A job search with twenty applications and five CV versions turns into confusion fast: which version went where, who to chase, what is working. This skill sets up a simple tracker, keeps it up to date from what the person tells it, and turns it into a short list of this week's actions.
Part of the pm-cv bundle.
What This Skill Produces
- The tracker: one row per application
- A version log: each tailored CV, what changed, where it was sent
- This week's actions: follow-ups due, interviews to prepare, deadlines
- A weekly review: response rate by source and by CV version, and one change to try
Required Inputs
Ask for these if not provided:
- Existing applications, if any: company, role, date, where applied
- Where the tracker should live: a markdown file, a CSV for a spreadsheet, or in the conversation
- The master CV file name, so versions can be named after it
Working from a brief
Given a rough picture of the search, build the tracker anyway: the full table with its columns and six example rows using placeholders, the naming convention for CV versions, the follow-up rules and the weekly review checklist, ready to paste into a spreadsheet.
Framework
Tracker columns: | ID | Company | Role | Link | Source (job board, referral, recruiter, direct) | CV version | Date applied | Status | Next action | Follow-up date | Contact | Notes |
Statuses, in order: Saved, Applied, Screening, Interviewing, Offer, Rejected, Withdrawn, No response.
Rules:
- Version names follow
Lastname-CV-[company]-[yyyy-mm-dd], so a file name always says where it went. - Follow-up date: seven to ten days after applying if there is no response, once.
- No response after three weeks: mark as No response; it stays in the review.
- Weekly review: response rate = (Screening or later) ÷ Applied, per source and per CV version. Recommend one change.
Output Format
Job search tracker: [name], week of [date]
1. Tracker (table, or CSV block) 2. Version log | Version | Based on | What changed | Sent to | 3. This week | Action | Application | Due | 4. Weekly review | Source | Applied | Responses | Rate | ; one change to try
Quality Checks
- Every application has a status and a next action or a closed status
- Every row links to a CV version
- Follow-up dates are computed, not left blank
- Rates in the review are arithmetically correct
Anti-Patterns
- Tracking without acting. The tracker exists to produce this week's actions.
- Many follow-ups. One polite follow-up per application.
- Changing everything at once after a bad week. One change, then measure.
- Storing passwords or ID numbers in the tracker.
Example Trigger Phrases
- "Set up a tracker for my job applications."
- "Which CV did I send to which company? Help me organise this."
- "What should I follow up on this week?"
- "Help me organize the résumés I've submitted and their progress."