Most job trackers have the same columns for everyone: company, title, date, status. That works for 10 applications. Once you're at 40, you need to know what each application needs from you next, and that depends on the role.
Here's what I've found is worth logging for each role, plus the basics every tracker should have.
The basics (every role)
- Status stage. Use the stages your role actually goes through, not a generic "Interviewing".
- Deadline. For OAs, take-home cases or application windows.
- Follow-up date. When you'll nudge the recruiter if you haven't heard back. Write the date down. Don't trust memory.
- A "today" view. Filter to anything with a deadline or follow-up date in the next 3 days. Check it every morning and you won't miss anything.
- An interview prep checklist for your role, kept next to the tracker.
Software engineers
Stages: Applied → Coding Test / OA → Recruiter Screen → Technical Phone Screen → Onsite Loop → Offer.
Worth logging: Level, Tech Stack (so you review the right language before the screen), Interview Focus (for example, tag a take-home project) and Prep Notes.
Product managers
Stages: Applied → Take-home / Case → Recruiter Screen → Hiring Manager Screen → PM Loop / Onsite → Offer.
Worth logging: PM Track and Domain, Interview Focus, and a short Product Teardown: one feature of their product you'd improve and the metric it would move. Writing it once per company gives you a ready answer for "what would you change about our product?"
Data analysts
Stages: Applied → SQL / Excel Test → Recruiter Screen → Technical / Case Interview → Final / Stakeholder Panel → Offer.
Worth logging: Analyst Type, Tools Required (the tools listed in the job post), and a Portfolio Project note: which project you'll walk through for this company.
UX and product designers
Stages: Applied → Portfolio Review → Recruiter Screen → Design Exercise / App Critique → Portfolio Presentation / Onsite → Offer.
Worth logging: Discipline, Portfolio Version (which version you sent), and Case Studies to Show in the interview.
Keep it boring
A tracker only works if updating it takes seconds. One row per application, one stage change per event, and the today view does the remembering. It won't ping you, though. You open it each morning.
I built free Notion templates with exactly these fields, one per role (SWE, PM, data analyst, UX/product designer), plus a general one. They work on Notion's Free plan:
https://itch.io/c/8301723/free-notion-job-application-trackers-by-role?utm_source=devto&utm_medium=track-job-search-by-role&utm_campaign=sprint-oct
What do you log that I missed? I'd like to hear it in the comments.
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