At the job post · 6 min read
How do I keep track of my job applications?
A simple tracker with eight columns, the statuses that matter, when to follow up, and how to read the tracker after a month to change what you're doing.
The short answer
Keep track of job applications in one list with eight columns: job, company, link, date found, date applied, the CV version you sent, status and next step with a date. Update it the moment you apply, and look at it once a week. A spreadsheet works; so does a tool that records each job as you open it. The point is to know what you sent and what to do next.
Key takeaways
- One list, updated at the moment you apply, beats a perfect system you forget.
- Save the exact CV you sent with each application.
- Every row needs a next step and a date.
- Review it weekly: what's waiting, what to follow up, what to close.
- After a month, the list shows which kinds of jobs reply to you.
On this pageThe eight columns
The eight columns
| Column | Example |
|---|---|
| Job title | Paralegal, Media and Sport |
| Company | Harbour & Finch LLP (illustrative) |
| Link to the post | Saved copy of the post, in case it's taken down |
| Date found | 3 Nov |
| Date applied | 5 Nov |
| CV version sent | Jamie_Rowan_Paralegal_Harbour_Finch.pdf |
| Status | Applied |
| Next step and date | Follow up 19 Nov |
Statuses that matter
- Saved: found, not yet decided or applied.
- Applied: sent, waiting.
- Interview: at any stage of interviews.
- Offer: an offer is on the table.
- Rejected: you heard no.
- No reply: you heard nothing after a reasonable wait.
Keep 'rejected' and 'no reply' separate. Silence and a no tell you different things: a no means someone looked, while silence can mean the post was never real, or your CV never reached a person.
A weekly ten-minute review
- Follow up anything that's due today.
- Move anything past its wait to 'no reply'.
- Prepare for any interviews this week.
- Count this week's applications against your target.
- Write one line on what you've noticed.
What a month of rows tells you
Illustrative example: after four weeks, a tracker shows 22 applications. Four replied, all for operations roles at small companies. None of the nine applications to large companies or 'manager' roles replied. That's clear advice: aim at operations roles in smaller firms, and stop sending the generic CV to big ones.
OffLadder CV, our free Chrome extension, keeps Your jobs: every post you checked with the date, its status (saved, applied, interview, offer, rejected or no reply), a calendar, and every CV and cover letter you sent, ready to download again. Signed in, it's under You on offladder.com too, with an export to a spreadsheet.
What happens to the gaps
Applying shows you what employers want that you can't show yet: a must-have your CV doesn't mention, or a question you couldn't answer well. Hand the job from OffLadder CV to Laddie, our AI coach, and it turns each one into three steps:
- Learn the skill: a short lesson on what the post asks for, starting from the basics.
- Try the work: a 15-minute task taken from the job itself, so you have a real example to talk about.
- Practise the interview: a five-question mock interview for that role, weighted to the parts you're least sure of.
The conversation stays in your OffLadder account. Once you've done the work, add it to your CV in your own words, and the next post you tailor for can point to it.
Questions people ask
- What's the best way to track job applications?
- Whatever you'll actually keep up. For most people that's a spreadsheet or a tool that records jobs automatically. The essentials are the same: what you applied for, when, which CV, the status and the next step. Fancy boards don't help if you stop updating them in week three.
- Why save the CV version I sent?
- Because recruiters call weeks later and interviews ask about specific lines. If you tailor each CV, you need to know exactly what that employer saw. Save the file with the company and role in its name, or keep it attached to the job in your tracker.
- When should I mark an application as dead?
- When the closing date has passed by a few weeks with no reply, or about four to six weeks after applying if there was no closing date. Mark it 'no reply', not 'rejected', so your numbers stay honest. You can still be surprised.
- What should I look for when I review my tracker?
- Which kinds of roles reply to you, and which never do. If analyst roles reply and manager roles don't, aim lower or closer to your evidence. If nothing replies after twenty applications, look at the CV before sending more.
Exercises are practice, not evidence of career fit or a qualification. How to read our guides and report a correction.
Sources
- Write a successful job application · Prospects (Jisc), UK graduate careers service
How this page is written
Sources support the factual background, not a guarantee that an exercise predicts career fit. Fictional practice material is labelled. Dates record content updates; no independent expert review is implied. More about OffLadder.