What to Track When You Are Job Searching

Job searching can seem like such a big task nowadays. We change jobs more often, so it seems like more of a regular occurrence in our lives. This means that having a system in place to manage our job search is now more important. The system doesn’t need to be complicated, but it’s worth having one in place to track key elements of your job search. I use a simple spreadsheet with the following elements to track my applications:

1. Company

This is useful to track because if you are applying to multiple jobs, you could make the mistake of applying to the same company twice. This isn’t usually a good thing to do as it can make you appear unfocused. So it’s good to know what companies you have already applied to.

2. Position

Write down the job titles you have applied for.

3. Closing date

This is really useful as it helps you prioritise applications that have an earlier deadline. I often sort the applications from earliest to latest deadline so I can work through them in that order. Of course, if there is a job you really want, you can always prioritise that one!

4. Date applied

This is good to know so you can check whether you have received a response in the weeks following your application or interview. You can then either follow up or assume you haven’t got the position if they have stated that they don’t follow up with all candidates.

5. Application status and outcome

You can see how far you got in the application process for each role. In the future, if you are applying for similar roles or companies again, you can learn from those applications you were successful with to see what you did right! I would also save the job descriptions and applications that I made which you can refer to in the future.

The benefits of tracking all this information in relation to your applications is that during your job search, you will feel less overwhelmed as you don’t have to remember everything you applied for if you have a written record. It is also a useful piece of data for a future job search to remind you of the job titles, companies and any notes you made about interviews. You can then re-use techniques from applications that were successful.

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