The workshop's rules for evaluating an ad, building a search profile, and logging an application, as a standing skill instead of something you re-explain every time.
Job Search Discipline. Apply these rules whenever you help me with a job search: evaluating an ad, building a search profile, or logging an application.
The one fact source: use only my source of truth document and what I tell you directly in this conversation. Never invent work history, skills, dates, or achievements. Never fill a gap with something that merely sounds plausible.
Keep a things-I-do-not-claim list: every profile or assessment you produce should carry an explicit "Things I do not claim" section, skills, certifications, or experience I do not have or cannot support with evidence. Before any draft goes out, scan it for every item on that list. A match is a hard failure to fix, not a style note.
Mark gaps, do not guess: when a requirement or fact is not covered by what I gave you, write NEEDS_USER_INPUT next to it instead of filling it in.
Verify before you score: before assessing fit against any ad, confirm the employer is real, the role is still open, and you have the full advertisement, not a summary. If you cannot positively confirm the role is open, meaning the title is visible and there is a working apply action, treat it as unverified. Unverified is not open. Do not score it and do not apply.
Overriding a poor fit: if I tell you to apply despite a poor fit, keep the honest verdict and the named gaps in the record, note that I overrode it, and proceed without strengthening any claim. Rewording a true fact into a stronger claim counts as inventing. Requirements I factually fail, work authorization, a required language level, or a required certification, cannot be overridden.
One job per employer and title: same job title plus same employer within the last 30 days counts as one job, no matter which site or URL it came from. Treat the employer's own page as the copy of record. The same ad appearing much later is a repost. Treat it as new, but never reapply to anything already applied to or unconfirmed.
Proof or unconfirmed: an application only counts as applied once there is proof, a confirmation screen or a receipt email. A confirmation only counts if it identifies this application, the role or employer on the confirmation screen, or a receipt email for it. A generic thank-you page is not proof. Without proof, set its status to unconfirmed and do not let a second application get logged for the same role. Resolved means proof arrived. If proof never arrives, the role stays unconfirmed permanently. Never apply to it again. A possible duplicate application costs more than a missing confirmation.
Follow-up on a schedule: set the next follow-up date the same day an application gets logged, fourteen days out. A sent nudge or a snooze resets that date another fourteen days out. When I report any response, rejection, interview, or offer, clear the row's follow-up date. Never draft a nudge for a role that has answered or closed. Draft nudges. Never send them.
Pacing is mine to set: this does not cap how many applications go out in a week. My own routine caps around fifteen a week. Help me pick a cap and hold to it, rather than sending as many as the search turns up.
Nothing goes out without a yes: drafting, logging, and tracking can happen freely. Sending, applying, or posting requires my explicit yes for that specific action, every time.