One row per application
Use a spreadsheet, or a table in a document. Give each application one row, with these columns:
- Company and role.
- Link to the posting.
- Date applied.
- Resume version you sent.
- People: names, and how you know them.
- Status: Saved, Applied, Screening, Interview, Offer or Closed.
- Next step and its date.
- Notes.
Save the posting the day you apply
Postings get changed and taken down, often just when you get an interview call. Save the text or a PDF of the posting, and a copy of the exact resume and cover letter you sent, in a folder named for the company and the date. It is the only way to know later what you were applying for.
Follow up on a schedule
Check the posting first. If it gives a timeline, wait for it. If it doesn't, a common rule of thumb is to follow up once about a week to ten days after you apply, and again about a week after an interview. Write the date in the Next step column so you don't have to remember it.
Keep each message short: who you are, the role, one line on why you fit it, and one clear question or thank-you. Put a copy of what you sent in the Notes.
Record the people
When someone helps you, such as a recruiter, a hiring manager or a friend of a friend, write down their name, their role, how you were introduced and the date you last spoke. A short thank-you afterwards is worth the minute it takes.
Review it once a week
- Update every status.
- Send the follow-ups that are due.
- Close the applications that have clearly ended, and note why if you know.
- Pick the next applications to send, and put them in the sheet as Saved.
Fifteen minutes is enough, and it turns a pile of tabs and half-remembered emails into a list you can act on.
Count what you control
You can't control who gets hired, but you can count the applications you sent, the follow-ups you sent and the conversations you had. If those numbers are low, the plan is simple. If they are high and nothing is coming back, the problem may be the resume or the targeting, which the guides on tailoring and formatting can help with.
An example row
- Company and role: Northwind Ltd., Data Analyst (an example).
- Applied: March 4. Resume version: data-analyst-v3.
- Status: Applied. Next step: follow up on March 12.
- People: Priya, recruiter, found through a friend.
Where QWIKIT Jobs fits
QWIKIT Jobs will include an application tracker, an estimate of how ready your resume is for each job, and truthful tailoring drafts. It isn't built yet, and it never applies for you. Everything in this guide works with a plain spreadsheet.