On this page
Thirty applications in, a job search stops being about any one job and turns into bookkeeping. Which of these have you actually heard back from. Which one was the Tuesday phone call about. Whether you already applied to the place advertising the same role again under a slightly different title. Most people run this on a spreadsheet, and most spreadsheets stop being updated in week three, usually the week the applications get interesting. The tracker holds the roles you are preparing for as well as the applications you have sent, with a status you move as things happen, so the answer to "where am I" is a screen rather than an hour in your sent folder.
What one application record holds
An application here is a record of one role you are pursuing. Company, role and the full job description keep the essentials together. The date you applied belongs to a submitted application; draft and ready records do not need one. Add the location, the salary as advertised, a link to the posting, a follow-up date and notes for the things that only mean anything to you. The recruiter's first name. That the second interview is with the team. The reason you nearly did not bother.
Status is one of seven: draft, ready, applied, interview, offer, rejected and withdrawn. Draft and ready hold work you have not submitted yet. Withdrawn earns its place too: a search where you pulled out of two is different from one where you were turned down twice.
Four counters sit above the list: total, active, interviews and offers. Active counts applied and interview, while total includes the records still being prepared. They count everything you have logged rather than the filtered view, so narrowing to one group never flatters the number.
The point where a spreadsheet stops holding
"I have applied for about thirty things and I could not tell you which." That is the week this starts paying for itself. Under roughly ten applications your memory is fine and a tracker is admin.
"I applied to the same company twice by accident." Search by company name before you send. The second advert is either a genuine reopening or the same job wearing a new title.
"I have two interviews and I keep mixing up which one wanted a presentation." That belongs in the notes field, written the day the email arrived rather than recalled on the morning.
"Half of these went quiet in July and I keep them open out of hope." Five cards sat in one column since July is the least sentimental way to find that out.
From a saved role to a submitted application
- Keep the role while you prepare. Add an application by hand, create one from a generation, or, when Jobs is available, save a vacancy and create a draft with the company, role and advert filled in. Review those details before saving.
- Keep the full advert. Adverts come down, and once one has gone you cannot reread what you actually applied for. Paste the description if the record does not already have it. The saved description is also what interview questions are generated from later.
- Group them if you are applying in more than one direction. You name the groups: "support roles", "anything under 40 minutes away", "the ones I actually want". An application sits in one group or in none, and deleting a group moves its applications back to ungrouped rather than deleting them.
- Separate preparation from applying. Linking a generated CV or cover letter can move a draft to ready. Submit on the employer's or job board's website, then confirm you applied or update the status yourself. Opening the application link does not count as submitting.
- Switch to the pipeline when the list gets long. Seven columns, draft through to withdrawn, one card per application. The list view is better for detail, with a search box for company or role and filters for status and group.
- Start interview prep from the application itself. It sits with the other actions on the record, and it reads the full job description saved at step two.
Nine applications, read across seven stages
Worked example
The board on a Sunday in October
| Status | Count | What is in it |
|---|---|---|
| Draft | 1 | A council role with the advert saved and the CV still to prepare |
| Ready | 1 | A tailored CV linked, with the employer's application still to submit |
| Applied | 3 | Two sent in the past fortnight, one sent on 2 September |
| Interview | 2 | A district council, second stage. A wholesale bakery, first stage Thursday |
| Offer | 0 | Nothing yet |
| Rejected | 1 | A 40-person department store, by email, no reason given |
| Withdrawn | 1 | A distribution centre, pulled out after reading the shift pattern |
What that board says, and the counters do not
The ready row still needs an action. Having a CV prepared is useful, but the employer has not received it. Finish the application on their website, then mark the record applied so your board reflects what happened.
Active reads 5. There are also two being prepared. The counter adds applied to interview. Draft and ready are separate, which helps you see whether the next job is writing, submitting or preparing for a conversation.
The 2 September one deserves a check. A long silence does not tell you whether the role was filled. Look for a closing date, follow up once where there is a useful contact, and update the record when you have an answer.
The withdrawn row is worth keeping. It records what you decided against. When a similar shift pattern comes round, that row can save another evening on a role you already know will not fit.
What the tracker can show you
The list, pipeline and analytics make your recorded activity easier to read. They do not establish what an employer has decided. You still supply the outcome, and a follow-up date does not send an email for you.
Saving a job is separate from applying
When Jobs is available, Career Auntie can bring a saved listing's details into a draft application. Creating a record from your generated documents also saves some retyping. Neither action submits an application to the employer, and a saved role is not evidence that you applied.
You complete the employer's or job board's application yourself. For a draft or ready record created from a listing, opening the external application page is followed by a question about whether you submitted. Confirming that you did marks it applied. Answering "Not yet" keeps it in preparation and can leave an in-app reminder to confirm later.
Employer responses do not arrive automatically. Career Auntie does not read your inbox or sync an interview invitation or rejection back from a job board. You record those changes yourself.
A follow-up date is still a date on the record, not an email reminder. And the tracker cannot tell you why an application went quiet. It gives you somewhere to keep the facts you have.
Free, because there is no AI in it
The tracker costs nothing. Adding applications, changing statuses, grouping them, searching your records, the pipeline view and the counters are all free, and none of it touches your credit balance.
Credits pay for AI work separately from keeping a record. Generating a tailored CV costs 1.45 credits and a cover letter costs one. Interview preparation, started from an application, costs 0.8 credits for a set of questions and 0.25 to score an answer. You can keep the advert, notes and status together without running any of those AI actions.
Find a role. Share an opportunity.
Browse roles freely. Sign in to save a vacancy and start a draft application with the job details already filled in. Keep the advert, your documents and your next steps together.
Your company is hiring?
Sign in to share a job at a company you work for or represent. Add the role, location, full description and company application link. Listings start members-only; explicitly enable public visibility to reach visitors too.
Choose whether to offer referrals and accept in-app messages. Signed-in members can ask about a role when its poster enables messaging; a referral is always the poster's decision.
Browse without an account. Sign up or log in to save jobs, generate documents and track applications.
Common questions
Does it find jobs or apply to them for me?
The tracker organises your applications. When Jobs is available, you can search for roles, save a listing and create a draft application with its details filled in. You still apply on the employer's or job board's website yourself. Saving a role, preparing documents and opening an application link do not submit an application.
Does the tracker cost credits?
No. Adding applications, statuses, groups, search, the pipeline view and the counters are all free. AI work costs credits separately: a tailored CV is 1.45 credits, a cover letter is one, and interview preparation is 0.8 for a set of questions plus 0.25 to score an answer.
Why should I keep the full job description?
Adverts come down, so a saved copy lets you reread what you applied for before the interview. The description is also what interview questions and sample answers are generated from. A draft created from Jobs brings that description across; if the full text cannot be fetched, you are asked to paste it before creating the application.
What is the difference between rejected and withdrawn?
Rejected is their decision. Withdrawn is yours. Keeping them apart matters when you look back over a long search, because ten rejections reads very differently from six rejections and four jobs you decided against yourself after seeing the shift pattern, the salary or the commute.
Can I organise applications by type of role?
Yes, using groups, which you name yourself. An application sits in one group or in none, and you can filter both the list and the pipeline down to a single group. Deleting a group moves its applications back to ungrouped rather than deleting the applications themselves.
Will it remind me to follow up?
A follow-up date is a note visible on the record; it does not send an email reminder. There is a separate in-app prompt for a listing whose external application page you opened but have not confirmed applying to. That asks whether you submitted, rather than contacting the employer or sending a follow-up for you.
