Automated Job Search with AI-Generated Cover Letters

🎯 What This Template Does

This workflow transforms your job search from a time-consuming daily chore into a fully automated system. Every 24 hours, it searches Google Jobs and RemoteOK for positions matching your criteria, generates unique AI-powered cover letters for each role, and delivers a polished HTML email digest straight to your inbox.

⚡ Key Features

• Multi-Platform Search: Simultaneously queries Google Jobs (via SerpAPI) and RemoteOK
• Smart Filtering: Automatically removes duplicates and low-quality postings
• AI-Powered Cover Letters: Uses OpenAI GPT-3.5 to write personalized 60-word cover letters for each position
• Beautiful Email Digests: HTML-formatted emails with job details, descriptions, and apply buttons
• Zero Manual Work: Runs automatically every 24 hours
• Cost-Effective: ~$0 for first 3 months using free API tiers, then ~$3/month

⏱️ Time Saved

📋 Prerequisites

1. SerpAPI Account

• Cost: FREE tier (100 searches/month)
• Sign up: https://serpapi.com/
• What you need: API key from dashboard

2. OpenAI Account

• Cost: FREE ($5 trial credits)
• Sign up: https://platform.openai.com/
• What you need: API key (requires phone verification)

3. Email Service

• Cost: FREE (use existing email)
• Options: Gmail, Outlook, or any SMTP provider
• Gmail users: Use App Password (requires 2FA enabled)

🚀 Quick Start Guide

Step 1: Get API Keys (10 minutes)

SerpAPI Setup

1. Go to https://serpapi.com/ and sign up
2. Verify your email
3. Log in → Dashboard
4. Copy your API key

OpenAI Setup

1. Go to https://platform.openai.com/
2. Create account and verify phone number
3. Profile icon → View API keys
4. Create new secret key
5. Copy immediately (shown only once)

Gmail Setup (if using Gmail)

1. Google Account → Security
2. Enable 2-Step Verification
3. Search for "App Passwords"
4. Generate app password for Mail
5. Copy the 16-character password

Step 2: Add Credentials to n8n (5 minutes)

Add SerpAPI

1. n8n Credentials → Add Credential
2. Select "HTTP Query Auth"
3. Name: api_key
4. Value: [paste your SerpAPI key]
5. Save

Add OpenAI

1. Add Credential → OpenAI
2. Paste your API key
3. Save

Add SMTP

1. Add Credential → SMTP
2. Configure:
   • Host: smtp.gmail.com
   • Port: 587
   • Security: STARTTLS
   • Username: [email protected]
   • Password: [app password]
3. Save

Step 3: Configure Your Search (2 minutes)

Click the "Settings" node and update:

query - Your target job title

• ✅ Good: senior react developer
• ✅ Good: product manager saas
• ✅ Good: data scientist machine learning
• ❌ Bad: developer (too broad)

location - Where you want to work

• For remote: Remote
• For city: San Francisco, CA
• For city: New York, NY
• For state: Texas
• 💡 Tip: Start with Remote for most options

email - Your email address

• Use the SAME email from SMTP setup
• Example: [email protected]

Step 4: Connect Credentials

1. Click "Search Google Jobs" node → Select SerpAPI credential
2. Click "Generate Letter" node → Select OpenAI credential
3. Click "Send Email" node → Select SMTP credential
4. Click "No Results Email" node → Select SMTP credential

Step 5: Test & Activate

1. Click "Execute Workflow" button (top right)
2. Watch nodes light up green ✅
3. Wait 30-60 seconds
4. Check your email inbox
5. If successful → Toggle "Active" switch
6. Done! You'll receive daily job digests

📧 What You'll Receive

Each day, you'll get an email containing:

• Up to 4 highly relevant job listings
• Company name and location for each
• Job description snippets
• AI-generated personalized cover letter for each position
• Direct "Apply Now" button
• Source attribution (Google Jobs vs RemoteOK)