Apply For a Job
Use career-ops to fill out job applications with tailored answers based on your profile and desired role.
This guide walks through using /career-ops apply to fill out a job application form with answers tailored to your profile, proof points, and the specific role you are applying to.
Before you start
Make sure you have completed the Scan Job Portals guide. The apply command depends on an existing evaluation report. If no report exists for the role, run the pipeline first.
Run the apply command
Open your agentic CLI in the career-ops root folder and type:
/career-ops apply {company_name}Run the /career-ops apply command with the {company_name} argument.Run the /career-ops apply command with the {company_name} argument.Run the /career-ops apply command with the {company_name} argument.For example:
/career-ops apply Anthropiccareer-ops finds the matching report in reports/, uses Playwright to open a browser window, and reads the form. It then drafts answers for supported text and free-response fields. Check their field limits before pasting. For Ashby, you will need your ordinary system browser to finish and submit the application.
Note
If Playwright is not available, career-ops cannot open the form itself: it asks you for a screenshot, the questions as text, or the company and role (the options below). See Set up Playwright if you want to enable the full browser-based experience.
If you run the command /career-ops apply without arguments, the system prompts you to provide context manually:
| Option | How |
|---|---|
| Share a screenshot | Take a screenshot of the form and share it in the chat. career-ops reads images directly. |
| Paste the questions | Copy the form questions as text and paste them into the chat. |
| Name the company and role | Type the company name and job title. career-ops searches reports/ for the match. |
Fill in the form
The system returns a numbered list of answers — one per form field — that mirrors the order of the form. Go through the list top to bottom. For each free-text answer, check used/allowed characters or words against the live field before pasting. limit unknown means you must verify the limit in the form; if an answer cannot fit without losing essential facts, revise it before pasting.
The output has two parts:
Answers — every field on the form, in order:
1. Name
Andres Urdaneta
2. Email
andres@example.com
...
12. Cover Letter (optional)
I've spent 5+ years shipping production Rails applications...Simple fields like name, email, and yes/no questions come first. Free-text fields like the cover letter come at the end.
Key notes — a short block after the answers with anything worth flagging before you submit:
Key notes:
- No salary field — you'll negotiate at offer. Anchor to $160K–$175K at offer stage.
- Add github.com/yourhandle to your resume PDF before uploading.
- Cover letter is optional but the draft above is tight — worth including.Each answer is built from a specific source, mostly your evaluation report:
| Field type | Source |
|---|---|
| Cover letter, "why this role" | Proof points from Block B + STAR stories from Block F |
| Short free-text questions | Most relevant proof point or story for that question |
| Dropdowns, yes/no | Direct answers pulled from your profile |
| Employers, titles, dates, role descriptions, skills, education | The tailored CV built for this report, so the form matches the CV you upload. If none is found, career-ops says so and uses cv.md |
| Name, contact details, work authorization, compensation | config/profile.yml, which no CV overrides |
Upload fields
Upload the tailored CV that the pdf mode built for this report: cv/tailored/vNNN/cv.pdf in the application's bundle, or the PDF in output/ for a one-off CV. If no PDF exists yet, run /career-ops pdf first, then return to the form. See the pdf mode.
Submit the application
Review every answer, then submit the form yourself. career-ops does not click Submit. For Ashby, finish and submit in your ordinary system browser, not the Playwright session. Verify a success page or confirmation email before telling career-ops the application was submitted.
After submitting, confirm in the chat:
"Submitted."
career-ops will:
Update data/applications.md — changing the status from Evaluated to Applied
Save the final answers to the report's ## Application Answers section for future reference
Schedule the first follow-up from the day you applied. This step is skipped when config/profile.yml sets follow_ups.enabled: false; see followup
What to do next
| Score | Next step |
|---|---|
| 4.0 or higher | Run /career-ops contacto. career-ops finds a hiring manager or team member on LinkedIn and drafts an outreach message. Sending it before your application is reviewed improves your visibility. |
| Any score | Run /career-ops tracker to see the current status of everything in your pipeline. |