In May 2013 I published two of the most hands-on posts this blog has ever carried: how to use AppleScript to automate job searches across Indeed, CareerBuilder, Monster, and SimplyHired. People still find them today.
Thirteen years later, the job boards have changed beyond recognition — and so have the tools. What hasn’t changed is the problem: a serious job search is 80% repetitive research and 20% judgment. So here’s the 2026 version of that post. I do the repetitive 80% with Muse now.
Two honest notes before the how-to. First, I’ve been using Muse a short time, not for years — this is what’s actually working for me right now, not a masterclass. Second, this post was drafted with Muse’s help, at my request. I’d rather tell you than have you guess.
The workflow
1. Decode the job description. Paste the job description in and ask Muse to pull out the must-haves, the nice-to-haves, and what’s implied but unsaid — then score your fit against each, using only what’s on your resume. Insist on the honest scoring. Flattery helps no one, least of all you.
2. Tailor without fabricating. “Rewrite these bullets to match the job description’s language. Do not invent experience I don’t have.” Then verify every single line yourself. Hiring managers can smell invented achievements, and AI-invented ones all smell the same.
3. Draft the cover letter around something real. Give it two or three genuine reasons — a product you admire, a problem you want to work on — and let it draft around those. Generic enthusiasm is worthless. Specific curiosity isn’t.
4. Build the tracker. “Make me an application tracker: company, role, date applied, contact, status, next follow-up.” Boring. Essential. In 2013 my AppleScript wrote results to a log file; this is the same instinct with better tooling.
5. Rehearse the hard questions. “Based on this job description and my background, give me the ten toughest questions I’ll face, then critique my answers.” Answer out loud. Muse is a patient sparring partner that never gets tired of round three.
6. Research the other side of the table. “Summarize this company’s current strategy and give me five sharp questions for the hiring manager.” Good questions beat good answers in an interview — they signal you did the work.
What it won’t do
It won’t apply for you, it doesn’t know the hiring manager, and it will confidently invent a certification you never earned if you let it. The rule from 2013 still holds: automate the repetitive work, keep the judgment.
Try Muse
If you want to try it, here’s my invite link: https://muse.ai/join — code: EZWUM8. Redeem it within 48 hours of joining and we both get 1 billion additional Muse tokens — a license for extra AI usage inside Muse (not money, not a gift card), and once credited it doesn’t expire. On iPhone/Android: the Muse app, Settings > Redeem referral code. On the web: Settings > General > Usage > Redeem invite code.
Related from the archive: How to use AppleScript to search for jobs on indeed.com and careerbuilder.com? and How to use AppleScript to search for jobs on simplyhired.com and monster.com using a list?
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