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Career-OS Quick Start Guide

Get your first job application generated in 30 minutes or less.

Choose Your Path

🚀 Fastest: Prompts Only (5 minutes)

Best for: One-off applications, testing the approach

  1. Copy the job analysis prompt from prompts/01_analyze_job.md
  2. Open Claude or ChatGPT (we recommend Claude for better reasoning)
  3. Paste the prompt + job posting + your background
  4. Follow the sequence: Job analysis → Resume → Cover letter → Quality review

⚡ Recommended: Claude Code (30 minutes)

Best for: Regular job searching, building a system

  1. Clone this repository:

    git clone https://github.com/manavpthaker/career-os
cd career-os

  2. Run the setup wizard:

    python claude-code/setup_career_os.py

  3. Apply to your first job:

    python claude-code/apply_to_job.py --url [job-url]

🎯 NEW: LinkedIn Surround Sound (2 weeks)

Best for: Getting noticed BEFORE you apply (3-5x better response rate)

  1. Set up your campaign:

    python claude-code/linkedin/setup_surround_sound.py

  2. Generate weekly content:

    python claude-code/linkedin/generate_weekly_content.py

  3. Track your progress:

    python claude-code/linkedin/track_campaign.py

See linkedin/README.md for complete strategy.

🔧 Advanced: Full Orchestrator (2+ hours)

Best for: Power users, high-volume applications

See advanced/README.md for complete setup.

What You Need

For Prompts Only

  • Claude or ChatGPT account ($20/month)
  • Your resume or LinkedIn profile
  • A job posting to test with

For Claude Code

  • Python 3.8+ (Download here)
  • Claude or ChatGPT account
  • 30 minutes for initial setup

For Advanced System

  • All of the above plus:
  • API keys (OpenAI, Anthropic, optional Tavily)
  • 2-4 hours setup time
  • $20-45/month in API costs

Step-by-Step: Claude Code Path

1. Setup (15 minutes)

Install Python (if needed):

  • Download from python.org
  • Choose "Add to PATH" during installation

Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/manavpthaker/career-os
cd career-os

Run setup wizard:

python claude-code/setup_career_os.py

The wizard will ask for:

  • Basic contact information
  • Professional positioning (2-3 sentences)
  • Current/recent role details
  • 3-5 key achievements with metrics
  • Technical skills and tools
  • Target roles and value proposition

2. First Application (10 minutes)

Find a job posting you want to apply to

Generate application:

python claude-code/apply_to_job.py --url "https://job-posting-url"

This creates:

  • Strategic job analysis
  • Tailored resume
  • Personalized cover letter
  • Quality review with feedback

Review outputs in user_data/applications/[company]_[role]_[timestamp]/

3. Refine and Submit (5 minutes)

  1. Read the quality review - honest feedback about strengths/weaknesses
  2. Edit the generated materials - use as a starting point, not final output
  3. Format for submission - convert to PDF, etc.
  4. Submit through company's system - never auto-submit

Sample Workflow

# Setup once
python claude-code/setup_career_os.py

# For each job application
python claude-code/apply_to_job.py --url "https://linkedin.com/jobs/view/123456"

# Review output
cd user_data/applications/latest_application/
cat quality_review.md  # Read feedback first
cat resume.md         # Review tailored resume
cat cover_letter.md   # Review personalized letter

# Edit, format, and submit manually

Quality Expectations

What Career-OS Does Well

  • Strategic analysis of what companies actually want
  • Specific positioning based on your real experience
  • Authentic voice that doesn't sound templated
  • Honest assessment of fit and potential concerns

What You Still Need To Do

  • Review everything before submitting
  • Customize for your voice and specific insights
  • Format professionally (PDF, proper spacing, etc.)
  • Submit through proper channels

Success Metrics

  • Better positioning: Applications feel more relevant to specific roles
  • Time savings: 3+ hours of writing reduced to 30 minutes of review
  • Higher quality: More strategic, less generic than template approaches
  • Honest feedback: System tells you when fit is poor

Common Issues

"Error scraping job posting"

  • Save the job description to a text file
  • Use --file job_description.txt instead of --url

"No narrative found"

  • Run python claude-code/setup_career_os.py first
  • Check that user_data/narratives/main_narrative.json exists

"Generic output"

  • Add more specific metrics to your narrative
  • Include more context about your achievements
  • Update your value proposition to be more distinctive

"Poor quality review scores"

  • The system is designed to be honest about fit
  • Consider whether the role is actually a good match
  • Focus on roles that align better with your background

Next Steps

After Your First Application

  1. Track results - note which approaches get responses
  2. Refine narrative - update based on what works
  3. Batch applications - apply to multiple similar roles
  4. Upgrade gradually - consider advanced features as needed

Building Your System

  • Create role templates for target position types
  • Develop company research process for better customization
  • Track application outcomes to optimize approach
  • Build feedback loop from interviews back to narrative

Advanced Features

  • Full orchestrator with 6 specialized agents
  • Batch processing for multiple applications
  • Advanced analytics and success tracking
  • Custom workflows for specific industries

Support

  • Examples: See examples/ directory for sample outputs
  • Documentation: Each directory has detailed README files
  • Issues: Open GitHub issues for bugs or questions
  • Discussions: Share success stories and ask questions

Remember: This is automation for the repetitive parts. Your judgment, customization, and human review are what actually get interviews.