# Job search guides

Practical, tested answers on resumes, ATS and applying for jobs, from the team behind Shortlist.

- [Job hunting with Claude or ChatGPT without inventing facts](https://shortlist.cruscible.com/guides/job-search-with-ai-assistant.md): Give the assistant one source of facts about you and tell it to use nothing else. Have it check each posting's requirements against those facts before you spend time on it, tailor a resume only for the jobs that fit, review every line it cannot back up, and answer screening questions from answers you saved. Let it prepare each application; read it and press Submit yourself.
- [Use Shortlist from Claude, ChatGPT or Claude Code](https://shortlist.cruscible.com/guides/use-shortlist-from-claude-chatgpt.md): In Claude or ChatGPT, add a custom connector with the address https://shortlist.cruscible.com/mcp and sign in to Shortlist when it asks. In Claude Code, Codex or Cursor, create an access token under Account, AI assistants, and add it to the tool. Your profile must be kept in your Shortlist account. The assistant can then score jobs, write resumes and cover letters, and answer form questions from your profile. It never submits an application.
- [What is MCP? AI connectors explained for job seekers](https://shortlist.cruscible.com/guides/mcp-for-job-seekers.md): MCP (Model Context Protocol) is the common standard that lets an AI assistant such as Claude or ChatGPT connect to an outside service and use its tools. A job-search connector can let the assistant read your profile, score postings or draft answers through that service. Before connecting one, check what it can read, whether it can act without asking (submit, send, delete), whose terms cover your data, how you disconnect it, and how it treats text from job postings.
- [FastApply alternatives (2026): pricing and free plans](https://shortlist.cruscible.com/guides/fastapply-alternatives.md): FastApply is a Chrome extension and server-side service that fills and submits job applications on Workday, Greenhouse, Lever, LinkedIn Easy Apply, Indeed and other sites. Auto-pilot submits on its own and Co-pilot stops for you to review; paid plans start at $14 a month, and the free plan covers 5 jobs a day for 7 days. Alternatives: AIApply and ApplyBoost also apply for you; Simplify fills forms on jobs you choose; Shortlist checks whether each job fits you first, then tailors your resume and fills the form, and leaves Submit to you.
- [AIApply alternatives (2026): pricing, modes, free options](https://shortlist.cruscible.com/guides/aiapply-alternatives.md): AIApply is a web platform with resume and cover-letter tools, mock interviews and Auto Apply, a separate subscription that submits applications for you (from $49 a month for 100), with modes from fully automatic to approving every job. Alternatives depend on what you want. FastApply and ApplyBoost also apply for you. Simplify fills forms on jobs you choose. ApplyArc tracks applications and drafts documents without submitting anything. Shortlist checks whether a job fits you before you apply, then tailors your resume and fills the form, and leaves Submit to you.
- [Is ApplyBoost really free? What it does and what it costs](https://shortlist.cruscible.com/guides/is-applyboost-free.md): ApplyBoost (applyboost.ai) says it is free for job seekers, with no subscription, trial, credit card or paid tier, and we found no paid plan on its site on 4 November 2026. It says it is funded by the companies and job boards that license its technology, without naming them. It submits applications to company career pages in your name without asking you to approve each one, and receives your verification and two-factor codes through an inbox it runs for you. Free in money, then, but not without trade-offs.
- [ApplyArc alternatives (2026): trackers, pricing and AI tools](https://shortlist.cruscible.com/guides/applyarc-alternatives.md): ApplyArc (applyarc.com) is a job application tracker with 18 AI writing tools for cover letters, resume tailoring and interview prep. It never submits applications, and its Chrome extension has not shipped yet. It is free for 100 tracked jobs and 5 AI generations a month, with Pro at £19 a month. Alternatives: Huntr and Teal are trackers with browser extensions; Simplify fills application forms; Shortlist checks whether each job fits your profile before you apply, then tailors your resume and fills the form.
- [How to find resume keywords in a job description](https://shortlist.cruscible.com/guides/resume-keywords-from-job-description.md): The keywords that matter are the concrete things a recruiter would type into a search: tools and technologies, hard skills, job titles, certifications and the industry. Take them from the job title and the requirements, not the company description. Ignore soft-skill adjectives. For each one you genuinely have, use the posting's exact wording once or twice, in the experience bullet where you used it.
