Free resources
Checklists and templates for your job search
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Job application tracker template
The columns you need so no follow-up is ever forgotten. Import the file into Google Sheets (File, Import) or open it in Excel.
| Company | Role | Job link | Source | Date applied | Status | Contact | Follow-up date | Notes |
|---|
Opens in Excel, Google Sheets or LibreOffice. One row per application.
Read the full guide →Checklist: cold email for a job
- One named recipient, found on the company’s own pages or LinkedIn
- A subject line with the role and one strength
- One sentence showing why this company
- A specific role or family of roles, and one proven result
- A small ask: a ten minute call
- CV or resume attached as a PDF; date sent and follow-up date noted
Checklist: cover letter
- A factual opening about the company, one you could verify
- The role named clearly
- One experience with a concrete result that answers the need
- Why this company, without "your values"
- Your availability and the contract you are looking for
- One page at most, read aloud once
Checklist: ATS-friendly CV or resume
- Selectable text (not a scan or an image)
- Standard section names: Experience, Education, Skills
- Readable dates, in one format throughout
- The posting's keywords, written as the ad writes them, where your experience supports them
- A headline aligned with the target role
- No skill you could not defend in an interview
Checklist: interview preparation
- Reread the posting and note its three main needs
- Prepare a STAR story (Situation, Task, Action, Result) for each
- Prepare a two minute walk through your background
- Look up the company’s recent news
- Prepare two or three questions for the interviewer
- Check the place, video link and time the day before
The workflow, step by step
- Define the target. One or two roles, a place, a contract type. That is what the search runs on.
- Find jobs. Several job boards at once, plus chosen companies for cold emails.
- Sort. Keep the jobs where your background answers the real need, not just the title.
- Tailor. One CV and letter per job: title, summary and order follow the posting.
- Send and log. Date, contact and follow-up date in the tracker.
- Follow up. Once, after about ten working days without a reply.
- Prepare the interview. From the posting and your background, with the checklist above.