🌐 Landing Page — design philosophy, scenarios, and install walkthrough. Start here if you want the "why" before the "how."
A full-cycle job application skill for Claude Cowork. Drop it into your .claude/skills/ directory and Claude becomes an end-to-end job search partner: from building your candidate profile through interview prep and salary negotiation. This README is the technical reference — installation, file structure, hard rules, and extension points.
You don't need to start at Phase 1. Pick the row that matches where you are:
| You are… | Say something like… | Claude will start at |
|---|---|---|
| 🧭 Just want a read on my situation (first contact) | "I want to look for jobs" / "I'm thinking about switching" | Phase 0 — 3-question reality check · sets strictness tier (light / standard / deep) |
| 🆕 First time job-searching or changing careers | "Help me set up my job search" | Phase 1 — builds your candidate profile + master context doc |
| 📄 Have a resume, need an honest review | "Review my resume for ATS and red flags" | Phase 2 — resume assessment |
| 🔍 Want to find jobs matching your profile | "Find me jobs" / "Search for [role] in [city]" | Phase 3 — job search + timing filter |
| 🎯 Found a specific posting you want to apply to | "Help me apply to this role: [URL or JD]" | Phase 4 → 5 → 6 → 7 — company research, referral check, per-JD resume, cover material, submission |
| 📊 Managing an active pipeline | "Help me track my applications" | Phase 8 — application tracking |
| "I'm not getting replies — what's wrong?" | Phase 9 — response-rate diagnostics | |
| 💬 Got an interview invitation | "Prepare me for my interview at [Company]" | Phase 10 — interview prep + company dossier |
| 💰 Received an offer | "Help me evaluate / negotiate this offer" | Phase 11 — offer evaluation + negotiation |
| 😮💨 Hit a wall (rejection streak, burnout, pre-interview anxiety, offer fear) | "I'm burning out" / "I just got rejected" / "Interview tomorrow and I'm spiralling" | coping.md — 24h rejection protocol, burnout check, pre-interview stabilization, offer-fear reality |
Claude reads only the reference files relevant to your entry phase, keeping the conversation fast and focused. You can jump between phases as your situation evolves — e.g. finish Phase 5 for one role, then switch to Phase 10 for an interview at a different company.
Strictness tiers (new in 0.6.0): Phase 0 puts you in light, standard (default), or deep mode based on time / clarity / urgency. Light skips SSOT setup, dossiers, and most cover letters; standard is the full flow as written below; deep layers on proactive SSOT, dossier for every Medium+ Match, and tighter discipline for a career-pivot or < 4-week runway search. You can switch tiers between phases at any time.
The skill covers a brief Phase 0 reality check plus 11 execution phases in a single workflow:
| Phase | What happens |
|---|---|
| 0. Reality Check | Three questions (time / clarity / urgency) → assigns a strictness tier that modifies how the rest of the skill runs |
| 1. Candidate Intake | Builds a complete profile from your resume; flags LinkedIn mismatches |
| 2. Base Resume Assessment | ATS compliance check, red flag identification, 1-page compression |
| 3. Job Search & Timing | Searches live job boards; flags postings older than 2 weeks |
| 4. Company Research & Referral | Researches each shortlisted company; checks your network before cold-applying |
| 5. Per-JD Resume Customisation | Keyword matrix, gap analysis, targeted summary and skills rewrite |
| 6. Cover Material | Decides format (formal / short note / none) and drafts accordingly |
| 7. Submission & Follow-up | Guides browser-based submission; schedules one follow-up at day 5–7 |
| 8. Application Tracking | Maintains a structured log with stage, outcome, and follow-up dates |
| 9. Response Rate Diagnostics | Triggers when 10+ applications return fewer than 2 replies; surfaces root cause |
| 10. Interview Preparation | STAR story framework, question prep, thank-you email |
| 11. Offer & Salary Negotiation | Package evaluation, counter scripts, anchoring principles |
- Claude Cowork (desktop app) — available at claude.ai
- The docx skill installed alongside this one (provides
scripts/office/pack.pyandsoffice.pyfor.docx+ PDF generation) - A
.docxmaster resume to work from
No external tracker required. The default application tracker is a flat markdown file at {{workspace}}/applications.md, maintained by Claude with the Edit tool. You do not need Notion, Google Sheets, Airtable, or any account to use Phase 8.
