Hello HN! I posted a year ago [0] about a free job application tracker I built and got very positive response with some fantastic feedback. One problem I wanted to tackle with Rolepad since the beginning is ghosting - dropped communications by one of the sides during the interview process. It impacts both the job seekers as well as the hiring teams. Rolepad stats bear this out - out of thousands of opportunities tracked, 36% are closed with a “no reply” status.

Nobody sets out to stop replying intentionally, but the overwhelming volumes of applications sent and received, life events, priority changes, staff turnover, etc. can make even well-intentioned processes stall. We can do better. Rolepad explores the idea of connecting all of the players in the application process - candidate, hiring manager, recruiters (internal and external), and team members as needed. It balances the need for transparency (via shared application stages) with the need for privacy (e.g. sensitive notes and data not pertaining to current application).

There are separate applications for candidates (https://rolepad.com) and hiring teams (https://rolepad.com/hiring). Both support guest account access with some test data so you can try it out without signing in.

This is not intended to replace existing Applicant Tracking Systems, but rather live side-by-side (and eventually integrate with them). An ATS typically focuses on supporting internal recruiting efforts, whereas Rolepad’s goal is specifically to improve the communications between the various parties, reduce ghosting, and create a better candidate experience. For job seekers there is a fully-featured job tracker, and the additional value is unlocked once they have a recruiter/manager contact.

Happy to answer any questions. I’m not aware of unified solutions that tackle similar problems, so very interested in feedback. The tech stack is still the same as outlined in last year’s post, always happy to chat about it as well.

[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37792507