I built two things recently: JobJob, an AI that helps you apply for jobs, and this blog.
JobJob
Job applications suck. Hours spent customizing resumes, writing cover letters, filling out the same information over and over. I wanted an AI to do most of that.
JobJob started as a weekend experiment. Parse job descriptions, tailor your resume to match, generate cover letters that don't sound like robots, track where you applied. Basic stuff.
The hard part was making it useful. Early versions generated perfectly polished cover letters that sounded like exactly what they were: someone asked ChatGPT to "write a professional cover letter." Too formal. Zero personality. Dead giveaway.
I added controls. Tone sliders, example snippets of your actual writing, ways to inject personality without looking unprofessional. Still not perfect but way better.
Stack: Next.js frontend, OpenAI API, basic database for applications and materials, deployed on Vercel. Standard choices, nothing experimental.
This Blog
I was tired of platforms. Medium wants money. Substack wants you to hustle for subscribers. Twitter is hostile to anything longer than a hot take.
So I built my own. Next.js 15 with the App Router, MDX for posts (Markdown plus React when I need it), TypeScript because plain JavaScript makes me nervous, Vercel deployment.
Took about six hours total. Most of that was picking a design, then stripping it down twice more. Best design is almost no design.
MDX is good. Write in Markdown, drop in components if you need them. Haven't needed them yet but the option's there.
Why Build This Stuff
Existing tools exist for both. Job trackers, blog platforms, probably better than what I made.
But I learn by building. You don't really get something until you try making it. And you definitely don't see the rough edges until you're the one using it every day.
Also, there's something satisfying about having an idea and then it existing. Simple as that.
What's Next
JobJob needs work. Resume parsing is janky, cover letters are hit-or-miss, UI could be cleaner.
This blog needs posts. I'll write about building stuff, what AI is actually good for versus the hype, learning in public, whatever else catches my attention.
If you're reading this, cool. Find me on Twitter if you want to talk about any of this. Or don't.
P.S. — If you're job hunting and want to try JobJob, message me. Not public yet but I want feedback from early users.