Pick which job applications to follow up on this week

About this exercise

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.

Common mistakes when you ask AI for this

• No fixed shape. The AI writes a table of every application with notes. Try: Be exact: "Exactly 3 numbered lines: Company - role - applied DATE - contact."
• Trusting the AI to count words. AI is bad at counting. Ask for "under 60 words" and it often lands well over. Try: Cap each part instead: "each line under 15 words."
• Not applying the rule. The AI includes Fernhill (too recent) or Lumen (already interviewing). Try: Add: "10+ days ago, no response, not rejected or interviewing. Today is Nov 10."
• Keeping tracker order. The AI follows the spreadsheet order. Try: Add: "Oldest application first."
• Dropping the contact. The AI lists companies without who to email. Try: Add: "End each line with the contact's name."

What a strong prompt includes

• Applies the rule
• Gives today's date
• Sorts oldest first
• Shows the line shape
• Sets a word limit

Practice this now ↑

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