After an 11-year role ended, they built a five-check filter for their job search

Problem Statement:  After being laid off from an 11-year role, I needed to job search efficiently, without burning hours applying to postings that were never going to be a real fit. Achievements:  Built one simple filter, five checks, run automatically the moment I share a job posting: minimum pay requirement, location fit, red flags in the posting itself like vague compensation wording or unclear scope, whether the job level fits my criteria, and a live check on the company itself covering pay competitiveness, employee and client retention, and culture. Since building it, I have screened 23 real postings and applied to only 6 (26%). Two of those 6 applications turned into recruiter screens. Tools: Claude (Skills feature), Claude Design (visual summary poster). Methodology:  The whole idea started small. I still skim a posting first, same as before. But instead of spending time properly researching and weighing a role myself, salary, culture, red flags, all of it, I run it through one scorecard the moment it looks worth a closer look. Five checks, always in the same order: does it meet my minimum pay requirement, does it fit my location requirements, are there red flags in the posting itself, does the job level fit my criteria, and what does a live check on the company show for pay, retention, and culture. That is really the whole system. No complicated setup, no new tool to learn, just one consistent check run every time instead of me manually researching each role myself. Consistency was the real difference-maker, not complexity. The filter surfaced the facts, salary, red flags, culture, but I stayed the one deciding whether to apply. Who it's for and future plans:  Built for my own active job search, and I plan to keep using it as my search continues. I am also exploring turning it into a simple template others could adapt to their own search, since the five-question filter is not specific to my situation. Cost: $0 beyond my standard Claude subscription. Learnings: - I learned that having the full picture, not just the job posting itself, is what let me decide quickly and correctly. - Once a posting cleared, I applied faster and spent less time hovering over borderline calls. That let me review more postings overall, not just decide faster on each one. - Starting simple is what let me actually notice something was wrong. Using it regularly made the problems obvious, results that did not add up, and files being referenced that were not even real. A more complicated build might have buried both of those issues longer. Relevant URLs: N/A, personal tool, not publicly hosted. Attachments: - Full skill zip (SKILL.md, all reference files, the checking tool, README, and the 23-entry tracker) - Career Assistant Skill poster (Claude Design)