming more digital and competitive than ever before.
Facing this entirely new scenario was daunting. The old rules didn't apply, and the anxiety of navigating this new environment quickly set in. I realized I needed help, something or someone, to guide me through these uncharted waters.
I decided to adapt using the very technology shaping the new job market: AI.
Embracing AI to redefine my career path
After years of working as a lawyer, embracing AI felt like venturing into foreign territory, but it also felt exciting. I'd read countless stories about people using AI for everything from meal planning to writing novels, but I wondered how effective it could be for finding a job.
My first step was to have an in-depth conversation with ChatGPT to help identify exactly what I wanted next in my career. After a much-needed career break, I knew I wanted something that bridged my interests in technology and law, but the specifics were blurry.
Through a lengthy dialogue with the AI, during which we discussed my strengths, interests, and professional goals, I was able to clarify exactly what I was looking for. ChatGPT helped me pinpoint roles that sat neatly at the intersection of legal practice and emerging technologies, creating a tailored shortlist of companies and positions that genuinely excited me.
Leveraging AI for résumés, cover letters, and interviews
Armed with this newfound clarity, it was time to get practical. I turned again to ChatGPT, this time for help with polishing my résumé, crafting standout cover letters, and preparing for interviews.
The author (not pictured) used ChatGPT to locate job, write his résumé and even prepare for interviews.
domoyega/Getty Images
Starting with my résumé, I fed ChatGPT my old document alongside descriptions of the roles I was targeting. Within minutes, it transformed my résumé into a crisp, impactful summary of my professional achievements. It suggested action-oriented language and quantified outcomes, things I hadn't thought to highlight on my own. My previously bland document suddenly felt dynamic and compelling, accurately reflecting my experience and capabilities.
Next, I tackled the dreaded cover letters. Each application felt like writing a small autobiography, a tedious task I usually procrastinated endlessly on. With ChatGPT, the experience transformed. I provided basic details about the role and why I was interested, and the AI-generated, polished, tailored cover letters genuinely sounded like me, only better. Minor tweaks aside, the AI-driven drafts were ready to send out immediately, saving me countless hours of stress and editing.
Then came mock interviews. ChatGPT proved invaluable here, simulating realistic interview scenarios and offering insightful feedback on my responses. It didn't just spit out generic interview questions. It tailored them specifically to each role, asking about industry trends, hypothetical scenarios, and even personal motivations. The AI coached me through my answers, helping me refine my responses to ensure they were concise, authentic, and impactful.
Landing the ideal job: Full circle with AI
The impact of these preparations was swift and substantial. Within just two months of starting this tech-driven job hunt, I secured a role at a cutting-edge tech company developing AI specifically designed for lawyers. It felt surreal yet perfectly aligned. After all, my journey began and ended with artificial intelligence.
The author (not pictured) eventually landed a role in AI.
d3sign/Getty Images
This role wasn't just a paycheck. It was a full-circle moment, merging my long-standing passion for law with my newly sparked enthusiasm for technology.
Would I use AI to job hunt again? Absolutely. In fact, I can't imagine tackling such a stressful process without it. AI didn't just streamline tedious tasks. It empowered me to present myself authentically and strategically in a fiercely competitive market. It took the overwhelm out of job hunting, making the process not only manageable but surprisingly enjoyable.
In a world increasingly defined by technology, leveraging AI in your career search isn't just clever. It's becoming essential.
Whether you're pivoting careers, re-entering the workforce, or just exploring new opportunities, AI could be the ally you never knew you needed. For me, embracing AI was the smartest professional decision I made in years, proving that sometimes the best way to adapt to change is to lean into it fully.
Irmgard Naudin ten Cate, global talent attraction and acquisition leader at EY, told Business Insider two of the questions job candidates ask that always make an impression on her.
One is, "What does success look like when I'm doing this job?"
Naudin ten Cate explained why it's such an effective question.
"I always really love that question because when you hear the answer, you hear what's important to people, and then you can follow up with all sorts of questions around that," she said.
It can open up ways to learn what your prospective colleagues do, what kind of work you'd be performing, and where the role fits into the larger picture. You can get more granular by asking what success would look like in the first 90 days, or the first year, Naudin ten Cate said.
Having been at EY for over 20 years, Naudin ten Cate also loves being asked why she's stayed and what she likes about the company. It gives you "a much more personal view of the work," she said.
Posing this question can help build a more personal connection with your interviewer, Naudin ten Cat said, and uncover more about career growth opportunities.
When fans nervously tuned in to watch HBO's adaptation of one of their favorite video games, there was one familiar presence that immediately calmed their nerves: the mournful guitar of Gustavo Santaolalla. As certain story beats changed and beloved polygonal faces were replaced with new actors, the beating heart of The Last of Us - its mesmerizing, tension-ridden score - survived the transition to TV intact.
