I Hit “Apply” 142 Times—and Heard Back Twice

Last spring, I spent more nights on LinkedIn Jobs than on Netflix. One role even dragged me through four rounds of interviews before ghosting me completely.

\ Somehow, the bar keeps rising—referral? Video intro? Homework project?—and still we’re told “just follow up.” After the 30-hour week called “full-time recruiting,” I rarely had energy left to chase down recruiters’ emails, let alone write something thoughtful.

\ So, I built a shortcut for myself.

The Idea in Plain English

One click = one polite follow-up.

• Click a little button in Chrome right after submitting an application.
• The extension grabs the company name and role.
• Behind the curtain, it drafts a short email and tries to find a real recruiter’s address.
• If it finds one, it sends; if not, it gives me a copy-paste draft.

\ No tabs, no digging through Google, no wondering what to say.

What I Actually Did (Non-Engineer Edition)

1. Googled “how to make a Chrome extension.” Copied the starter template, swapped icons, and added a textbox for my webhook link.

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2. Hooked it to Make.com. Think of Make as Lego blocks for the internet—drag this, drop that, tell it “when you see X, do Y.”

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3. Asked ChatGPT to write the email. Prompt: “In 120 words or less, polite, mention the job title, express genuine interest.”

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4. Pulled recruiter info from Apollo. Free tier—best thing for a student budget.

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5. Tested on myself. It worked.

Why Bother Following Up Anyway?

• Silence ≠ rejection. Recruiters sift through hundreds of apps; the polite ping helps them remember you.
• It shows you care. If two candidates look equal on paper, the one who reaches out usually wins.
• It builds a real contact list. Even if you don’t land this role, you now know a human at that company.

Honest Lessons (So Far)

• Friction kills good intentions. If I have to copy-paste anything, I’ll put it off until “tomorrow,” which never comes.
• Side projects are therapy. Shipping something—even half-baked—felt better than refreshing my inbox for the 100th time.

What’s Next (After I Catch My Breath)

• Clean UI, no setup screens (my friends will never paste a webhook, and I can’t blame them).
• Toggle for internship vs. full-time tone. Same click, slightly different voice.
• Open-source once it’s not embarrassing. I’ll post the repo before fall recruiting hits.

Build With Me

If you’re a fellow builder looking for a teammate, I’d love to collaborate:

➤ JavaScript tinkerers who know their way around Chrome Extensions \n ➤No-code automators ready to stretch Make.com in new ways \n ➤Prompt-crafting nerds who can wring the perfect tone from ChatGPT

Ping me on LinkedIn (Parviz Sadikov) or email [email protected]

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