A job application tracker that thinks — not just a list that goes stale.
Most trackers die because they only record what you did. The ones that work record fit, freshness, and the next action — so every row tells you whether it deserves more of your week. Grab the free template, or let JobLobster fill the intelligence columns automatically.
CSV opens in Google Sheets (File → Import), Excel, or Numbers. No email required.
What a working pipeline looks like
Four rows from a healthy tracker. Notice what makes them useful: every row carries a fit score, the posting’s age, and a dated next action — so a Friday review takes five minutes and ends with decisions, not guilt.
| Role + company | Saved on | Status | Fit score | Posting age | Salary fit | Location fit | Follow-up on | Next action |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Senior Payments PM — Brightline | Jun 3 | interview | 8.5 | 2 days | in-range | remote-OK | Jun 13 | Prep panel — rehearse ledger-migration story |
| Product Lead — Northwind Health | Jun 5 | applied | 7.0 | 6 days | unknown | metro-OK | Jun 12 | Nudge recruiter if no reply |
| PM, Growth — Atlas Robotics | May 28 | screen | 6.5 | 19 days | below | remote-OK | Jun 12 | Ask comp range before investing more |
| Director of Product — Ferrostar | Jun 9 | saved | 9.0 | 1 day | in-range | conflict | Jun 11 | Resolve on-site question, then tailor + apply |
Example data. The Ferrostar row is the framework working: a 9.0 fit saved yesterday with one conflict to resolve — that’s tomorrow’s best hour, and the tracker says so.
The nine columns that earn their place
- Role + company
- The posting, linked. One row per application, not per company.
- Saved on
- The day you found it — freshness decays fast and this dates everything else.
- Status
- saved → applied → screen → interview → offer / closed. One word, always current.
- Fit score
- Your honest 0–10 against the must-haves. This column is what makes the ratio learnable.
- Posting age
- Days old when you applied. Stale postings convert worse — see it in your own data.
- Salary fit
- In-range / unknown / below. Stops you from interviewing into a lowball.
- Location fit
- Remote-OK / metro-OK / conflict. Catches the on-site surprise before the screen does.
- Follow-up on
- A real date. The single highest-leverage column — most candidates simply never follow up.
- Next action
- One concrete verb: "send thank-you", "nudge recruiter", "prep screen". Empty means closed.
Two of these do most of the work. Fit score turns your history into feedback — after twenty applications you’ll see exactly how much better high-fit applications convert for you. Follow-up on is the column almost nobody keeps — and the polite nudge a week after applying is the cheapest response-rate boost in the entire search. Not sure what fit score to write? The free Apply-or-Skip Score grades any posting against your real resume, and the decision framework tells you whether the row belongs in your tracker at all.
The spreadsheet’s honest limit
A sheet records; it doesn’t notice. It won’t tell you the Atlas posting quietly closed, score the new posting you found at 11pm, or draft the follow-up that’s due tomorrow. That’s the part JobLobster automates: every job you save arrives pre-scored against your resume, freshness-checked against the live posting, with follow-ups drafted and the next action queued. The tracker stops being homework and starts being a pipeline.
Tracker questions, answered straight
How do I set this up in Google Sheets?
Download the free CSV template below, then in Google Sheets choose File → Import → Upload and select it. The columns and two example rows come in ready to use — delete the examples and start logging. No signup, no email, no macros.
What should a job application tracker include?
Nine columns earn their place: role and company, the date you saved it, current status, your honest fit score, how old the posting was, salary fit, location fit, a follow-up date, and one concrete next action. Everything else is decoration. The fit score and follow-up date are the two most candidates skip — and the two that change outcomes.
Why track fit score and posting age at all?
Because they turn your tracker from a diary into an instrument. After two weeks you can see your interviews-per-application ratio at fit 8+ versus fit 6, and how sharply stale postings underperform fresh ones — in your own market, not someone’s blog benchmark. That feedback is what tells you where your next ten applications should go.
Is a spreadsheet enough, or do I need an app?
A spreadsheet is genuinely enough if you keep it current — the discipline matters more than the tool. The honest limitation is that a sheet can’t fill its own intelligence columns: you score the fit, you check the posting is still live, you remember the follow-up. JobLobster’s app does those automatically — every saved job arrives pre-scored against your resume with freshness checked and follow-ups drafted — which is the difference between a tracker you maintain and one that works for you.