Building a job tracker: the 4-tier system

Status: Outline — full guide coming soon. Get notified when it ships →

What this covers

• The 4 tiers (Dream / Strong / Volume / Backup) — how to assign each company in 30 seconds
• The funnel-stage columns: sourced → applied → screen → onsite → offer → rejected
• Per-tier weekly targets and the trade-off rule (don't burn Dream apps without a referral)
• The Sunday 20-minute weekly review that keeps the tracker honest

Why this matters for Indian devs going remote

The standard 200-row spreadsheet of every application becomes useless by week 3 — you lose track of who replied, who you should follow up with, and where your time should go. The 4-tier system forces priority — half your time goes to Dream + Strong, and Volume gets the rest. It's the difference between scattered applying and a real funnel.

Outline

The 4 tiers

TODO — Dream (company + role both fit, prep heavily), Strong (one or other fits, custom apply), Volume (broad fit, batch apply), Backup (safety net, only if sprint stalls).

The funnel-stage columns

TODO — sourced → applied → screen → onsite → offer / rejected; per-stage SLA for follow-up.

Weekly targets per tier

TODO — Dream: 1-2/week with prep, Strong: 3-5/week with custom note, Volume: 15-20/week batch, Backup: 5/week as buffer.

The Sunday weekly review

TODO — archive dead rows (no reply 3 weeks), promote/demote tiers, set this week's targets.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Treating every Dream company as a Strong (burning the slot without a referral)
• Letting Volume apps drown out Dream prep time
• Never archiving — the tracker becomes unreadable by week 4

Templates / examples

TODO — a 4-tier Notion template, a tier-decision flowchart, and a Sunday-review prompt list.

Related guides

• Run your own 60-day job-search sprint
• Application strategy and cadence

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