.svg)
The Developer Who Built AI_Hawk and Laboro: What My LinkedIn Ban Taught Me About Job Hunting in 2025
Introduction: When the Job Search Starts Fighting Back
If you've ever stared at an empty inbox after sending fifty "perfect-fit" applications, you know the quiet can be louder than a rejection. I was there during my final year at the University of Genova, wired on espresso, debugging at 3 a.m., wondering whether anyone would ever read my resume. Instead of waiting, I wrote code to do the reading for them.
That side project AI_Hawk changed everything. It churned through job boards, matched my skills, and fired off tailored applications while I slept. Within weeks I had fifty-plus interview invites and a GitHub repository so popular it became Italy's most-starred project. Then LinkedIn lowered the boom (Semafor).
What follows is the full story of that rise-and-ban, the lessons hidden inside it, and why I built Laboro; a new, ban-proof platform that lets job seekers keep their dignity (and their LinkedIn accounts) while still automating the grind.
1. From Dorm-Room Script to 28K GitHub Stars
AI_Hawk began as a weekend experiment: "Could a bot read my resume, scrape roles, and slap the right keywords into every application form?" It could... and did (Business Insider).
- Structured intelligence My PDF resume was parsed into clean JSON so the bot always knew what skill belonged where.
- Autopilot outreach Each night it scanned fresh listings, checked for overlap, and submitted forms with surgical precision.
By the time mid-terms rolled around, the repo was pulling 300K page views a week. Tech blogs ran think-pieces and reporters used it to apply for thousands of roles (TechCrunch; Dev.by).
I wish the story stopped there.
2. The LinkedIn Ban and the Day 500 People Disappeared
Late one Friday I opened LinkedIn to a red banner: "Your account has been permanently restricted." Reports soon surfaced of mass restrictions (404 Media).
Within hours 500 members of my Discord server were banned too, many had never cloned the repo. What followed were months of lawyer emails, code rollbacks, and a sinking feeling that the very tools built to help job seekers could be snatched away overnight.
Key takeaway: if your career strategy depends on bending a platform's terms of service, that platform will eventually bend you back.
3. The Real Enemy Isn't the ATS: it's Fatigue
Talking to thousands of users during the ban saga drove home a hardertruth: the worst part of modern job hunting isn't keyword filters; it's exhaustion (as explored by The Verge).
- Endless "Thanks-but-no-thanks" emails offering zero feedback
- Form fields repeating the same information already on your resume
- Weeks of silence that make you question every bullet point you've ever written
Automation that merely sprays applications adds to the noise and draws platform fire. What people actually need is focus, feedback, and freedom from the copy-paste treadmill.
4. Building Laboro: Automation That Plays by the Rules
I scrapped AI_Hawk's brittle surface scripts and kept the good parts under a new banner: Laboro. Three principles guided the rebuild (Wired).
4.1. Build a real team and a startup over it
Turning a smart tool into a sustainable company takes more than code. Once Laboro's core was stable, I shifted focus from features to people and process.
4.2. Parse Once, Edit Anytime
Upload a PDF and the Resume Service converts it into structured JSON you can tweak on demand; no more Word docs version 12-final-FINAL.
4.3. Match Smarter, Not Louder
The Matching Service uses embeddings, machine-learning, and optional geo-filters to surface real listings, not ghost jobs, ranked by fit and freshness. Searching, sorting, and previewing are free forever.
4.4. Apply in Batches, Ethically
When you're ready, the Applier (AI_Hawk v2) fills company-site forms through modular plug-ins. You choose whether to blast your master resume or let Laboro spin a tailored version (and matching cover letter) first. A generous free trial shows the engine in action; paid plans stay cheaper than a single takeout meal.
And because Laboro never touches LinkedIn, no one gets banned for using it.
5. A Five-Minute Blueprint to Try It Yourself
- Sign up and verify: no credit card needed at laboro.co.
- Drag-and-drop your resume. Tweak any parsed field until it's perfect.
- Explore matches. Sort by score or "Added Today" to jump on new roles.
- Select a batch of opportunities and let Laboro draft tailored docs.
- Hit Apply. Incoming emails route through our relay straight to your inbox, so you never miss a callback.
Total time: about the length of your coffee break, minus the espresso jitters.
Ready to reclaim your time?
Visit laboro.co to create your free account, upload your resume, and start automating ethically!
See you on the other side of the inbox!
