Business
Job Search Templates
Five printable sheets for a job search: a resume outline, a cover letter plan, interview preparation, and trackers for applications and interviews. Structure first, formatting later.
Four steps
How to use the job search templates
- 1
Start with the resume outline
Get the structure right on paper before opening a word processor.
- 2
Write results, not duties
The last column asks what changed because of you.
- 3
Plan the cover letter
Four blocks: the job, your best example, their need, the next step.
- 4
Track what you send
Fill in the follow-up date at the same time as the application date.
- 5
Write up interviews the same hour
Your impression is worth most while it is fresh.
Structure before formatting
The most common way a resume goes wrong is that it is written in a word processor from the first sentence. Formatting is immediately available and structure is not, so people spend an hour on typography and produce a well-set document that never says what they achieved.
Filling the sections in by hand inverts that. The gaps show up as blank lines, which is exactly when they are cheapest to fix.
Results, not duties
| Instead of | Write |
|---|---|
| Responsible for returns | Cut returns by a fifth in a year |
| Managed social media | Grew the list from 400 to 3,000 |
| Handled customer queries | Cleared a 600 ticket backlog in six weeks |
| Involved in hiring | Hired and trained four people, all still there |
The left column could be written by anyone who held the job. The right column could only be written by you, which is the entire point of the document.
The follow-up column
Applications rarely get refused. They go quiet. Somebody is on leave, a role is paused, a hiring manager is deciding something else first. The single most useful habit in a long job search is writing the follow-up date at the same moment as the application date, and then honouring it.
Related printables
Invoices and business forms cover the paperwork if the search ends in freelancing, the planner handles the weekly shape of a search, and productivity forms include a weekly review that works well alongside a tracker.
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