These tools help readers turn Get Hired in a Broken Job Market into action: stabilize after a layoff, calculate the money runway, track contacts, watch company career centers, and make better offer decisions.
They are simple, local, browser-based tools. They are not magic. They give the work a place to happen.
These tools are still evolving. Save backups of anything important.
These tools save in your browser, not on CrankyBooks servers. That keeps it private from us — but it also means anyone else who uses this browser can see it, and it disappears if you switch browsers, switch computers, or clear your browser data. Use Export Backup to keep a copy you control.
Do not enter Social Security numbers, banking details, passwords, medical details, or confidential employer information.
Stabilize the situation. Know the money. Do not let panic write the plan.
Create a practical three-day plan after a layoff before panic starts making business decisions. Includes the emergency budget that feeds the Money Runway Calculator.
Best time to use it: Use first if you were just laid off, expect a layoff, or feel disorganized.
“Panic is not a project manager.”
Estimate how long your money lasts and when to shift from ideal jobs to adjacent or survival income. Can pull the budget from First 72 Hours.
Best time to use it: Use before deciding how aggressive, narrow, or flexible your search should be.
“The clock is running whether you look at it or not.”
Track people, companies, signals, conversations, and follow-ups.
Track contacts, conversations, follow-ups, referrals, employers mentioned, roles discussed, key issues, and insights.
Best time to use it: Use when you are ready to stop pretending applications are relationships.
“Forty applications and zero conversations is not momentum. It is confetti.”
Track target companies, career pages, hiring signals, posted roles, news, contacts, and next check dates.
Best time to use it: Use when you want to watch real employers instead of refreshing job boards like a lab rat.
“A company that keeps posting the same job may be hiring, confused, or haunted. Track it.”
Judge the offer you actually have, not the rescue fantasy you wish it were.
Evaluate salary, benefits, costs, risk, role clarity, manager fit, panic pressure, and negotiation options.
Best time to use it: Use when you receive an offer and need to decide whether it solves your problem or merely changes the shape of it.
“An offer is not a rescue boat. Sometimes it is. Sometimes it is just another leak.”