Track opportunities and relationships
Give each role its own row. Record the company, job title, source, date, status and your next action. Save a copy of the listing because it may disappear before an interview. A separate contact list makes it easier to remember who offered an introduction, which conversation you owe a follow-up, and what you learned.
- Suggested stages include research, ready to apply, applied, interview, closed and follow-up due.
- Keep the next action specific, such as asking a former teammate about a team or sending the requested work sample.
- Store sensitive documents separately and avoid sharing your tracker with personal contact details visible.
Review the pattern each week
Count applications that received a substantive reply and interviews that moved to a next round. Add a brief note about what differed in those cases. If one role type performs better, make it a larger part of next week’s search. If qualified applications stall, ask a peer to compare your résumé and the actual job description.
Leave enough time for follow-ups and interview preparation. A tracker should make space for those tasks as well as new applications.