Tracking Job Posting Performance

The moment you stop tracking your job search, you stop treating it like a goal – and start treating it like a gamble. You wouldn’t build a product without tracking user feedback. You wouldn’t run a business without looking at numbers. So, why run your job search blind? For the longest time, I thought: “I’m applying. I’m doing everything. Why am I not getting calls?” Then, I started tracking. I created a simple sheet with: • Roles I applied for • Company & domain • Source (cold apply, referral, cold email) • Resume version used • Interview progress • Feedback (when available) After 30–40 days, patterns started to appear. → I was getting more calls from roles that matched my recent experience. → Referrals and cold emails got me 3x more responses than cold applies. → Some resume versions worked better in certain domains. That’s when things started to change. I stopped applying randomly. I doubled down on what was working. And the interviews started coming in. You don’t need a complex system. You just need one you can stick to. If a job search is your goal, track it like one. Your clarity is hiding in your own data.

I recently worked with a senior developer who was getting ghosted on literally EVERY application. 50+ jobs, zero responses. Talk about demoralising. When we dug into his process, I discovered he wasn't tracking anything. Just firing applications into the void and hoping for the best. So we set up a simple spreadsheet to track: - which job boards he was using - response rates by platform - keywords in job postings that matched his resume - application-to-interview conversion The data revealed something surprising: he was targeting platforms with virtually no traction for his specialty (embedded systems). And his resume was missing 3 critical keywords that appeared in 80% of the relevant job descriptions. Two weeks after making these data-driven changes, he had 5 interview requests. A month later, he accepted an offer with a 30% salary increase. This isn't rocket science, but it amazes me how few candidates approach their job search with this level of analysis. The same developers who meticulously optimize code rarely apply those analytical skills to their job hunt. What's your take? Do you track metrics in your hiring or job search process? What's been most valuable to measure? #JobSearchAnalytics #RecruitmentMetrics #DataDrivenHiring

Since there are many people I know looking for work, and I see more here every day, I wanted to share something I have been using to track my own job submissions using Notion. Please feel free to create a free Notion account and Duplicate this template for your own use. https://lnkd.in/gEshYuWP Once you have Duplicated this, you can modify it to your own needs. However, this at least give you a start. If you receive unemployment benefits, this is also a great way to be able to track your submissions for any audit purposes. Here are the things it tracks in each record: ============================================ * Job title * Company name (I usually include the LinkedIn company link) * City or Company HQ * Office Location [Remote, Hybrid, On-Site] * Contact (If provided, I will include the name, LinkedIn profile link, and tite) * Lead Source * Lead Type * Outlook (my gut feel based on all factors like number of applicants, skill match, etc) * Date Applied * Job Posting Link * Status (where you are in the process; adjust if you want) * Interview Date * Thank you email sent (don't forget to do that!) * Follow up date (optional) * Notes (I usually cut-n-paste the salary and job level from the posting) * Cover letter (up can upload the customized one you prepared) * LinkedIn EasyApply (I track this as many don't have a means to send a cover letter, so I can remember to message the Contact and send one) * Salary shown (I can use this as a filter to see how it impacts call back activity) There are six views ============================================ * All Active: all the jobs currently submitted * All Submissions: This is very useful to sort by Company so you can see if you have already submitted for a job * Declines: this also includes jobs you have haven't heard anything from in months, or they are no longer accepting applications. * By Status: Kanban view by Status; good for quick reference * Aging Report: How many submissions have you done within specific time periods.  * Active by Outlook: more for reference, really. In general, I go through all the "All Active" jobs once a week to check to see if they are no longer accepting applications, or move them out of Active if it's just been too long with no word from the company. I also use the text portion of each record to note the data/time of any application numbers or reposting, e.g. "Job Reposted 2 weeks ago, 231 applicants." This also can tell you if you probably won't get a call. I hope this helps anyone that is looking! #jobseekers #careertools #jobsearchtools

Do you track your job search activity and metrics? Many of you know I strongly advocate using a tracker. A DIY spreadsheet works. If you aren't Excel savvy, Teal has a templated tracker built into their platform to track your job applications. I'm going to kick the tracking up one notch ➡️ have you considered adding tags to your clickable URLs? (UTM parameters) A few months ago, a senior-level marketer provided feedback about what was (and wasn’t) working in their job search.  They applied their data-driven marketing skills to their job search by using tracking codes to monitor and analyze which job applications were being reviewed. 👩🏽💻This is fairly more technical than my expertise, but I’m going to give it a shot.  (Marketers, feel free to correct or interject here). 🔸What are they?  Tags you add to the end of a URL that track how users behave after they click on your link (thanks Neil Patel). 🔸What tools do you need?  You can use Google Analytics or Bitly to analyze the performance. Use Campaign Builder URL to build out the trackable links. 🔸What can you track? You can add a UTM code to track clicks from shared links like your resume, online portfolio, Github, or even LinkedIn profile. The marketer featured a Linktree on their LinkedIn profile that included links to their digital resume, ebooks, case studies, and work samples. (Surprisingly, they found more activity around a portfolio than a resume). Can you add any UTM codes to your job applications? This could include clickable links in your cover letter or resume, so you can track which applications have been reviewed. Are you networking via email? If you are sharing content on social media or including digital resumes/portfolios, include a UTM-tagged link. 🔸Why bother with this? You can analyze what strategies ARE effective in your job search, and what needs to be tweaked. Are your networking efforts paying off? Is your online profile attracting more leads than your portfolio? ⚠️ From my understanding, there are privacy concerns and limitations with UTM tracking (related to cookie blocking). I'll drop two resources below. A thorough article from Neil Patel about how to use UTM Parameters in addition to the Campaign Builder to give it a try. To my #digitalmarketing network, what did I miss (or screw up)? #jobsearch

