First steps

Getting started on Today walks you through setting up CareerBot, then through your first pursuit, on the Outreach path, the Apply path or both.

When you first sign in, Today shows Getting started: a list of steps with the one to do next open beside it. Each step says why it matters, what it unlocks, and where it's done. A step ticks itself off once the work is really there, for example once you've approved a fact or added a key, so you can do a step from its own screen and come back.

Getting started on Today: the Setup list with six of eight steps ticked, from Sign in to See your base resume, and the next step, Add an Apollo key and a budget, open beside it with its fields and Save and continue.

There are two parts:

  • Setup comes first: signing in, your keys and budgets, your first story, your record, your goals, your base resume, companies, and (if you want it) Google Drive. Google Drive is the only step you can skip.
  • Your first pursuit starts once Setup is done: one role, from starting a pursuit and tailoring your resume to choosing a path. On the Outreach path you find contacts and send an outreach message; on the Apply path you write the cover letter and apply. Either path ends with following up.

This takes real time. Your first story alone is 20 minutes or more, and every job you add is about the same. Reading companies and their roles runs in the background and can take a while the first time. You don't have to do it in one sitting: everything you write is kept, and you can put Getting started away with Hide until later from a step's ⋯ menu and bring it back from Today.

Once every step is done, Getting started says Getting started is done, and Today becomes your daily list: new strong roles each morning, reminders for every pursuit, and anything waiting for your review.

The steps

Setup

  1. 01Sign inWith Google or GitHub
  2. 02Choose your planCareerBot’s AI starts once it’s paid
  3. 03Add an OpenRouter key and a budgetPays for CareerBot’s AI, within a budget you set
  4. 04Write your first storyIn your own words. It’s the root of your record.
  5. 05Review what CareerBot understoodUnlocks your record
  6. 06Write your goalsThen approve limits and directions
  7. 07See your base resumeBuilt from your approved record
  8. 08Add an Apollo key and a budgetFinds companies and their open roles
  9. 09Name companies you likeFree · finds more like them (optional)
  10. 10Find and rate companiesTarget the ones you’d like to work at
  11. 11See your first ranked rolesRead from their job boards, ranked for each direction
  12. 12Keep your resumes in Google DriveA Google Doc of each resume (optional)

Your first pursuit

  1. 13Pick a role and start a pursuitFrom your strongest new roles
  2. 14Tailor your resumeTo the posting, from your direction’s resume
  3. 15Choose a pathOutreach, Apply, or both

On the Outreach path

  1. 16Find contactsHiring manager, team and recruiting
  2. 17Send your outreach messageFrom your own email

On the Apply path

  1. 18Write the cover letter and answersAnswers with Ask about this role
  2. 19Apply and mark it AppliedOn the company’s site, then mark it here

Either path

  1. 20Follow upIf you haven’t heard back

Before you start

You need:

Both OpenRouter and Apollo bill you directly. CareerBot never spends past the budgets you set.

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