- [Applying for jobs but getting no interviews? 8 things to check](https://shortlist.cruscible.com/guides/not-getting-interviews.md): Long streaks without replies usually come from a few fixable causes: applying to roles where a core requirement is missing, a screening answer that filters you out, a resume the tracking system reads badly, a resume that hides the job's core skills, or applying days after the posting went up. Track your replies by type of role to see which one it is, then fix that first.
- [How to fill iCIMS, Taleo and SuccessFactors job applications](https://shortlist.cruscible.com/guides/icims-taleo-successfactors-application-tips.md): All three usually ask for an account at each company, read your resume into a profile you need to check, and spread the form over several steps. On Taleo, keep moving or save, because the session times out (30 minutes by default) and only one session works per browser. On iCIMS, use Finish Later if you need a break and come back to the same portal for your status. On SuccessFactors, accept the privacy statement, then attach your resume before you edit the fields it fills.
- [LinkedIn Easy Apply vs the company website: which is better?](https://shortlist.cruscible.com/guides/linkedin-easy-apply-vs-company-website.md): Both reach the employer. Easy Apply is quick, so its applicant pile fills fast, and it sends a short application. When a job's Apply button leads to the company's own site, the application goes straight into the employer's applicant tracking system with the full form they designed. Either way, the tailored resume you attach and your answers to the screening questions matter far more than the button. Apply once per job, not through both.
- [How to see LinkedIn jobs posted in the last hour](https://shortlist.cruscible.com/guides/linkedin-jobs-posted-last-hour.md): Search for jobs, set Date posted to "Past 24 hours", then find f_TPR=r86400 in the page address and change the number to 3600. The number is a count of seconds, so 3600 shows the last hour and 10800 the last three hours. Add sortBy=DD to the address to list the newest first. LinkedIn does not document this, so it may change.
- [Job application status meanings: In process, Inactive and more](https://shortlist.cruscible.com/guides/application-status-meanings.md): Each employer sets its own status labels, so the same word can mean different things at different companies. "Submitted" only confirms the application is on file; "In process", "In review" and "Under consideration" mean it is open, not that anyone has read it; "Inactive" and "No longer under consideration" usually mean it is closed for that job. Only an interview invitation, an offer or a rejection is definite. Keep applying while you wait, follow up once after one to two weeks if you have a contact, and treat four weeks of silence as a no.
- [Which ATS does this company use? How to tell from the job link](https://shortlist.cruscible.com/guides/which-ats-is-this-job-using.md): Click Apply and look at the address of the application page. myworkdayjobs.com is Workday, greenhouse.io or a gh_jid= link is Greenhouse, jobs.lever.co is Lever, jobs.ashbyhq.com is Ashby, icims.com is iCIMS, taleo.net is Taleo and successfactors.com is SAP SuccessFactors. The system decides whether you need an account and how long the form is; the resume advice is the same for all of them.
- [How to fill a Greenhouse job application, field by field](https://shortlist.cruscible.com/guides/greenhouse-application-tips.md): Greenhouse applications are one page and usually need no account. Attach your resume as a PDF or DOCX file, fill in your contact details and LinkedIn, and answer the employer's own questions carefully, since answers about work authorisation or location can screen you out. The self-identification section is voluntary. After you submit, updates come by email; you cannot edit an application, so check it before you press Submit.
- [How to fill Lever and Ashby job applications](https://shortlist.cruscible.com/guides/lever-ashby-application-tips.md): Lever and Ashby applications are one page with no account. Attach your resume first; Lever reads it and fills your name and contact details, which you should then check. Fill current company, location and your LinkedIn and portfolio links, and answer the employer's own questions carefully. Demographic questions are voluntary. There is no candidate portal on either system, so every update comes by email.
- [How Shortlist scores a job](https://shortlist.cruscible.com/guides/how-shortlist-scores-a-job.md): Shortlist lists a posting's requirements, checks each against your profile and gives it a value (met 1, inferred 0.6, partly met between 0.2 and 0.6, always below a requirement whose tools are all listed, unknown 0.3, no evidence 0). The score is the weighted average, with required items counting three times a nice-to-have, then capped if a required or core item has no evidence. Named tools and years of experience are checked by code, not the AI.
