How to Track Job Applications
Past the first dozen applications, memory stops working. You forget which company you applied to twice, who promised to get back to you "next week", and which recruiter you still owe a reply. A tracker fixes that, but only if it stays small enough that you actually update it.
This guide is the system I use: six columns, two views, and three rules about following up.
The six columns you need
| Column | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Company | So you never apply to the same place twice by accident. |
| Role | Large companies may have several openings you apply to separately. |
| Status | Exactly one of Wishlist, Applied, Assessment, Interviewing, Offer, Rejected. |
| Next Action | The one concrete thing you do next, such as "Email the recruiter". |
| Next Action Date | When you do it. A follow-up without a date usually never happens. |
| Days since applied | Shows at a glance which applications have gone quiet. |
Resist adding more columns at the start. Salary, contact names and notes are useful later, but every extra field is one more reason to skip updating the tracker.
Two views: a board and a calendar
- Board by status. One column per stage, so you can see how many applications are waiting and drag one to Interviewing when you get the call.
- Calendar by Next Action Date. Each morning, open today's date and do what's there. That's the whole daily routine.
Three follow-up rules
Every open application has a dated next step
"Waiting to hear back" is not a next step. "Follow up on Thursday" is.
Two follow-ups, then close it
If two follow-ups get no reply, mark it Rejected and move on. No more "I'll give it another week".
Once a week, check three numbers
New applications this week, companies at the interview stage, and applications that haven't moved in 7 or more days. Each stale one gets a decision: one more follow-up, or close it.
Get the tracker
I turned this into a free Notion template with exactly these six columns, a Pipeline Board and a Calendar view. It works on the free Notion plan.
Open it in Notion and click Duplicate. A Chinese version is on the homepage.
If you later want an interview log, a weekly review page, a companies database, resume versions and contacts in the same workspace, there's a full version for $9 on itch.io. Disclosure: I built both.
FAQ
Should I use a spreadsheet or Notion? Either works if you keep the same columns. A spreadsheet is fine for a short search. Notion helps once you want a board view by status and a calendar of follow-up dates without building them yourself.
How many applications should I track? All of them, including the ones you think are long shots. A tracker only answers "who do I follow up with today" if every application is in it.
When should I give up on an application? After two follow-ups with no reply, mark it Rejected and stop thinking about it. That keeps your active list short and honest.