I got tired of sending applications into the void so I automated the follow-up process. Response rate actually went up.

After three months of applying and hearing nothing, I started keeping track. Out of 200+ applications, I was getting maybe a 4-5% response rate. Most of them were rejections. A handful were actual conversations.

The pattern I noticed: every single conversation that went somewhere started with a follow-up email I sent 48-72 hours after applying. Not a template. A short, specific note referencing the role and something about the company.

The problem: writing those emails was taking 10-15 minutes each and I was applying to 20-30 roles a week. I couldn't keep up.

So I built a system that does it automatically. Pulls applications from my tracking sheet, drafts a follow-up using Claude based on the specific job and company, queues it to send at the right time. I still review them before they go out — I'm not letting AI fire unsupervised into my job search — but the drafting is done.

Not going to claim it's magic. But my response rate went from ~5% to closer to 12-15% on roles where follow-ups actually sent. Still a lot of silence. But measurably better.

Happy to share how I built it if anyone's interested. Took a few weeks to get stable but it's been running reliably for a couple months now.