{"id":"ind-job-application-followups","audience":"job-seekers","category":"data","technique":"grounding","title":"Pick which job applications to follow up on this week","free":false,"task":"You track your applications in a messy spreadsheet. Using your follow-up rule, list exactly 3 applications to follow up on this week as numbered lines in the form \"Company - role - applied DATE - contact\", oldest application first, under 60 words, plain text. Skip anything already rejected, already in interviews, or applied less than 10 days ago. Write a prompt that gets you exactly that.","materialLabel":"Your application tracker (attached to your prompt automatically)","material":"APPLICATION TRACKER (Hannah Liu) - today is Nov 10\n\nCompany | Role | Applied | Status | Contact\nBrightwater Bank | Marketing Coordinator | Oct 20 | No response | recruiter: Ana Torres\nFernhill Media | Content Specialist | Nov 3 | No response | none listed\nKestrel Outdoor | Social Media Coordinator | Oct 15 | Rejected Nov 1 | -\nOrchard Health | Communications Associate | Oct 28 | No response | hiring mgr: Dev Patel\nLumen Arts Center | Marketing Assistant | Oct 9 | Phone screen done Oct 30, waiting | recruiter: Joy Kim\nGranite Insurance | Marketing Coordinator | Oct 24 | No response | recruiter: Will Ortega\nTidewater Books | Events & Marketing | Nov 6 | No response | owner: Rosa Lee\n\nMy follow-up rule: follow up if I applied 10+ days ago, got no response, and haven't been rejected or started interviews. Use the contact listed.\nNote: Lumen counts as \"in interviews\" now.","rules":[{"type":"numberedItems","count":3},{"type":"maxWords","max":60},{"type":"plainText"}],"mistakes":[{"title":"No fixed shape","why":"The AI writes a table of every application with notes.","fix":"Be exact: \"Exactly 3 numbered lines: Company - role - applied DATE - contact.\"","checks":["numberedItems","plainText"]},{"title":"Trusting the AI to count words","why":"AI is bad at counting. Ask for \"under 60 words\" and it often lands well over.","fix":"Cap each part instead: \"each line under 15 words.\"","checks":["maxWords"]},{"title":"Not applying the rule","why":"The AI includes Fernhill (too recent) or Lumen (already interviewing).","fix":"Add: \"10+ days ago, no response, not rejected or interviewing. Today is Nov 10.\"","checks":["r0"]},{"title":"Keeping tracker order","why":"The AI follows the spreadsheet order.","fix":"Add: \"Oldest application first.\"","checks":["r1"]},{"title":"Dropping the contact","why":"The AI lists companies without who to email.","fix":"Add: \"End each line with the contact's name.\"","checks":["r2"]}],"promptHints":[{"label":"Applies the rule","patterns":["10\\+? days","rule","no response","rejected"]},{"label":"Gives today's date","patterns":["nov(ember)? 10","today"]},{"label":"Sorts oldest first","patterns":["oldest","sort","earliest"]},{"label":"Shows the line shape","patterns":["company - ","contact","applied date"]},{"label":"Sets a word limit","patterns":["\\d+\\s*words","word (limit|count)"]}],"hint":"A follow-up list is only useful if the rule is applied exactly. Tell the AI the rule, today's date, the order and the line shape.","rubricLabels":["The 3 applications are exactly Brightwater Bank (Oct 20), Granite Insurance (Oct 24) and Orchard Health (Oct 28)","They are listed oldest first: Brightwater, then Granite, then Orchard","Each line follows 'Company - role - applied DATE - contact' with the right contact (Ana Torres, Will Ortega, Dev Patel), and Kestrel, Lumen, Fernhill and Tidewater don't appear"]}