Track when a recruiter opens your CV

· job-search · use-case

You've sent your CV to fifteen companies this week. Radio silence. Was it seen? Did it end up in spam? Is the hiring manager on vacation? You have no way to know — which is what makes job hunting feel like shouting into a well.

KeepOrbit turns any URL into a short link that reports back the moment someone opens it. Here's how a job-seeker uses it in practice.

The setup (once, five minutes)

  1. Upload your CV to Google Drive, Dropbox, Notion, or your own website. Grab the shareable link — anything ending in .pdf or a page URL works.
  2. Paste it into the KeepOrbit form on the home page. You'll get back a short link — something forgettable like sh.rt/aBc123, short enough to fit anywhere.
  3. Add a recipient note ("Acme Corp — Backend role") so you can tell your links apart later.

That's it. Send the short link instead of the raw file link.

What you see when they open it

Every time your link is opened, a new row appears on the link's detail page with:

  • Timestamp — down to the minute, in your local timezone
  • City and country — from the recipient's IP (VPN visitors get flagged)
  • Device — phone, tablet, or desktop; browser and operating system
  • Timezone — the browser's own reported timezone, useful for spotting candidates working across regions

No name. No email address. No employer identity. IP geolocation is roughly city-accurate; it will not pinpoint an office.

What you learn

Silence + no opens — your email probably landed in spam or a shared inbox that nobody checks. Follow up through a different channel, ideally by name to someone on the team.

Opened, then silence — they saw it, they're not sold, or they're on someone else's turn to review. Wait five business days, then send a short follow-up referencing something specific in the role.

Multiple opens from different cities in one day — the CV is being passed around inside the company. Good sign; they're discussing it. Don't nudge yet.

Opened at 11 PM on a Sunday — someone on the hiring team is actually reading applications, not just skimming to reject. Also good.

What KeepOrbit will not do

  • It won't tell you the recipient's name or email — the tracker never sees those.
  • It won't fix a bad CV. Track a hundred opens on a link nobody bites on and the problem isn't visibility.

One boundary worth naming

KeepOrbit is a tool for your own outbound links — links you'd share anyway. It's not a way to spy on people who didn't consent to be tracked. Two free opens come with every account so you can try it on a real application without upgrading; if it earns its keep in your job search, the paid tier unlocks unlimited reveals.

Create your first tracked link →