Apply for jobs, broken into 7 small steps
Job hunting asks for a lot of emotional energy for little feedback. You send applications into silence, and every new listing feels like starting from zero.
Make the process repeatable instead of heroic: a base résumé, a short cover note you adapt, and a small daily quota. Volume comes from a system, not from motivation.
Start here · under 2 minutes
Open one job board and save three listings.
Don't read them closely yet. Saving is the whole step.
The rest of the steps
- Step 2:
Pick the one that fits best and highlight 3 keywords in it.
Skills or tools they mention more than once.
- Step 3:
Copy your base résumé and adjust it for those keywords.
Rename the file with the company name so you don't send the wrong version.
- Step 4:
Write a 4-sentence cover note.
Who you are, why this role, one proof you can do it, a thank-you. Save it as a reusable template.
- Step 5:
Submit the application.
Before you re-read it a fifth time. Done beats perfect here.
- Step 6:
Log it in a simple list: company, role, date, link.
A spreadsheet or a note. It turns silence into a visible pile of effort.
- Step 7:
Set a follow-up reminder for one week out.
If you've heard nothing, a short follow-up is normal and expected.
Why this one stalls
Each application looks like a big custom project, and rejection makes the next one harder to start. The task is hard to begin because it feels personal.
If you get stuck
Aim for one application a day, not ten on Sunday. A small daily quota survives bad days; a big weekly push doesn't.
What “done” looks like
One application sent and logged, plus a reminder to follow up.
These steps follow the same rules as the method in our task breakdown guide: the first step is physical and takes under two minutes, and every step after it is something you can see yourself doing. Got a head full of other things too? Start with a brain dump.