How to organize your job applications
One list, a few fields and a weekly check, so no application or reply slips through.
Ghosted editorialPublished 11 min read
On this page
- What to record for each application
- What a list does that your memory can't
- A worked example
- Keep it all in one place
- Statuses that mean one thing
- Give every row a next step and a date
- A 15-minute weekly review
- Four things to decide first
- Spreadsheet or board?
- Mistakes that make a tracker stop working
- Is your list ready for this week?
- Questions people ask about organizing job applications
Start here
What to record for each application
You don't need many columns. These answer the questions you'll actually ask later: what was this, when did I apply, who do I talk to, and what happens next?
- Company and role, as the posting names them.
- Link to the posting. Postings get taken down, so save the description too if you can.
- Date applied. Every follow-up is timed from it.
- Status. One word from a short, fixed list (see below).
- Contact. The recruiter or hiring manager, and how you reached them.
- Next step and its date. "Follow up on 30 Oct", "Interview 4 Nov, 10:00". If there's no next step, write that down too.
- CV and cover letter sent. Which version went out, so you can tell what's working.
- Notes. Salary range, who referred you, anything they told you on a call.
That's eight fields. You can start with fewer: company, role, date applied, status and next step will carry a search on their own. Add the others when you catch yourself looking for them.
Copy the posting on day one
A link only works while the ad is up. Paste the description into your notes or save it as a PDF the day you apply. It's what you'll prepare from if they call.
Why bother
What a list does that your memory can't
Ten applications in, the details start to blur. Which one asked for a portfolio? Who was the recruiter at the bank? Did you follow up, or only mean to? A list answers those in seconds, at the moment someone asks.
It answers the phone
A recruiter calls about a role you applied for three weeks ago. With the row open, you know the job, the date, the CV you sent and what they said last time.
It times the follow-ups
Every check-in is counted from a date. Without one, follow-ups happen when you remember, which is usually too early or too late.
It shows what's working
After a month you can count replies by where you found the job and by CV version. That's how you learn whether the referral or the job board deserves your evenings.
It also helps with the part nobody likes: letting go. A row marked ghosted, with a date, is easier to stop thinking about than a vague feeling that you're still waiting.
46 days
Greenhouse's average time to hire in the third quarter of 2024, from its own platform data, up 12% on a year earlier. A few applications running for weeks each is more than memory holds.
Source: Greenhouse, survey of 2,500 workers in the US, UK and Germany, December 2024
Worked example
A worked example
Here's a few weeks of one search. The companies, roles and dates are made up.
| Company and role | Applied | Status | Next step |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fernhill Studio · Product Designer | 14 Oct | Interviewing | Second interview, 4 Nov |
| Marlpit Labs · UX Designer | 16 Oct | Applied | Follow up on 30 Oct |
| Quayside Health · Designer | 20 Oct | Applied | Wait: they'll reply by 6 Nov |
| Coldharbour Apps · Product Designer | 8 Oct | Ghosted | None, moved on 29 Oct |
| Tallowbrook Bank · Design Systems | Not yet | Saved | Apply by 1 Nov |
Two things make it work: every row has a next step with a date, and each status means the same thing every time. When you open the list, you know what to do today without reading every row.
Read it top to bottom and you have the week's plan: apply to Tallowbrook before 1 Nov, follow up with Marlpit on 30 Oct, prepare for Fernhill's second interview on 4 Nov. Quayside gave a date of its own, so it waits. Coldharbour is done.
One place
Keep it all in one place
Applications start everywhere: job boards, company sites, a recruiter's message, a friend's referral. Replies come back the same way, to your email, a portal's inbox or a LinkedIn message. If each one stays where it arrived, you have five half-lists and no whole one.
One list
- Every application gets a row, wherever you applied
- A reply means updating one row
- Sort by date and the week's work is at the top
Scattered
- Applications in a job board's history, a portal and your sent mail
- Replies spread across email, portals and messages
- No single answer to "what's due this week?"
The rule is simple: if you applied, it gets a row, the same day. That includes the quick one-click applications. Those are the ones you'll forget first.
Statuses
Statuses that mean one thing
Pick a short list and stick to it. These are the ones Ghosted uses:
- Saved: you're interested but haven't applied yet.
- Applied: you sent it and you're waiting.
- Interviewing: you're talking to them, from the first call to the last round.
- Offer: they've made you one.
- Rejected: they said no.
- Ghosted: you applied and heard nothing for a long time. Ghosted moves an application here after 14 quiet days. That's our cut-off, not the employer's: some do reply later, so keep the row instead of deleting it.
Resist adding more. "Phone screen", "Second round" and "Take-home" are all Interviewing; the detail goes in the next step. "Maybe" and "Waiting" are Applied. A short list is what lets you count later: a status that means two things can't be counted.
61%
of job seekers in Greenhouse's survey had been ghosted after a job interview. Ghosting after applying was most common after a first conversation with a recruiter or a hiring manager (47% each).
