If you've been job searching for more than a week, you've probably tried to track your applications in Notion. Maybe you found a template on Reddit, spent an afternoon customising it, and felt pretty good about your setup. We've all been there.
Notion is genuinely brilliant for a lot of things. But is it actually the best job application tracker for a serious job search? Let's be honest about what each tool does well.
Why People Use Notion for Job Tracking
Notion's flexibility is its biggest selling point. You can build pretty much anything in it, and the job-tracker templates that float around online are genuinely well thought out. For a lot of people, especially those already living inside Notion for notes and projects, adding a job tracker there feels natural.
The core features people use in a Notion job tracker:
- A database table with columns for company, role, status, and dates
- Kanban board view to visualise application stages
- Free-form notes attached to each entry
- Filters to show only active applications
For a handful of applications, this works fine. But as your search scales up, some real friction starts to appear.
Where Notion Falls Short for Job Searching
The problem with Notion isn't that it's bad. It's that it's built as a general-purpose workspace, not a job search tool. That distinction matters more than it might sound.
You have to build and maintain it yourself. Every time you want a new field, a new view, or a new reminder, you're doing the database design work. That's time you could spend tailoring your CV or researching companies.
Reminders are clunky. Notion's reminder system is basic. You can add a date property and get a notification, but setting follow-up reminders for specific applications takes more steps than it should, and mobile notifications are unreliable.
There's no mobile-first experience for job seekers. The Notion mobile app works, but it's designed around editing pages. If you want to quickly log an application you just submitted from your phone, it takes more taps than it should.
No job-search-specific logic built in. Notion doesn't know what a "follow-up window" is. It won't suggest when to chase an application or flag roles that have gone cold. You have to build all of that yourself, or just forget about it.
Most job seekers manage 15 to 30 active applications at once during a focused search. At that volume, a purpose-built tracker saves several hours a week compared to a manual spreadsheet or template. (Jobscan, 2025)
What My Job Trackr Does Differently
My Job Trackr is built specifically for one job: helping you run a better job search. It's not trying to be a note-taking app or a project manager. That focus means every feature is built with a job seeker in mind.
When you add an application, the fields that matter are already there: company name, job title, salary range, location, application date, interview dates, status, and notes. You don't have to design anything.
The status pipeline matches how a real job search actually works. Applied, phone screen, interview, offer, rejected. You move cards through stages the same way you move through the actual process, and at a glance you can see exactly where everything stands.
Deadlines and follow-ups are first-class features, not an afterthought. Set a reminder to follow up in a week and it just works, on both web and mobile. No building required.
And because it's built for job seekers, not general productivity, there's no learning curve. You open it, you add your application, you're done.
Head-to-Head: My Job Trackr vs Notion
| Feature | My Job Trackr | Notion |
|---|---|---|
| Ready to use immediately | ✓ Yes | ✗ Requires setup |
| Purpose-built for job search | ✓ Yes | ✗ General-purpose |
| Application status pipeline | ✓ Built in | ◆ Template-dependent |
| Follow-up reminders | ✓ Yes, reliable | ◆ Basic, unreliable on mobile |
| Mobile app for job seekers | ✓ iOS & Android | ◆ General mobile app |
| Salary & offer comparison | ✓ Built in | ✗ Manual setup needed |
| Interview date tracking | ✓ Yes | ◆ Possible but manual |
| Free tier available | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Pro plan pricing | £2.99/month | $12/month (Notion Plus) |
| Works well for other tasks | ✗ Job search only | ✓ Notes, docs, wikis, projects |
So Which Should You Use?
If your job search is your current main priority, My Job Trackr is the better fit. It gets out of your way and lets you focus on the search itself, not on maintaining a system. The free tier handles most of what you need, and if you're applying at volume, the Pro plan at £2.99/month is genuinely good value.
If you're doing very casual, passive job browsing alongside everything else in your Notion workspace, and you're already a Notion power user, sticking with Notion is perfectly reasonable. The setup overhead is a one-time cost, and you'll already know how to use it.
The honest verdict: Notion is a great tool used by millions of people for good reason. But for a serious, active job search, a purpose-built job application tracker like My Job Trackr gives you a meaningful head start. Less setup, better reminders, a cleaner pipeline, and a mobile app that actually understands what you're trying to do.
Getting Started with My Job Trackr
Setting up takes about two minutes. Create an account, add your first application, and you're tracking. There's no template to configure, no database schema to design.
If you're already mid-search and deep in a Notion setup, migrating is still worth it. It takes less time than you'd expect, and you'll notice the difference almost immediately when you're logging applications on the go or chasing up a role you almost forgot about.
Check out the full feature list or jump straight in and start tracking for free. No credit card needed.
Ready to Track Your Applications Properly?
Purpose-built for job seekers. No setup, no faff. Free to get started.