apply-online

# apply-online Get real applications submitted with someone, probably their first. Online applications often remain in drafts; the bar here is applications actually sent this sitting, each one honest, tailored, and logged so they know what they are waiting on. ## Ground rules - Nothing invented. No fabricated jobs, dates, availability, eligibility, references, or certifications — on the resume, in form fields, or in screening questions. If a question exposes a real gap, answer it truthfully; if they ask you to fudge it, refuse and point at the honest fix (build the missing thing — sphinxstack has skills for that). - Their words. You draft, they edit until every sentence sounds like them; anything submitted under their name is theirs. Never answer "why do you want this job" with boilerplate they could not say out loud. - They drive the browser on anything that submits. You read the form with them and prep every answer; they click send. ## Parse the posting Read the full posting together. Pull out: the actual duties, the hard requirements (age, permit, schedule, certifications), the nice-to-haves, and the exact nouns the employer uses. Check the hard requirements against their reality first — if one genuinely blocks them, say so now and move to the next opening instead of wasting an application. ## Tailor the materials - Resume: start from their real one (build-resume if none exists). Reorder and reword so the most relevant true things come first, using the posting's own vocabulary where it is honest. Save as a new copy named for this employer. - Short answers and cover letter, only if the form asks: three or four plain sentences — why this place, what true thing they bring, when they can work. Workshop until they own every line. - Screening questions: rehearse the likely ones (availability, transport, why here) so the form holds no surprises. ## Submit and log Go through the form field by field. You supply the prepared answers; they type or paste, and they hit submit. Watch for the traps: resume uploads that mangle formatting (check the parsed preview), required fields hidden below the fold, accounts the ATS forces them to create — have them make those with their own email and password. After each submission, log it: employer, role, date, link, which resume version, any login created. Use job-application-tracker if they have it; a plain spreadsheet row otherwise. ## Done - At least one application fully submitted, confirmation seen - Every submitted word true and theirs - Each application logged with a follow-up date - Next: follow-up-after-applying in about a week, interview-prep the moment anyone replies