linda335•24d agoOG Member

Found a way to cut my job search time in half with a simple spreadsheet

I spent 3 weeks sending out 40 applications with almost no replies, so I made a tracker with columns for the job title, the exact wording from their posting, and the date. I tailored each cover letter to repeat 2 or 3 keywords from that posting, and my response rate went from maybe 1 in 10 to 4 in 10. Has anyone else tried matching keywords like that, or is there a better trick you swear by?

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brookef7318d ago

That spreadsheet trick is pretty clever, honestly. Reminds me of how I used to track which job boards actually got me replies back in the day, though I never thought to repeat their keywords back at them. Funny thing is, my wife does something similar with her resume when she applies for teaching jobs. She keeps a folder of every posting she's replied to and highlights the words they use over and over, then works those into her cover letter. Sometimes it feels like a game of matching, but hey, if it doubles your calls, that's the name of the game. Might have to steal your column idea next time I hire someone for my crew, since I get flooded with applications that all sound the same.