The skill uses these Claude tools when available:
search_jobs/get_job_details— live job board search (Indeed via job-application MCP)get_company_data— company researchget_resume— reads the candidate's resume file- (Opt-in upgrades) Notion MCP or Google Sheets MCP — only if you want to move past the default Markdown tracker; see
references/post-application.mdPart E.1 / E.2
-
Copy this folder into your Cowork skills directory:
~/.claude/skills/job-application/The directory should contain
SKILL.mdand thereferences/subfolder. -
In a new Cowork conversation, trigger the skill with any job-search phrase — for example:
- "Help me find jobs"
- "Customise my resume for this posting"
- "I'm not getting any callbacks"
- "Prepare me for my interview at [Company] tomorrow"
-
Claude will load the skill automatically and walk you through the relevant phase.
job-application/
├── SKILL.md ← Main skill definition (loaded by Claude)
├── CHANGELOG.md ← Version history (SemVer + Keep a Changelog)
├── evals/ ← Minimal prompt-level regression tests
│ ├── README.md ← How to run · scenarios table · template
│ ├── 01-entry-triage.md ← Guards Phase 2 routing for users with a resume
│ ├── 02-interview-prep-lazy-ssot.md ← Guards Phase 10 against forced Phase 1 setup
│ ├── 03-keyword-placement.md ← Guards against keyword-density stuffing
│ ├── 04-tracker-default-markdown.md ← Guards Phase 8 default backend (markdown, not Notion)
│ └── 05-phase-0-light-tier.md ← Guards Phase 0 routing casual users to light tier
└── references/
├── context-doc-template.md ← Tier 1 SSOT template — your master profile doc
├── sync-rules.md ← Three-tier document sync protocol + change log format
├── company-dossier-template.md ← Per-company deep file (research · contacts · interview log · offer)
├── resume-standards.md ← ATS checklist, document structure, red flags
├── jd-analysis.md ← Keyword extraction, placement, gap analysis
├── company-research.md ← Research framework (stage, signals, what to extract)
├── cover-letter.md ← When/how to write cover material; templates
├── referral-strategy.md ← Network check, referral outreach scripts
├── build-script.md ← Python helpers for .docx XML editing and PDF conversion
├── interview-prep.md ← STAR framework, question bank, thank-you email
├── salary-negotiation.md ← Package evaluation, counter scripts, anchoring
├── post-application.md ← Post-application reference (Parts A–E: referral · interview · salary · follow-up template · tracker fields)
└── coping.md ← Emotional pacing — rejection 24h protocol, burnout signals, pre-interview stabilization, offer-fear reality
Claude reads reference files on demand — only the ones relevant to the current phase are loaded, keeping token usage efficient.
Timing over volume. For most commercial roles, application volume concentrates in the first 1–2 weeks after a posting goes live, so applying early raises the odds of a human reading your resume. Executive, government, and academic roles follow their own paced timelines — the skill treats timing per role category rather than applying one rule to all.
Referral first. Before cold-applying to any high-match company, the skill checks whether the candidate has a connection. A referral typically converts to an interview at roughly 3–5× the rate of a cold application — the exact multiplier varies by industry and the strength of the connection.
No fabrication. The skill never adds skills the candidate doesn't have. Gaps are noted honestly and addressed in cover material.
ATS safety. Every generated resume is validated for common ATS failure modes: no prohibited characters, no bare & in XML, no tables, no text boxes, no images, 1-page by default (2 pages allowed for senior / academic / UK-EU CV formats).
One follow-up maximum. After 5–7 business days with no response, one follow-up message. Never more.
Capacity-matched strictness. Phase 0 picks a tier (light / standard / deep) from the user's time, clarity, and urgency. A 2-hour-a-week casual search does not get pushed through an 11-section SSOT + per-company dossier flow — structural overhead is proportional to the user's capacity, not forced by the skill.
Emotional pacing, not execution-only. coping.md covers the parts most job-search tools pretend don't exist: 24-hour post-rejection protocol, burnout warning signs, pre-interview nervous-system regulation, offer-fear reality data. Hooked into Phases 8 / 9 / 10 / 11 so they surface when relevant — not as a wellness module off to the side.
The default tracker is {{workspace}}/applications.md — zero setup, works immediately, good for up to ~100 applications per job-search cycle. If you want structured database views (filtering, rollups, kanban) or want to share the tracker with a partner / coach, the column set in SKILL.md Phase 8 + references/post-application.md Part E translates directly to Notion (Part E.1) or Google Sheets (Part E.2). Claude only routes to the adapter when you explicitly ask — the default behaviour is to write to the markdown file.
The references/build-script.md helper functions are written for .docx XML manipulation (the approach used by the Cowork docx skill). If you are working from a different base format, the phase logic in SKILL.md still applies — adapt the generation method to your tooling.
The skill uses search_jobs / get_job_details from the job-application MCP (Indeed connector). If you are using a different job board or connector, replace the search calls in Phase 3 — the filtering and prioritisation logic is connector-agnostic.
- 1 page preferred — senior/exec, academic, or UK/EU CV traditions may legitimately extend to 2 pages
- Always generate both
.docxand.pdf - ATS-safe format only (no tables, text boxes, images, critical content in headers/footers)
- No fabricated skills — gaps are noted, never invented
- Referral check before every cold application to a high-match company
- Apply early when timing matters — 48 hours for most commercial roles; exec / government / academic hires follow their own timelines
- One follow-up only, after 5–7 business days
- Resume must match LinkedIn before applying
Implementation details — XML escaping, three-tier document sync, per-company dossier creation, Entry Triage routing, salary-negotiation tactics — live in their respective reference files rather than being hoisted into the hard-rules list. This keeps the top-level rules memorable.
MIT — use freely, adapt to your context, share improvements.