- [Do auto-apply bots work? What they do and where they break](https://shortlist.cruscible.com/guides/auto-apply-bots.md): They send many applications, but volume rarely turns into interviews. Most rejections happen because a candidate does not meet the posting's requirements or answers a screening question wrongly, and a bot makes both more likely. Choosing the jobs you fit and tailoring each application usually gets more interviews for the same time.
- [Do applicant tracking systems reject resumes automatically?](https://shortlist.cruscible.com/guides/how-ats-ranks-resumes.md): Mostly not. An ATS stores and parses applications so recruiters can search, filter and review them. Automatic rejections usually come from screening questions, such as work authorisation, location or salary. What your resume controls is whether it is read correctly and whether a recruiter's search and the posting's terms find your skills.
- [How to answer common job application screening questions](https://shortlist.cruscible.com/guides/screening-questions.md): Answer them truthfully and precisely, because many are knockout questions that reject an application automatically. Work authorisation, sponsorship, location and minimum years are the usual filters. For salary, give a researched range or the format the form asks for; for notice period, give your contractual period and mention if you can join earlier.
- [Should you apply if you don't meet every requirement?](https://shortlist.cruscible.com/guides/should-i-apply-if-not-fully-qualified.md): Usually yes, if you meet the core of the job. Apply when you show the skills the role is built around and most of the required items, even with gaps in preferred ones. Skip it when you are missing a core skill or a hard requirement such as work authorisation, a licence or a clearance; those are the gaps that get applications rejected.
- [How to tailor your resume to a job without making things up](https://shortlist.cruscible.com/guides/tailor-resume-without-lying.md): Map each of the posting's requirements to real evidence from your experience, then reorder and reword so that evidence is easy to find. Lead with the core skills, use the posting's terms for skills you actually have, and cut what is irrelevant. Never add a tool, number or responsibility you cannot talk about in an interview.
- [14 AI job application tools compared by what they do (2026)](https://shortlist.cruscible.com/guides/ai-job-application-tools.md): They do different jobs. Auto-apply tools (LazyApply, AIApply, LoopCV, FastApply, ApplyBoost, Apply with AI) submit applications for you. Autofill tools (Simplify's Copilot, Huntr, NextRaise, Destava) fill forms on jobs you choose, though Simplify's Autopilot and Jobscan's Auto Apply now submit too. Scanners (Jobscan, Teal) compare a resume to a posting's keywords; ApplyArc tracks and writes. Shortlist scores fit requirement by requirement before you apply, then tailors and fills, and leaves Submit to you.
- [How to fill a Workday job application faster](https://shortlist.cruscible.com/guides/workday-application-tips.md): Create the account, use "Autofill with Resume", then check every section of My Experience by hand. The autofill often misses jobs, merges or shortens bullets and leaves skills, languages and links empty. Pick lists only accept an option you choose from the list, and skills must be selected one at a time, so typing alone does not fill them.
- [7 resume templates, 4 PDF parsers: what breaks ATS reading](https://shortlist.cruscible.com/guides/resume-parsing-test.md): In our test, the commonest failure was letter-spaced section headings: one parser read "EXPERIENCE" as "E X P E R I E N C E" in six of seven templates, so the section could not be found. Ligatures, dates placed away from their job, transparency effects and two-column layouts also broke the extracted text.
- [Do two-column resumes fail ATS?](https://shortlist.cruscible.com/guides/two-column-resumes-ats.md): Often, yes. Many parsers read a page across its full width, so a sidebar and the main column get mixed line by line or placed in the wrong order. In our test every text extractor mixed up a two-column resume. A single column is the safest layout.
- [Current CTC and expected CTC: meaning and how to answer](https://shortlist.cruscible.com/guides/expected-ctc-notice-period.md): CTC (cost to company) is the total yearly amount an employer spends on you, including fixed pay, variable pay and benefits. Current CTC (also called present CTC) is your package in your present job; last drawn CTC is the package in the job you most recently left; expected CTC is what you want in the new job. Write them in lakhs per annum, such as "18 LPA". State current CTC accurately with fixed and variable parts separated, give expected CTC as a researched range (or one figure when the form needs a number), and state your contractual notice period exactly. Never inflate any of them: these figures are commonly checked later.