"[Series creator] Neil Druckmann has said that my music is part of the DNA of The Last of Us," Santaolalla says. "I think the fact that we kept the sonic fabric - that we didn't do an orchestral score for the series - has been instrumental in keeping those fans of the games fans of the series, too."
Born and raised in Buenos Aires, Santaolalla first started releasing music when he was 17. Loving both English rock bands and the traditional Argentine folk music that he was raised on, Santaolalla melded both into his own unique sound, part of a genre called rock nacional. Before he could fully make his mark, Santaolalla's family fled the Argentine junta dictatorship in 1978, moving to Los Angeles, where his unique sound soon caught the attention of filmmakers. Snapped up to sc …
Arguably the highlight of Epic's State of Unreal keynote was the opening: a sprawling technical demo that showed just how good The Witcher 4 looks in Unreal Engine 5. It showcased a bustling market in a port city, a beautiful forest landscape, and a horse that looked and acted like, well, a horse. Even more impressive was the fact that the demo was running at 60 frames per second on a base model PlayStation 5. According to Julius Girbig, a senior technical animator at Witcher developer CD Projekt Red, the choice of hardware for the demo was very intentional.
"Everyone has the idea of how fast a PS5 is and what kinds of games it can run," he tells The Verge. "That's why we specifically wanted to go that route of: let's start with the consoles, let's show how much we can optimize this engine together with Epic and make it work on current gen, instead of running it on some high-end hardware."
Now, to be clear, the UE5 demo is not actually a slice of the final game. Girbig describes it as "a demonstration of the tools that we are currently building that will eventually power The Witcher 4," and something that "does show the style and direction that we're going for, and the fidelity …
More than 25 years after the first Tony Hawk's Pro Skater put skateboarding games on the map, developers are still finding new ways to explore skating in video games, especially in 2025. Skateboarding fans are about to have some promising new games to play, with Activision's Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 + 4 remake releasing in July and EA is set to launch its online-only, free-to-playSkate revival this year.
In 2022, my colleague Andrew Webster wrote that we're in a golden age for skateboarding games, and things haven't really slowed down. So what is it that makes skateboarding so good for video games, and allows so many different expressions of the sport from different studios?
"I think skateboarding is one of those things that's just always cool," THPS 3 + 4 game director Kurt Tillmannstells The Verge. "It's an evergreen fantasy, in both real life and games. Being a skateboarder is a sign of what and who is cool." He says "there's a reason that we're all in awe of what these people can do." Part of what makes skateboarding cool is the music, fashion, and art, and video games let people experience that skateboarding culture, too, Tillmanns says.
From freelancer to successful co-founder, Ionut Neagu has worked with WordPress for 13+ years. Along the way, he has grown his company, Themeisle, into one of the most respected names in the WordPress ecosystem.
Their flagship products, including Neve and Hestia, are helping shape the future of website building and WordPress theme development.
Like many scrappy entrepreneurs, he started with little more than determination and a desire to learn. What makes Ionut’s story unique is his strong persistence and focus on creating genuine value.
In this interview with the WPBeginner team, Ionut shares his journey and offers valuable insights for anyone looking to build a lasting business in the WordPress space.
“I think intentions kind of matter… if you have the intention to create value through this process – for employees, for clients, for everyone that you work with… I think that also matters… my advice would be to be persistent, to try to focus on creating value and things will compound in time.”
Ionut Neagu – Co-Founder of Themeisle
Keep reading to learn how Ionut built and grew Themeisle into a household name. Whether you’re a brand-new WordPress freelancer or an experienced entrepreneur, his expert advice can help you grow.
This is our series, #MyWordPressStory, which brings you insights from leaders who use WordPress to make positive changes in the world.
If you’d like to be featured in our interview series – whether you’re a plugin developer, founder, or SEO expert – feel free to reach out and let us know through our contact form.
Video Interview with Ionut Neagu
If you’d like to watch the complete video interview with Ionut Neagu, then you can see it here:
Or you can use the links below to see what we covered in the interview (and more):
🙋 Meet Ionut Neagu: WordPress Pioneer and Themeisle Co-Founder
Before we share Ionut Neagu’s valuable lessons, we have to revisit his beginnings as a web developer, before Themeisle existed.
Fresh out of college in 2010, armed with a computer science degree and a deep curiosity for learning, Ionut entered the tech world during an interesting time.
While the fallout of the 2008 financial crisis meant there were fewer traditional job opportunities, it also created space for innovative thinkers to create their own paths.
When chatting with Ryan Priddey from the WPBeginner team, Ionut reflected on these early days with his characteristic humility and a sense of humor.
“Someone took a chance on me and said, ‘Okay, we just need someone to help.’ I said, That’s me. I don’t know anything.”
