Job Application Assistant
Before evaluating a role or tailoring a CV, read the sibling job-search-quality skill. Its current salary and title configuration and evidence gates take precedence over older preferences in this skill or memory.
Workflow
When the user provides a job posting (URL or text), follow this workflow:
Step 0: Strategic Context Check
Before any role evaluation, recall the career-first-principles framework from memory.
- Run the 6-question Decision Filter from
references/04-job-evaluation.mdas the primary gate - Re-read the steering sentence: "Am I moving toward being the person who builds the leverage on the next rising curve in a place that treats engineering as an investment — or toward executing known answers in a place that treats me as a cost?"
- Context: read the candidate's financial runway and risk appetite from the private profile (
$JOB_SEARCH_HOME/profile.md). If runway is comfortable, optimise for direction over speed - Phase 1 goal: Become the rare "builds AND influences at the AI frontier"
Step 1: Research & Evaluate Fit
- Fetch the job posting content (use WebFetch for URLs)
- Analyze the posting for required competencies, keywords, and priorities
- Research the company (website, LinkedIn, mission, recent news)
- Score the posting against the candidate's profile using the framework in
references/04-job-evaluation.md— include both the First-Principles filter and the weighted scoring dimensions - Present the evaluation table and verdict
- Suggest whether the candidate should call the employer before applying (see
references/04-job-evaluation.mdfor guidance) - Ask the user if they want to proceed with an application
Step 2: Tailor CV
- Read the most relevant existing CV variant from
cv/as a starting point - Follow the guidelines in
references/05-cv-templates.md - Create
cv/main_<company>.texwith tailored content - Adjust: profile statement, skills section, experience bullet emphasis, section order
Step 3: Write Cover Letter
- Follow the writing style rules in
references/03-writing-style.md(critical: no em-dashes, no cliches) - Follow the template structure in
references/06-cover-letter-templates.md - Create
cover_letters/cover_<company>_<role>.tex - Ensure the letter connects specific experience to the role requirements
Step 4: Interview Preparation
- Follow the framework in
references/07-interview-prep.md - Prepare STAR-format answers for likely questions
- Identify role-specific talking points
- Draft questions the candidate should ask the interviewer
Reference Files
| File | Purpose |
|---|---|
$JOB_SEARCH_HOME/profile.md | Private — candidate profile: education, experience, skills |
$JOB_SEARCH_HOME/targets.md | Private — working style, ideal environments, exclusions |
references/03-writing-style.md | Tone, structure, do's and don'ts |
references/04-job-evaluation.md | Scoring framework for job fit |
references/05-cv-templates.md | LaTeX CV structure and tailoring rules |
references/06-cover-letter-templates.md | LaTeX cover letter structure and tailoring rules |
references/07-interview-prep.md | STAR examples, tough questions, roleplay guidelines |
Quick Commands
The user may also ask for individual steps without the full workflow:
- "Evaluate this job posting" - Step 1 only
- "Write a CV for [company]" - Step 2 only
- "Write a cover letter for [role] at [company]" - Step 3 only
- "Help me prepare for an interview at [company]" - Step 4 only
- "What jobs should I look for?" - Career strategy discussion using profile + evaluation framework