From a spreadsheet to a project idea
While applying for graduate roles, I found that keeping track of the process became a task of its own. I was using an Excel spreadsheet, but each application brought more information to organise: stages, dates, notes and documents.
That made me think about what a dedicated application could do for the same workflow. I started building ApplyTrail around a problem I was already dealing with.
The workflow I wanted to support
The goal was to have one place to follow an application from finding a role through to an offer or rejection.
The information I wanted to keep together included:
- The company and role
- The current application stage
- Important dates
- Notes from interviews or recruiter calls
- Documents used for the application
These describe the workflow I wanted to support, rather than a reason to build every possible feature at once. The starting point was making the information easier to find and maintain.
Why build it myself?
Tools already exist for tracking applications. Building my own gave me a chance to design around the way I apply for jobs and to work on a product whose purpose I could judge for myself.
It also created a practical setting for working with authentication, APIs, PostgreSQL and application state, with a frontend to bring the workflow together.
The technical work had a clear purpose: helping me manage applications with less friction.
A useful filter for product decisions
The most useful question has been simple:
Would this actually make managing my applications easier?
That gives me a way to assess an idea beyond whether it would be interesting to implement. A feature needs to help with the task that made me start the project.
Building around my own workflow makes it easier to recognise those needs, while also reminding me that other people may organise their applications differently.
What I have learned
A personal frustration can be a useful starting point for software because it provides context for decisions. I know what information I need, where the current process becomes awkward and what I would want to improve.
ApplyTrail began with that context. It gives me a concrete problem to build around and a practical way to connect product thinking with backend development.