This eagerness to learn and grow, even without immediate rewards or recognition, defined his early career. “I just knew I wanted to learn and prove myself,” he shared.
He even recalled how he once told a potential employer he didn’t need a salary—just the metro fare to come to work. That still didn’t get Ionut the job, but it also didn’t discourage him. He just laughed it off and kept on moving, which is an example of his persistence and resilience.
“What worked for me was curiosity and persistence and not thinking about necessarily the results.”
Ionut Neagu
At WPBeginner, we’ve seen many successful entrepreneurs start with this same combination of humility and determination.
Ionut’s story stands out because he has maintained this learning mindset throughout his 13+ year journey with WordPress, even as his company became a major force in the ecosystem.
Today, Themeisle’s WordPress themes and plugins power hundreds of thousands of websites worldwide.
As co-founder and product strategist, he’s involved in everything from theme development to exploring new acquisitions and future directions for the business.
His approach has never been about following a predetermined path or copying others’ success. Instead, he’s always focused on understanding problems and finding ways to solve them effectively.
Ionut’s story reveals how staying true to your core values can transform a simple freelance career into something much bigger.
👨💻 The WordPress Journey: From Freelancing to Themeisle
In his early days with web development, Ionut started by building one freelance project at a time. His first breakthrough came with a modest $30 jQuery slider project that took three days to complete.
Like many developers starting out, he was less driven by the money at this time, and more focused on building his portfolio and expertise.
Through persistence and dedication, he began to establish himself as a freelancer, although he knew there had to be a more sustainable path forward.
Around 2012, Ionut co-founded Themeisle, marking a shift from freelancing to product development. The early days brought important lessons about building a business.
“I had a lot of misconceptions because I thought by having a company, printing business cards, making the company website, we will get clients… but none of this contributed in any way.”
Ionut Neagu
These struggles are acknowledged outright on the ‘About Us’ page of the Themeisle website, which says they quickly learned to adapt because “three years without a sale will do that.”
In our opinion, Ionut’s humble and lighthearted attitude comes through here, as the team jokingly celebrates their early failures.
When asked about mistakes he’d learned from, Ionut acknowledged he has always been a bit risk-averse. He casually quoted one of his inspirations, Charlie Munger, who famously said, “All I want to know is where I’m going to die so I’ll never go there.”
But upon further reflection, Ionut also recognized that sometimes mistakes are just part of the learning process:
“A mistake, a little bit for me, is when you have all the information and you do some wrong judgment. I mean, for me back then, I had no information… I was just learning and yeah, finding my way.”
Ionut Neagu
The lesson here? It speaks to the importance of not being too hard on yourself when learning something new. Everyone has to start somewhere!
As the Themeisle team grew, they faced new challenges. After working on a lot of different projects, from SEO to Java and PHP, Ionut realized they needed to laser focus on something. And that something was WordPress development.
The timing proved perfect – soon after, they released Zerif, their first theme in the WordPress repository.
“When we released Zerif… we saw early signs of success. That was a pivotal moment because then we stopped worrying about money and could focus on how to grow the business.”
This financial stability allowed Ionut and his team to think strategically and make long-term investments. They began developing Themeisle’s blog, knowing it might take two years to see results. The focus shifted from immediate gains to building lasting value.
At WPBeginner, we’ve seen that this kind of patient, long-term thinking often separates successful WordPress businesses from those that struggle to gain traction.
By 2015, Themeisle had established itself as more than just another theme company. Instead, it was becoming a team dedicated to pushing WordPress innovation forward. Plus, the Themeisle blog started to earn a reputation as a valuable resource for WordPress tutorials, roundups, and more.
But transforming successful product launches into a thriving business required more than just good code. It also needed a solid business strategy.
🔍 Business Growth Strategies & Themisle Products
As Themeisle grew, Ionut realized that sustainable growth required more than just great products. He needed systematic approaches to running the business.
A significant milestone for the team came when Ionut started using the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS). Our founder, Syed Balkhi, uses this model for all of his businesses, so we’re huge fans of it.
In our interview, Ionut even fondly recalled discussing EOS with Syed and how meaningful those conversations were.
After that, Ionut talked about the importance of learning how to manage while scaling. “It was another meaningful moment when we started to work with an implementer that actually showed me how I can have the team more involved and not me deciding and telling different things.”
Around this shift in management style, Themeisle also made major changes to its operations. It moved from gut-feel decision-making to data-driven strategies.
“Before that, it was a lot of guesswork. We knew like everything goes fine, we make more money than we spend, and it looks good. And that was basically all the knowledge that we had on the business.”
“Now we have quite detailed P&L (profit and loss) for the business, for the product. We understand very well where are our costs, where we invest, how that investment is working or not.”
Ionut Neagu
At WPBeginner, we’ve seen how this systematic approach to business management can transform a WordPress company. It’s not just about creating great products—it’s about building sustainable processes that support long-term growth.
