After sending 100+ job applications, I realized I was tracking the wrong thing
During my last job search I started tracking every application I sent out.
I’m actually going through another search right now, which is what made me revisit the idea.
Mostly just so I could remember:
• where I applied
• when to follow up
• which resume version I used
At first it was just a messy spreadsheet.
But after about 100 applications, I noticed something interesting.
One version of my resume was getting way more interviews than the others.
I almost missed it because I wasn’t tracking which resume I used for each application.
That’s what led me to build a small tool called JobFlow to track things like:
• applications per week
• interview rate
• which resume performs best
It started as something just for myself, but I ended up turning it into a small app.
Curious how others here track their job search.
Are most people just using spreadsheets?
If anyone wants to see what I built:
https://jobapplicationtrack.com/
Clear and practical, thanks. Did anything surprise you along the way?
This is such a good catch. When I was building my own tracker I went back and forth on what's actually worth measuring, and landed on response rate and "ghost rate" as the two numbers that tell you something real — everything else is just logistics. Resume version is a smart addition though, I hadn't thought to split by that. Did you find it was one clearly better version, or more like certain resumes did better for certain role types?
One thing that surprised me while building this is how many people told me they don’t track their applications at all.
yeah. thats crazy. it does seem a lot of people are using AI/automation tools to spam 100s of job applications in the hope of getting anything. dont think thats very effective though
I've been looking at something similar. Good idea on the resume version tracking - I also had applied to a bunch of things, then realised that my resume didnt have my email or phone number on it!