Source: Greenhouse, survey of 2,500 workers in the US, UK and Germany, December 2024
The column that matters
Give every row a next step and a date
If you keep one column well, keep this one. A next step with a date turns the list into a to-do list: sort by the date and you know what to do today.
| Where it stands | Next step | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Just applied, no date given | Follow up | One to two weeks after you applied |
| They said they'd reply by a date | Wait | The day after their date |
| Interview booked | Interview, with the time | The day of the interview |
| Interview done | Thank-you note, then wait | Today, then their date |
| Offer made | Your answer | The deadline they gave |
| Followed up, still nothing | None: mark it ghosted | No date |
For the follow-up itself, there's a template for after you apply and one for after an interview.
Every week
A 15-minute weekly review
- Update every status. Go through your inbox and calendar, and move anything that changed.
- Check the dates. Anything with a next step this week goes to the top.
- Follow up where it's due. If an application is past the date they gave you, or one to two weeks old with no date, send a short check-in. Here's a template.
- Let the stale ones go. Mark long-quiet applications as ghosted and stop thinking about them. You can always move one back.
- Plan this week's applications. Pick a realistic number from your saved list, and note when each one closes.
Pick the same slot each week, Friday afternoon or Monday morning, and put it in your calendar. Fifteen minutes is enough when you've been updating rows as things happen. It's a check, not a catch-up.
Update as it happens
When an email arrives or a call ends, change the row then. The weekly review is for what slipped through, not for rebuilding the week from memory.
Before you start
Four things to decide first
Where it lives
One spreadsheet, one board or one notebook. Somewhere you can open on your phone helps, because replies arrive when you're out.
Which fields
The eight above, or fewer. Decide now, so you don't add a column in week three and leave it empty for the first twenty rows.
What counts as applied
The day you sent it, not the day you started the form. A half-finished application is still Saved.
When you'll review it
A day and a time. A review that happens when you feel like it tends to skip the weeks you need it most.
Tools
Spreadsheet or board?
A spreadsheet is free, flexible and fine for a handful of applications. It gets harder when replies arrive by email and each one has to be copied in by hand, or when you want to see at a glance what's gone quiet.
Starting with a spreadsheet? Download the tracker template: the columns above, ready for Google Sheets or Excel.
A spreadsheet
- Free, and works offline
- Any column you like
- Every reply copied in by hand
- Quiet applications only show if you sort by date
A board
- Each status is a column, so the whole search shows at once
- Moving an application is dragging a card
- In Ghosted, replies you forward are read for you
- The quiet days are counted for you
A board shows each application as a card in a column for its status, so the state of your search is visible at once. Ghosted is a board that reads the replies you forward to it and counts the quiet days for you.
Whichever you choose, the habit matters more than the tool: one place, the same fields, a weekly check.
Mistakes
Mistakes that make a tracker stop working
Logging applications at the end of the week
By Friday you've forgotten two of them. Add the row when you apply; it takes a minute.
A new status for every situation
Twelve statuses can't be counted or sorted. Keep the six, and put the detail in the next step or the notes.
Next steps without dates
"Follow up" with no date never rises to the top. Every next step that can have a day gets one.
Deleting the ghosted ones
Some employers do reply late, and the rows count when you work out your response rate. Mark them; don't delete them.
Tracking in three places
A sheet, a notes app and your inbox's labels. Pick one, and let the others point to it.
Too many columns
Columns you don't fill make the ones you do harder to read. If a column has stayed empty for two weeks, delete it.
Checklist
Is your list ready for this week?
Questions
Questions people ask about organizing job applications
What's the best way to keep track of job applications?
One list with the same few fields for every application, a next step with a date on every row, and fifteen minutes a week to update it. The tool matters less than the habit: a spreadsheet, a board or a notebook all work if everything is in one place.
What should a job application tracker include?
Company and role, the link to the posting, the date you applied, a status, a contact, and the next step with its date. Add which CV you sent and where you found the job if you want to see later what's working. Our tracker template has those columns ready.
How many statuses do I need?
Six cover a whole search: Saved, Applied, Interviewing, Offer, Rejected and Ghosted. Details like "second round" belong in the next step, not in a new status.
When should I mark an application as ghosted?
When you've followed up and still heard nothing for a long time. Ghosted uses 14 quiet days as its cut-off. Pick yours, use it every time, and keep the row: a late reply just moves it back.
Should I keep rejected applications on the list?
Yes. They count when you work out how many applications get a reply, and they remind you where you've already applied. A company that said no to one role may be worth trying again for another.
Is a spreadsheet enough?
For a handful of applications, yes. It starts to strain when replies arrive faster than you can copy them in, or when you want to see at a glance which applications have gone quiet. That's when a board helps.
Your next move, on the board
Put every application on one board.
Try it with one application, no account needed.