This strategic approach also helped Themeisle maintain focus on their core mission: creating value for users. They concentrated on understanding and solving real problems for their customers.
The result? They developed and launched some of the most popular WordPress themes and plugins today, including Neve, Hestia, and Optimole.
But building a successful WordPress business isn’t just about strategy and systems. Ionut also has some valuable advice for others looking to follow a similar path.
💡 Advice for Aspiring WordPress Entrepreneurs
When asked what advice he’d give aspiring WordPress entrepreneurs, Ionut emphasized the importance of genuine value creation over surface-level business tactics.
His own experience taught him that traditional approaches, such as polishing resumes or printing business cards, often matter less than solving real problems.
“You need to reflect and try to think what are your skills and adjust the people you work with, adjust the industry you go to, adjust your product to suit your skills,” he explained. This self-awareness, he believes, is crucial for long-term success.
“My advice would be to be persistent, to try to focus on creating value and things will compound in time.”
Ionut Neagu
“The skills you gain, the people you meet, the clients you work with, the employees that grow with you – it all compounds over time,” he explained.
At WPBeginner, we’ve seen this compound effect in action. The most successful WordPress entrepreneurs aren’t usually those who chase quick wins, but those who focus on building value consistently over time.
When it comes to technology and tools, Ionut is particularly excited about AI’s potential. “I feel AI will bring monumental change to how we do things, how we live, and how we work,” he said.
His advice? “Just using it and trying to involve AI in everything that you do.”
He talked about how his team is experimenting with using AI tools like Cursor, but also about how every aspiring entrepreneur should focus on how to most effectively use AI.
“It’s more to build the mental models, right? So it’s not to kind of just see what’s the latest cool and trick and so on. I think just to rewire a little bit and to create mental models, because after a couple of weeks, for example, what I noticed is that I start to think differently.”
Ionut Neagu
“So when I get into a problem, I would say, okay, for that problem, I would need to use this deep research. For that problem… I need to create the flow with agents and et cetera to handle it… for this problem, I would need to ask a reasoning AI… because they work differently and are helpful in different ways.”
“I would say that people are not spending enough time on this… this is the one thing I would be focusing on.”
This focus on creating genuine value while embracing new technologies has served Themeisle well in the past. But what does the future hold for the company and its co-founder?
🔮 Looking Ahead: The Future of Themeisle
Rather than making grand predictions about the future, Ionut prefers to focus on the fundamentals that stay constant regardless of how technology evolves. “I have a hard time to think and to plan in terms of what’s the goal in five years,” he admitted.
Instead, he said he always concentrates on two key areas: maintaining strong relationships with existing customers and nurturing a capable team.
“We have those clients that are paying their yearly subscriptions. What I can do for them? How I can make sure they are happy?”
“Now and even in five years, whatever, it would be important to have smart people around you and to grow yourself and grow as well as a team. To be able to tackle any opportunities or challenges or markets.”
Ionut Neagu
This approach of focusing on fundamentals while remaining adaptable has served Themeisle well. When Ionut spots something truly promising, he’s ready to invest fully. “When I spot something unusual, then I will go all in on that,” he explained.
His current focus is exploring how AI can enhance WordPress development and user experience. He sees it as a tool to deliver more value to users.
“I’m trying to use it for everything pretty much… trying to map it with real needs that people have or businesses have.”
As WordPress itself evolves, Themeisle’s commitment to both innovation and fundamentals positions them well for continued success. But for Ionut, success isn’t just about business metrics. It’s also about creating lasting value for the WordPress community.
💭 Final Thoughts
Ionut Neagu’s journey from a curious computer science graduate to co-founder of Themeisle offers valuable lessons for anyone looking to build a lasting WordPress business.
His story shows that success isn’t about following a predetermined path but staying true to core values while remaining adaptable.
What stands out most is his consistent focus on creating genuine value. From his early freelancing days to leading Themeisle today, Ionut says that business success follows naturally from helping others solve real problems.
We also appreciated how Ionut seems to strongly value the potential of each unique individual and how that should be embraced on any entrepreneurial journey.
“No entrepreneur is the same… all the stories are different… so I think in terms of skills, it’s a great opportunity to craft your own journey that suits your strengths.”
Ionut Neagu
At WPBeginner, we’ve watched ThemeIsle grow from its early days to become a significant force in the WordPress community. Their success story reminds us that in WordPress, sustainable growth comes from combining technical excellence with a genuine desire to serve users.
Through economic challenges, technological changes, and evolving market demands, Ionut’s approach has remained consistent: focus on fundamentals, invest in people, and create real value.
💥 Bonus Guides and Resources
Looking to learn more about building a business around WordPress? Here are some helpful WPBeginner resources:
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