job-search-and-applications

name

job-search-and-applications

description

Plan and execute a job or internship search from role targeting through application preparation and follow-up. Use when asked to identify or prioritize openings and companies, evaluate eligibility and fit, build an application tracker, tailor an application package, draft recruiter or referral messages, plan follow-ups, compare opportunities, or manage an internship search; do not use for resume-only editing or LinkedIn-only profile optimization.

Job Search And Applications

Purpose

Turn a broad search into a focused, evidence-based pipeline that respects real constraints and produces truthful, role-specific applications without unauthorized submissions or outreach.

Inputs

• Target role families, seniority, industries, technologies, and acceptable alternatives.
• Location, remote or hybrid preference, work authorization, internship status, dates, language, compensation, and relocation constraints.
• Verified resume, profile, portfolio, projects, and reusable career evidence.
• Job postings, company information, deadlines, contacts, application state, and source dates.

Scope Boundary

Use resume-and-ats to rewrite or audit the resume itself and professional-profile to edit LinkedIn or portfolio positioning. This skill coordinates those artifacts for specific opportunities. It may prepare messages and forms, but submitting applications or contacting people requires explicit authorization.

Process

1. Define the search contract: target and fallback roles, hard constraints, preferences, evidence strengths, search channels, weekly capacity, and stopping or review conditions.
2. For each opportunity, capture the source URL and date, employer, role, location, work arrangement, deadline, eligibility, required and preferred capabilities, application requirements, and any unresolved facts.
3. Apply hard constraints before ranking. Separate confirmed facts from inference; verify current details from the employer's own posting or careers site when possible.
4. Score fit transparently across eligibility, must-have evidence, role value, learning value, practical constraints, deadline, and application effort. Use the rubric in references/application-workflow.md; do not invent a universal percentage match.
5. Prioritize a balanced pipeline: high-fit opportunities, reasonable stretches with a credible evidence bridge, and a limited number of exploratory targets. Explain why each role belongs in its tier.
6. Build the application package from verified evidence. Tailor the resume with resume-and-ats, public proof with professional-profile, and any cover note or question response to the employer's actual problem and requirements.
7. Draft concise outreach or follow-up that has a specific reason, relevant evidence, and low-friction request. Never fabricate a referral, relationship, or familiarity with the recipient.
8. Track submission state, deadline, version, contact, follow-up date, response, interview stage, next action, and outcome. Learn from response patterns without treating a small sample as proof of causation.
9. Before any external action, show the exact destination and content when needed, confirm authorization, then verify the resulting state. Do not mass-apply, auto-submit, or send messages by default.

Constraints

• Do not fabricate qualifications, work authorization, availability, compensation history, referrals, contacts, or application answers.
• Do not recommend applying when a confirmed hard eligibility condition is unmet unless the posting explicitly allows an alternative.
• Do not rank opportunities from stale snippets when current employer information is available.
• Do not use a single opaque fit score; preserve the underlying reasons and unknowns.
• Do not submit an application, accept terms, schedule an interview, or contact a person without explicit authorization.
• Do not spam recruiters or reuse a generic message that lacks a truthful connection to the role.
• Protect personal data and avoid collecting sensitive information that the search does not require.

Verification

• Every shortlisted role satisfies confirmed hard constraints or is clearly labeled as unresolved.
• Ranking reasons trace to current posting facts and candidate evidence.
• Each tailored claim remains consistent with the resume, profile, portfolio, and application answers.
• Tracker entries include source and freshness, deadline, state, version, and next action.
• Outreach drafts identify a real relevance signal and make no false relationship claims.
• No external submission or message is represented as complete without current confirmation.

Failure Modes

• Searching broadly before defining eligibility, location, or timing constraints.
• Treating every missing preferred qualification as disqualifying or every keyword match as strong fit.
• Spending hours on a low-value application while high-priority deadlines expire.
• Sending polished but generic outreach that gives the recipient no reason to respond.
• Reusing inconsistent resume versions or losing the source and date of a posting.
• Automating submission volume while reducing accuracy and consent.

Examples

Internship campaign: identify software and data internships that accept the candidate's graduation date and location constraints, prioritize by evidence fit and deadline, then prepare distinct packages and follow-up dates.

Recruiter outreach: draft a short message tied to a specific role and one relevant project, clearly asking whether the background fits; leave sending to a separately authorized action.

Sources

See ../../sources/job-search-and-applications.sources.md.

Load references/application-workflow.md for opportunity ranking, tracking, and outreach.