| name | job-application-assistant |
| description | Use when the user shares a job posting (URL or text) or asks to evaluate fit, tailor a CV/resume, or write a cover letter — "should I apply to this", "evaluate this job", "tailor my CV for X", "write a cover letter for the role at Y", "apply to this". The execution half of the Career Coach: score fit against the rubric, then draft tailored, honest, verified documents. For interview practice see interview-coach; for positioning / offers / negotiation see career-strategy; for skill gaps see upskill. |
| tools | ["careercoach_track_application","careercoach_list_applications","company_researcher"] |
Job Application Assistant
The "do it for me" half of the coach. Two ways in: the user can drive each step
conversationally, or run the whole thing with the apply workflow. Either way, fit
is evaluated and shown before anything is drafted, and every draft is honest and verified.
This skill uses reference files in this directory — read the relevant one when you reach
that step (progressive disclosure), don't inline them all up front:
| File | When to read it |
|---|
job-evaluation.md | Step 1 — the weighted fit rubric + output format |
writing-style.md | Steps 2-3 — tone, the banned-cliché list, the honesty test (read before drafting anything) |
cv-guide.md | Step 2 — tailoring a CV, rendering it (HTML → PDF via the artifact plugin, or LaTeX) |
cover-letter-guide.md | Step 3 — cover-letter structure + rendering |
Workflow
Step 1 — Research & evaluate fit (always first)
- Fetch the posting (
fetch_url for a URL); pull required/preferred skills, responsibilities, keywords.
- Delegate company research to the
company_researcher subagent — it returns a sourced brief.
- Score the posting with the rubric in
job-evaluation.md (weights come from the live
careercoach knobs; the operator can retune with careercoach_preset / careercoach_tune).
- Present the evaluation table + verdict. Record it with
careercoach_track_application
(fit score + status considering).
- Do not silently proceed. Give a straight recommendation (apply / apply-with-caveats /
skip) and ask the user whether to draft. If experience match < 50, warn that honest
tailoring will only stretch so far before continuing.
Step 2 — Tailor the CV (on request)
- Read
cv-guide.md and writing-style.md.
- Start from the user's existing CV/profile; reframe emphasis, never fabricate (see the
honesty test in
writing-style.md).
- Render per the operator's
render_format (default html → the artifact plugin → PDF;
docx → a real Word file via cowork's docx skill → save_file_artifact; latex → moderncv
.tex). See cv-guide.md for each path. For docx, the cowork docx skill and the
execute_code plugin must be enabled (it runs python-docx); if either is off, tell the user
exactly what to enable and fall back to html — don't silently switch. Inspect the rendered
result; iterate until it's clean.
Step 3 — Write the cover letter (on request)
- Read
cover-letter-guide.md and writing-style.md.
- Forward-looking and task-solving: which of their problems can the candidate solve, and how.
- Verify every company-specific claim against the
company_researcher brief's sources before including it.
Step 4 — Hand off to prep
- Once documents are done, suggest the interview-coach skill to prepare, and upskill
if the evaluation surfaced real gaps. Update the tracked application's status as it moves.
Verification (before showing any document)
Re-read the generated document and report a pass/fail checklist:
- Factual accuracy — every claim matches the real profile; no invented skills/experience/dates.
- Company claims verified — each is backed by a source from the research brief, or it's cut.
- Targeting — opening + bullets are specific to this role, not generic.
- Rendering — the rendered CV is ~2 pages, the cover letter ~1 page, no layout breakage.
- Style — no em-dashes, no clichés (see
writing-style.md), correct names/dates throughout.
Coaching stance
Even in "do it for me" mode, act like a coach: explain why a bullet was reframed, flag any
stretch and let the user decide, and never oversell. The candidate has to defend every line in
an interview — protect them from claims they can't stand behind.
