| name | opportunity-hunter |
| description | Search for and rank job openings, grants, prizes, and fellowships relevant to the user's profile. Produce a structured markdown report saved to disk. |
Opportunity Hunter
Search for and rank job openings, grants, prizes, and fellowships relevant to the user's profile. Produce a structured markdown report.
Trigger
Run when the user asks to find opportunities, scan the job market, or check for grants/fellowships/prizes.
Setup note: This skill reads the user's profile from ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md. Make sure your CLAUDE.md has a section describing your role, fields, target positions, career stage, and (if applicable) immigration/visa status. Replace {{REPORTS_DIR}} below with where you want reports saved.
Step 0: Load Profile
Pull candidate profile from ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md. You need at least:
- Name
- Current role
- Fields (research areas, disciplines)
- Methods (experimental, computational, theoretical, etc.)
- Target positions (academic TT? industry research? think tank? specify departments and seniority)
- Career stage (years post-degree, current rank)
- Immigration status (citizenship, visa, pathway) — if relevant. Cap-exempt employers, H-1B sponsorship requirements, roles requiring US citizenship/clearance all matter here.
If ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md lacks these details, ask the user once, then save to CLAUDE.md before continuing.
Step 1: Search (WebSearch — ~50 queries)
Run WebSearch queries across 5 categories. Use the current date to make queries timely (e.g., "2026-2027 academic job market"). Vary phrasing to maximize coverage. Substitute the user's fields and target positions into the query patterns below.
Category A — Academic Jobs (TT)
Search for tenure-track assistant professor positions in the user's target departments (e.g., marketing, management, OB, decision sciences, behavioral science, consumer behavior, or whatever fields they listed).
Target query patterns (substitute {FIELD} with each target field):
"assistant professor" {FIELD} 2026 2027tenure track {FIELD} faculty job{FIELD} faculty position- Check discipline-specific job boards (e.g., INFORMS, AMA, AOM, SJDM, Econ JOE, PhilJobs, etc.)
- Aggregators: HigherEdJobs; AcademicKeys; Chronicle
Category B — Industry Research
Search for research scientist / research engineer roles at labs that match the user's fields:
- Major AI labs (Anthropic, OpenAI, DeepMind, Meta FAIR, Microsoft Research, Apple ML)
- Tech research orgs (Spotify Research, Netflix Research, Amazon Science, Uber, Airbnb)
- Think tanks relevant to the user's area (RAND, Brookings, BIT, ideas42, NBER, etc.)
Query patterns:
research scientist {FIELD} [company] 2026applied research {FIELD} tech{FIELD} researcher position
Category C — Grants
Search for grants matching the user's field and career stage. Major funders vary by discipline — examples:
- NSF directorates (SES, DRMS, DBI, etc.)
- NIH mechanisms (R21, R01, K-awards)
- Foundation grants (Russell Sage, Templeton, Spencer, Sloan, Kauffman, SSRC, etc.)
- Early-career fellowships (Sloan, NSF CAREER, K99/R00)
- Internal / institutional seed grants
Query patterns:
{FIELD} grant 2026 deadlineearly career grant {FIELD}NSF CAREER {FIELD} deadline
Category D — Prizes & Awards
Search for:
- Early-career awards in the user's discipline
- Best-paper awards in target journals
- Rising-star awards from relevant societies
- Dissertation awards (if still eligible)
Query patterns:
early career award {FIELD} 2026best paper award {FIELD} 2026rising star {FIELD}
Category E — Fellowships & Visiting Positions
- CASBS, Berkman Klein, Schmidt Futures, Radcliffe, Santa Fe Institute
- Visiting scholar programs at top departments
- Sabbatical-replacement visiting positions
- Discipline-specific fellowships
Step 2: Link Verification & Deep Fetch (WebFetch — ALL results)
CRITICAL: Verify every link before including it in the report.
For EVERY opportunity you plan to include, you MUST WebFetch the URL to confirm:
- The page actually loads (not 404, not a generic careers page)
- The specific listing/program described actually exists at that URL
- The details (title, deadline, eligibility) match what the search snippet said
If a link fails or doesn't match:
- Try to find the correct URL via a follow-up WebSearch
- If you still can't get a working link, mark it as
🔗 Link unverified — check [organization website] and provide the org's main URL instead
- NEVER include a dead or unverified link without flagging it
For the most promising ~20 results, do a deeper fetch to extract:
- Full job/grant description
- Confirm deadline (flag if unverifiable)
- Check eligibility criteria (career stage, citizenship, field)
- Note immigration/visa information if relevant to the user
- Get application requirements (what materials are needed)
Common link pitfalls to watch for:
- Job board links expire quickly — always verify
- Company career pages use JS rendering that WebFetch can't parse — provide a search path instead (e.g., "Search careers.microsoft.com for '{FIELD}'")
- Grant program URLs change year-to-year
- Academic job board aggregators may link to expired postings
Step 3: Score Each Opportunity
Rate each opportunity 1-10 using this weighted rubric. Adjust weights if the user's CLAUDE.md specifies different priorities.
