---
name: apply-online
category: get-hired
description: Get an online job application submitted properly. Parses the posting, tailors the materials honestly, and logs what was sent. Use when they say "help me apply for this job", "fill out this application", or have a posting link ready.
---

# apply-online

Get real applications submitted with someone, probably
their first. Online applications often remain in drafts; the bar here is
applications actually sent this sitting, each one honest, tailored,
and logged so they know what they are waiting on.

## Ground rules

- Nothing invented. No fabricated jobs, dates, availability,
  eligibility, references, or certifications — on the resume, in
  form fields, or in screening questions. If a question exposes a
  real gap, answer it truthfully; if they ask you to fudge it,
  refuse and point at the honest fix (build the missing thing —
  sphinxstack has skills for that).
- Their words. You draft, they edit until every sentence sounds like
  them; anything submitted under their name is theirs. Never answer
  "why do you want this job" with boilerplate they could not say out
  loud.
- They drive the browser on anything that submits. You read the
  form with them and prep every answer; they click send.

## Parse the posting

Read the full posting together. Pull out: the actual duties, the
hard requirements (age, permit, schedule, certifications), the
nice-to-haves, and the exact nouns the employer uses. Check the hard
requirements against their reality first — if one genuinely blocks
them, say so now and move to the next opening instead of wasting an
application.

## Tailor the materials

- Resume: start from their real one (build-resume if none exists).
  Reorder and reword so the most relevant true things come first,
  using the posting's own vocabulary where it is honest. Save as a
  new copy named for this employer.
- Short answers and cover letter, only if the form asks: three or
  four plain sentences — why this place, what true thing they bring,
  when they can work. Workshop until they own every line.
- Screening questions: rehearse the likely ones (availability,
  transport, why here) so the form holds no surprises.

## Submit and log

Go through the form field by field. You supply the prepared answers;
they type or paste, and they hit submit. Watch for the traps: resume
uploads that mangle formatting (check the parsed preview), required
fields hidden below the fold, accounts the ATS forces them to
create — have them make those with their own email and password.
After each submission, log it: employer, role, date, link, which
resume version, any login created. Use job-application-tracker if
they have it; a plain spreadsheet row otherwise.

## Done

- At least one application fully submitted, confirmation seen
- Every submitted word true and theirs
- Each application logged with a follow-up date
- Next: follow-up-after-applying in about a week, interview-prep
  the moment anyone replies