Job Seeker Tools

Turn a promising posting into a clear next action. Use these planning worksheets alongside the employer’s current instructions.

Find Your Next Resource

Find a guide for your next step or compare LinkedIn, Indeed, and Glassdoor. No application details or personal profile are needed.

If the results are hard to use, Refine Your Job Search Terms helps test related phrases and one filter at a time before reviewing a full posting.

Unexpected message? Start with Check Job Offers and Recruiters before sending documents or responding to a payment request.

Before choosing where to apply, Research an Employer Before Applying helps turn company pages and workplace information into specific questions.

For another perspective on the work, Plan an Informational Conversation offers a small request, questions to ask, and a fictional learning note. It is a research conversation, not a referral request.

Your Weekly Job Search Review

This Week’s Job Search Practice offers a four-week starter sequence: read a posting, explain experience, prepare questions, and check a task brief. Each fictional exercise has a worked response, with no personal answers to enter or save.

1. Choose a role family and location to focus on this week.
2. Revisit saved postings on the employer’s website. Mark closed or changed roles in your own records.
3. Compare the responsibilities with examples from your work, study, or projects.
4. Select the applications you can prepare carefully. Record a next action and date for each.
5. Review responses and unanswered questions before changing your search terms.

Start with job site comparisons, a career guide, or a country guide.

If your next step is learning rather than another application, Choose What to Learn Next helps define a small practice task and check its result without using personal records.

Application Record Template

Keep one record per role in your own private notes or spreadsheet.

• Employer and role:
• Official posting URL and reference number:
• Location and work arrangement:
• Date checked and closing date, if listed:
• Responsibilities and evidence I can show:
• Documents requested and resume version used:
• Application destination and submission date:
• Confirmation received:
• Current status: researching / preparing / submitted / response received / closed
• Next action and date:

Avoid including passwords, identity documents, or confidential employer information in a shared tracker.

Before You Submit

Start with Read a Job Posting to separate responsibilities from preferences. If work samples are relevant, use Build a Project Case Study to explain your contribution and evidence.

• Match the employer name, role title, and posting reference across the application.
• Check the requested file format and open each attachment before uploading.
• Test your portfolio links and describe your own contribution to team projects.
• Review any automatically filled fields against your original information.
• Keep a note of the confirmation and the employer’s stated next steps.

Use the resume review checklist for a closer check of application materials. If a letter is requested, Write a Focused Cover Letter provides a fictional example and a final submission check.

Interview Research Prompts

For a complete preparation path, read Prepare for an Interview, including a fictional STAR example and a video setup check.

• Which responsibility in the posting needs clarification?
• What example shows how I solved a relevant problem?
• What would I ask about the team’s workflow and feedback process?
• Which tools or working arrangements are mentioned, and which remain unclear?

After the conversation, Follow Up After an Interview helps record the stated next steps, decide whether contact is appropriate, and prepare one improvement for next time.

If the next step is a task, Prepare for a Work Sample Task helps check the brief and submission conditions. Try the fictional exercise before handling an employer’s actual material.

Using AI to Organize Your Preparation

For a complete fictional practice pack, read Use AI for Job Search Preparation. It includes three focused prompts and an example of unsupported claims to remove.

Try this prompt with a non-sensitive excerpt from a posting: “Separate the stated responsibilities from preferences. Identify questions the posting leaves unanswered. Do not invent requirements or add experience to my resume.”

Compare the output with the original text. Keep only statements you can substantiate, and follow any employer instructions about AI use in assessments. See AI in recruitment for related reading.

These are editorial planning suggestions, not a scoring system or a promise of interviews or offers. Revisit your records weekly and verify changing details with the employer.