Perspectives on the market:
The average tech worker changes jobs frequently—and often involuntarily. The median tenure at Google is just 1.6 years. That means many professionals are constantly on the lookout for their next role.
And the interview process is more lengthly and complicated than ever. Often 4-5 rounds of interviews all requiring differing preparation. Code challenges, personality questions, whiteboarding, multiple interview’s juggled at the same time to get a competitive offer. It’s a lot to keep track of.
Many job seekers don’t formally track their applications. The ones who do, often just use a simple excel spreadsheet. Which is fine at small scale, but active job seekers often apply to hundreds of listings and take 25-50 interviews before getting an offer. Managing all of that manually becomes overwhelming.
Free job application tracker templates:
This is where people usually start. If you’re in a high demand role and only go through a few interviews, a basic spreadsheet will work just fine for you.
Here's a few free job tracker templates that I'd recommend:
Google Sheets - Ransacked Room's Job Search Sheets
Good for self reflection: this template helps you answer "what do I actually want in my next role?"
Good for very type A folks who want to track everything.
Good for self confidence: if you got rejected, helps you discover who DID get hired, and make sure you're setting realistic goals
Easy access via google sheets.
Notion - Interview Kit
Good for simple lightweight job tracking
Good for folks only handling a few applications at a time
Good for folks who already use Notion
Notion - Job Search Kit
Good for Product and UX designers, but eventually can be adapted for any other role.
Good for recording contacts and building
Has a pre-built "job roadmap" that gives you a basic outline to get started in your search
Professional job application tracking software:
If you're a mere mortal (like me) juggling dozens of applications and interviews, a dedicated job tracker offers more scalability and structure. For example, my last job search took 8 months and 150 applications despite having 7 years of experience. At that volume, tracking in Google sheets became a quite the chore.
Huntr
Huntr is a dedicated job tracker that focuses on AI-powered resume tailoring and a bookmarking plugin for saving job postings. They also have a Chrome auto-fill plugin that makes repeat applications a bit less tedious, and works the best of any that we've tested. They also offer AI resume and cover letter builders, although we're skeptical that those type tools really make much of an impact.
Pros:
Their Chrome extension works well and auto-fills out applications for you automatically
Nice UI
Free for 100 jobs
Best suited for:
Students, or non-tech folks.
(Huntr spreads it's job tracking across all industries so you do miss out on some tech-specific features)
Cost:
Free tracking up to 100 jobs
Then $40/month
Canyon
Canyon is another job application tracker with a strong emphasis on AI-generated resumes and cover letters. It also offers a mock interview tool, making it useful for candidates who need practice on their in-person interview skills.
Pros:
Best suited for:
Job seekers who want AI-assisted interview prep.
Those focusing on cold applications and personalization.
Price:
Free tracking for limited number of jobs
Then $19.00/month
Simplify
Simplify blends job tracking with an internal job board. Like Huntr, it caters to job seekers using the shotgun approach—applying en masse and hoping for a callback.
Best suited for:
Candidates who prefer one platform for both job discovery and tracking.
Those who don’t mind competing with thousands of applicants per role.
Price:
Free tracking for unlimited number of jobs
Simplify+ is $19.00/month which is an additional offering of AI features.
Grindstone:
You knew this was coming. Like these other platforms, we help job seekers track their job applications. But we focus on some differnt
The things we do differently:
Automatically find company details for you
Automatically save job listing info for you
Tailor our software to the (longer) job search process of tech.
Give you a killer place to take notes an prepare for behavioral questions.
Best suited for:
People working in tech / Or wish to work in tech
People applying to jobs in a higher volume
Unlike other tools, we don’t focus on resume and cover letter generators. Why? Because those encourage mass cold applications—where you’re one of 1,000+ applicants and rarely hear back. The time spent tweaking resumes for ATS systems could be better spent networking and securing referrals.
Our vision for the future? Helping job seekers leverage connections and referrals—so you can skip the ATS black hole entirely.
If you’re struggling to manage your job search, keep track of interview insights, or organize application notes, Grindstone is built for you—whether you’re a recent grad, experienced professional, or someone who wants a smarter, structured approach.