The importance of tracking your applications is bigger than you think. Most people don’t realize this—but not tracking your job applications can cost you the job you were actually perfect for. Here’s the harsh truth: if you don’t know where you applied, when, or what resume you used… you’re setting yourself up for failure. Tracking your applications gives you control. It shows you what’s working and what’s wasting your time. It helps you follow up professionally instead of ghosting companies (or getting ghosted). And it keeps your momentum going—because there’s nothing more demotivating than sending out 30 resumes and not even remembering where they went. Here’s how to do it using a simple spreadsheet (free, easy, and powerful): Open Google Sheets and create these columns: Company | Job Title | Date Applied | Resume Version | Application Platform | Contact Name | Follow-Up Date | Status Every time you apply for a job, fill in a row. Each week, review your list—send follow-ups, archive dead leads, and note interviews. After a few weeks, you’ll see trends: certain industries responding faster, certain resumes working better, and maybe even companies viewing your LinkedIn. This isn’t just job hunting—it’s data-driven progress.

If you’ve been job hunting for a while—sending out countless applications, getting some interviews, but not landing offers—you’re not alone. The good news? There’s a simple, effective way to figure out where things might be going wrong. Here’s how you do it👇🏼 Step 1: Create a Tracking System Use a spreadsheet to organize all the roles you’ve applied for. Include columns for: • Job Title • Company Name • Stages of the hiring process: CV Sent, First Interview, Second Interview, etc. Step 2: Track and Color Code Your Progress Mark each stage with a color: • Green = Passed the stage • Red = Didn’t progress For example: If your CV gets rejected, mark “CV Sent” as red. If you make it to the first interview but don’t advance, mark “First Interview” as red and the earlier stages as green. Step 3: Analyze the Patterns After tracking a few applications, you’ll start to see trends. • If you’re not getting interviews, your CV may need improvement. • If you’re consistently stuck after the first round, focus on refining your interview skills for that stage. Why It Works This method gives you clarity and helps you focus on the exact areas where you need to improve. Instead of feeling stuck and overwhelmed, you’ll have a clear plan to sharpen your job search strategy. It’s simple, actionable, and incredibly effective. Give it a try, and let me know how it works for you! If you have any tips on how to improve your interview performance let me know if the comments ☺️

"You cannot improve what you don’t measure." Most job seekers don’t track their application process.  They apply, wait, and hope. But hope is not a strategy. If you’ve applied to 100+ jobs and heard nothing back, yet you keep sending out the same resume, I want to ask you in the most direct way possible: What are you actually learning? It's so simple to start changing things. You can do it RIGHT NOW. Start with your resume: 1. Apply to 10-20 jobs with Resume A; 2. Move one section (summary, skills, or work experience); 3. Apply to 10-20 more with Resume B; 4. Compare results. If Resume B gets more replies, you have proof that your changes made a difference (assuming everything else stayed the same). You can create your tracker in just 5 minutes (Google Sheets, Excel): 1. Track the roles you apply to. 2. Log your ghosted applications, rejections, and interview calls. 3. Find patterns. Which roles reply? Which don’t?  Are certain industries ignoring you? Do some job titles get more interviews than others? Do rejection emails mention missing skills? You might say this is too granular and overwhelming. But if you don’t know your application-to-interview rate (which you can calculate with a simple spreadsheet), maybe analytics isn’t for you. Watching another tutorial won’t get you hired. Taking action will. What's your current application-to-interview rate? What percentage of your applications get ghosted, rejected, or lead to interviews? Let me know in the comments.

As some of you know, I too was impacted by the DOGE cuts affecting many roles in the #GovCon space. To pay it forward, I'll share a tip a day about how I found my next role in a crowded #DMV market. Tip #3- Create a system for tracking outreach and applications. I used the Print Friendly extension to make a PDF of each job description that I wanted to apply for. This is helpful so that when the job is taken down, you can reference the description and prepare for interviews. In Google Drive, I created an applications folder. For each job I applied to, I created a subfolder, named with the date of application and the name of the company. Inside the folder, I saved the PDF of the job description, a PDF of the cover letter (if required/allowed), and a PDF of the resume aligned with that job description. In Google Sheets, I created a tracker. On the tracker, I recorded the following information: ⌨️ date of the application ⌨️ job title ⌨️ salary (if listed), or the range I provided on the application ⌨️ location- remote, in person, or hybrid, and the city ⌨️ a link to the job description from my saved folder ⌨️ a link to the cover letter ⌨️ a link to the resume ⌨️ a link to the company's career page ⌨️ the referral source- Idealist, LinkedIn, etc. ⌨️ application status- date it was received, date of interview, date of rejection ⌨️ a column for any extra information, like username/password combinations for the ATS, name of the recruiter or hiring manager, or expected start date If I got rejected, I changed the subfolder color to RED and filled that row in on the tracker in RED. If I had interviews, I changed the subfolder color to GREEN and filled that row in on the tracker in GREEN. If the application had been received, and I heard nothing, after a few weeks I changed the folder color to YELLOW and filled that row in on the tracker in YELLOW. I'm happy to answer any questions you may have in the comments. If this tip is helpful, please consider sharing with the #jobseekers in your network.