Vocations · Career Resources · Job search

Where is your
job search leaking?

Type how far your applications have got. The calculator turns the counts into a rate for each step, finds the step losing the most, and tells you how many applications a week reach your goal, now and with that step fixed.

Find the leakWhat you get

The job search funnel calculator

The worked example is a made-up summer internship search. Nothing you type leaves this browser.

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What you get

Vocations · Career ResourcesFree

What you finish with
Each step’s conversion rate, the overall rate, the weakest step and the applications a week needed for your goal. It prints as a summary and downloads as a spreadsheet.
Who it is for
Students looking for internships and first jobs, adults changing jobs, and the counselors and teachers who work with them.
Format
Browser calculator for a phone, tablet or computer, by touch or keyboard. Prints a summary; downloads a spreadsheet (.csv); export and import a file.
Access
Free. No account, no sign-in and nothing to install. Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives
The Career Resources space in Caveat Vocations.
Support
Questions, a correction or a request: team@caveatacademic.com.

How to use it

  1. Count your applications from your tracker or email.
  2. Count how many reached a reply, an interview, a final round and an offer.
  3. Type the weeks searched and the weeks left.
  4. Set how many offers you want.
  5. Work on the weakest step first.

Find the leak

How the funnel is read

Rates at each step, multiplied together.

The worked example: an internship search after six weeksReplies15%9 of 60 applicationsOverall1.7%1 offer from 60To go60 apps1 more offer ÷ 1.67%Pace7.5 a weekover 8 weeksThe worked example: an internship search after six weeksReplies15%9 of 60 applicationsOverall1.7%1 offer from 60To go60 apps1 more offer ÷ 1.67%Pace7.5 a weekover 8 weeks
Each stage multiplies the next, so the weakest step sets the pace for the whole search.

Multiplying steps

A search is a chain of steps: an application gets a reply, the reply an interview, the interview an offer. The overall rate is the product of the step rates, so doubling a weak step does more than sending twice as many applications that fail at the same place.

Which step to fix

Few replies point to the application itself: tailoring the résumé to each posting, applying closer to your experience, or a referral. Interviews that do not progress point to preparation. The Bureau of Labor Statistics and state career centers publish free guides for both stages.

Sources

  1. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Career Outlook: job search guides and résumé advice (bls.gov/careeroutlook).
  2. U.S. Department of Labor, CareerOneStop. Job search, résumés and interviews (careeronestop.org).
  3. National Association of Colleges and Employers. Internship and job search resources for students (naceweb.org).
  4. National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. Rates, ratios and compound probability in context (nctm.org).

The worked example is made up. Your entries stay in this browser. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.