Job application tracker: know where every application stands

A job application tracker is one place where you keep every job you are interested in or have applied for, with the stage it has reached, the date you applied, the CV you sent and what happens next. Without one, the details end up spread across browser tabs, job board accounts, emails and memory.

Kandiq's job tracker is a board of five columns: Saved (a job you're interested in, no application yet), Applied, Interview, Offer and Closed (rejected, withdrawn or filled, kept for your records). Each application is a card you move from left to right. You can move cards with a mouse, a finger or the keyboard.

1. Add a job advert to your tracker. Paste the link from a job board or an employer's careers page. If the page can't be read, paste the advert text or import its PDF. Job title, employer, location, contract, salary and the advert's text fill in, with a warning for anything the import couldn't find.
2. Move the card as your application progresses. Drag it from Saved to Applied, Interview, Offer or Closed. The date you applied is recorded when the card reaches Applied.
3. Follow up from the job application tracker. Applications still in Applied 12 days after you sent them are flagged, and you note the next step and its date on each card. Five counts at the top show what you track, what you applied for, your interviews, the applications to follow up and the adverts no longer available.

A spreadsheet works, and it costs nothing. It starts to struggle when you apply to several roles a week: every row is typed by hand, the advert disappears when the employer takes it down, and nothing tells you which application needs chasing.

If you'd rather keep a spreadsheet, use these columns: job title, employer, link, closing date, date applied, CV version, contact, next step and its date, notes and outcome.

1. Save the job before you apply. Some adverts close before their closing date, and a saved card keeps the text you'll need for the interview.
2. Note the closing date and the reference number if the advert gives them: you'll need the reference when you follow up.
3. Record the CV you sent. If you tailored it, attach that version to the card: the interviewer will have that one in front of them.
4. Set the next step and its date as soon as you apply: a follow-up, a test, an interview.
5. Review your board once a week. Chase the applications with no reply, move the closed ones to Closed, and look at where you get stuck: lots of applications and no interviews usually points to the CV.

Start with the advert: if it gives a closing date or says when you'll hear back, wait until then. If it says nothing, the tracker flags an application that is still in Applied 12 days after you sent it, and the Follow up count at the top of the board tells you how many are waiting.

Attach a CV to a card and the job tracker shows the share of the advert's terms found in it, and the terms that are missing. It's the same measure as Kandiq's AI CV checker, with no AI involved, so the same CV and advert always give the same result. Before you apply, it tells you whether your CV speaks the advert's language.

Want more than the numbers? Analyse with AI explains the gaps for 1 credit. Tailor my CV rewrites a copy of your CV for that advert, for 5 credits: you untick anything you don't want, and your original CV stays unchanged. A new account starts with 5 AI credits.

Want to check the CV itself first? Our ATS CV checker scores how recruitment software reads it.

Each card has a Write cover letter button: the cover letter generator starts from the advert you saved, for 2 credits a letter. When an application reaches Interview, the mock interview can start from the same saved job, and your notes on the card keep the recruiter's name and what came up on the phone.

Preparing for the day? Read our guides on how to prepare for an interview and the questions to ask at the end of an interview.

• When you apply to many roles a week: Reed, Indeed, LinkedIn, NHS Jobs and agency roles in one place, so you never apply twice or lose a closing date.
• Before an interview: the advert's text stays on the card even after it's taken down, with your notes, the recruiter's name and the CV you sent.
• When you change your CV: tailor a CV to one advert without touching your original, and keep track of which version went where.
• When you claim Universal Credit: if your claimant commitment includes looking for work, GOV.UK says you may have to tell your work coach what you've done to look for work in your online account. The dates and employers on your board are there when you need them.

With Kandiq Pro, the job tracker also receives up to 10 new jobs a week, found on public job sites for the role, location and country you choose, with an optional weekly email. Save one to your board in one click. You still apply yourself: Kandiq doesn't send applications on your behalf.