| Criterion | Default weight | Description |
|---|
| Field match | 25% | How well does the role/grant align with the user's research? |
| Career stage | 20% | Is this appropriate for the user's current career stage? |
| Immigration compatibility | 20% | Can the user apply given their visa/citizenship status? (Skip this criterion if not applicable; redistribute weight across others.) |
| Prestige / impact | 15% | Institutional reputation, career signal value |
| Deadline feasibility | 10% | Is there enough time to prepare a strong application? |
| Compensation / funding | 10% | Salary, grant size, or award amount |
Composite score = weighted sum, rounded to 1 decimal.
Step 4: Generate Report
Create a structured markdown report with these sections:
Report Structure
# Opportunity Report — [YYYY-MM-DD]
## Executive Summary
- Total opportunities found: X
- Top 3 highlights (with one-line reason each)
- Urgent deadlines in next 30 days
- Key seasonal note
## A. Academic Jobs (Tenure-Track)
| # | Position | Institution | Fit Score | Deadline | Link |
|---|----------|-------------|-----------|----------|------|
### Detailed Entries
For each:
- **Position:** [title]
- **Institution:** [name, department]
- **Link:** [URL]
- **Deadline:** [date — flag if unverified with ⚠️]
- **Fit score:** [X/10]
- **Why it fits:** [1-2 sentences]
- **Immigration notes:** [if relevant]
- **Application requirements:** [materials needed]
- **Recommended action:** [Apply / Watch / Skip — with reasoning]
## B. Industry Research
[Same table + detailed format]
## C. Grants
[Same table + detailed format]
## D. Prizes & Awards
[Same table + detailed format]
## E. Fellowships & Visiting Positions
[Same table + detailed format]
## Immigration-Flagged Opportunities (if applicable)
List all opportunities where immigration status is a concern or advantage, with specific notes.
## Upcoming Deadlines (Next 90 Days)
| Date | Opportunity | Category | Action Needed |
|------|-------------|----------|---------------|
## Methodology
- Date of search: [date]
- Number of queries: [N]
- Sources checked: [list]
- Limitations: [e.g., some deadlines may have changed]
Step 5: Save Report
Save the completed report to:
{{REPORTS_DIR}}/[YYYY-MM-DD]-opportunity-report.md
Step 6: Notify (optional)
If the user has the notify-me skill installed, trigger it with a short summary:
Opportunity report ready: [X] opportunities found. Top pick: [best one]. [N] deadlines in next 30 days.
Anti-Hallucination Rules
These are critical. Violating them makes the report useless.
- Never fabricate a listing. Every opportunity must come from an actual WebSearch or WebFetch result.
- Flag unverified deadlines with ⚠️. If a deadline cannot be confirmed from the source page, say so explicitly.
- Do not guess application URLs. Only include links you actually retrieved AND verified via WebFetch.
- Every link in the final report must be WebFetch-verified. If you could not load the page, mark it with
🔗 Link unverified and explain how to find it manually.
- If a search returns no relevant results for a category, say so. Do not fill the section with tangentially related results to look comprehensive.
- Distinguish between confirmed open positions and recurring annual opportunities where the current cycle may not be open yet.
- Never construct URLs by pattern-matching.
- If WebFetch fails on a JS-heavy page (common for Ashby, Greenhouse, Workday, Lever), note this and provide a manual search path.
Seasonal Awareness
The academic job market is highly seasonal (at least in the US):
- Aug–Dec: Peak TT job postings (most schools post Sept–Nov)
- Jan–Mar: Flyouts and offers
- Apr–Jun: Late-cycle and failed-search re-postings
- Year-round: Industry roles, some grants
Interpret search results accordingly. If running outside peak season, note which recurring opportunities to watch for and when they typically open.
Design Principles
- Err on comprehensiveness. Include borderline-relevant opportunities. The user can cut; they can't find what you didn't show them.
- Immigration is a dealbreaker if flagged. If the user has immigration constraints in CLAUDE.md, respect them rigorously.
- Actionability over description. Every entry should end with a clear recommended action.
- Real links only. Every URL must be from an actual search/fetch result.
