Complete Getting Started Guide

Welcome to preparAItor! This guide walks you through your first complete job application — from creating an account to downloading finished documents. It is the overview: each step links to a detailed guide if you want to go deeper.

What You Will Accomplish

• Create and verify your preparAItor account
• Find your way around the dashboard and main navigation
• Upload your CV and review the AI-extracted data
• Add a job posting by URL, PDF, or pasted text
• Generate a complete application package and download it

The whole process takes about 15 minutes the first time. Later applications are much faster because your CV is already saved.

1. Create Your Account

Sign Up

1. Open the sign-up page. The Create Account screen asks for your First Name, Last Name, Email, and a Password (with confirmation). A Display Name is optional — it is just how the app addresses you.
2. Tick the two checkboxes: I confirm that I am at least 16 years old and the acceptance of the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
3. Click Create account & verify email. Alternatively, use Sign up with Google to register with your Google account.

Verify Your Email

After registering with email and password, you land on the Verify Your Email screen. Check your inbox (and spam folder) for the verification link and click it. The screen checks your status automatically and forwards you to the dashboard once you are verified — if nothing arrives, use Resend Verification Email, or click I've Verified My Email after confirming.

You must verify your email before you can use the app's features.

2. Find Your Way Around

After logging in you land on the Dashboard. The main navigation at the top has five entries:

• Dashboard — your home base: credit balance, plan, storage, and recent activity.
• CV Builder — create and polish CVs from scratch (see the CV Maker guide).
• Apply AI — the generation wizard where application packages are created. This is where you will spend most of this guide.
• Tracker — your long-term application tracker (see the Application Tracker guide).
• Interview — AI interview practice. On the Free plans this entry carries a PRO badge once your two free lifetime sessions are used.

The Dashboard

On a brand-new account, the dashboard header shows a short checklist — "Four quick steps to your first set of documents" — mirroring exactly what you will do below. You will also see:

• Current Plan — your Credits balance, a countdown to your monthly credit reset, and any purchased top-up credits.
• CV Storage and Job Storage rings — how many of your CV and saved-job slots are in use (the Free plan has 50 CV slot and 50 job slot).
• Quick Actions — shortcuts such as Application History, Interview Practice, Upgrade Plan, Buy Additional Credits, and Manage Billing.
• Recent Activity — your latest generations.

Your credit balance is also shown inside the Apply AI wizard while you work, so you always know what an action will cost before you run it.

3. How Credits Work

Everything runs on one simple credit balance. The Free plan includes 250 credits every month, no credit card required. The actions in this guide cost:

So your first complete application costs 125 credits, and the free monthly allowance covers roughly two full applications. Reviewing, editing, and downloading are always free, and reusing an already-analyzed CV or saved job costs nothing.

Separately, every account — on any plan — gets 2 free lifetime interview sessions (1 coaching + 1 practice) to try the AI interviewer; beyond those, a session costs 150 credits and requires a Pro or Premium plan.

Full details: How the credit system works.

4. Generate Your First Application

Open Apply AI in the main navigation. The page has two sections, Build and History; Build opens a stepper with four steps: Upload CV, Job Details, Review, and Generate. Use Next and Back in the footer to move between steps.

Step 1 — Upload CV

1. Drag and drop your CV onto the dropzone, or click it to browse. Accepted files: PDF (up to 5 MB and 5 pages) or plain text (.txt).
2. The AI analyzes your document (15 credits) and turns it into editable fields: personal information, work experience, education, skills, and languages.
3. Review the extracted data and correct anything the analysis missed — a more complete CV means better-personalized output.

Your CV is saved for reuse: next time you simply pick it from the list at the top of this step instead of uploading again. The Free plan holds 50 CV at a time (Pro 50, Premium 50).

Deeper dive: Upload your CV and Manage multiple CVs.

Step 2 — Job Details

At the top of this step sits your Saved Jobs library — any previously analyzed job can be selected again without spending credits. The Free plan stores 50 job (, Pro 50, Premium 50); when the library is full, a replacement picker lets you choose which saved job to swap out.

Below it, three tabs let you add a new job (10 credits) — you only need one:

• URL — paste the link to the job posting and click Analyze URL. Use the direct link to the specific job page, not a search-results page — the cleaner the URL, the better the analysis.
• PDF Upload — drag and drop a PDF of the posting (up to 10 MB and 10 pages). It processes automatically.
• Manual — paste the Job Description (minimum 50 characters) and click Analyze Job. Job title, company, and address are optional fields under Additional details (optional); by default the AI extracts them from the text.

Deeper dive: Adding and processing job details.

Step 3 — Review

The Review Information screen shows a summary of everything that will feed the generation:

1. Personal Information — name, email, phone, and address used in your document headers. This is the one section you can edit directly here; complete any missing fields.
2. CV Summary and Job Summary — read-only previews of the analyzed data. To change them, go back to Step 1 or Step 2.

The step warns you about missing personal fields or a too-short job description before letting you continue.

Step 4 — Generate

The Generation Settings screen is where you configure the output:

• Choose Template — the built-in standard template is free to use; on the Free plan it places a small preparAItor watermark on the cover letter and email. Watermark-free premium templates require a paid plan, and Premium users can also upload their own Word templates (see Custom templates).
• Language — every plan generates in German, English, French, and Italian. When German is selected, the Swiss Orthography toggle replaces "ß" with "ss" — turn it on if you are applying in Switzerland.
• Writing Tone — Formal is available on every plan; Confident, Friendly, Enthusiastic, and Direct are unlocked on Pro and Premium.

When everything looks right, click Generate in the wizard footer (the button shows the 100-credit cost). Generation typically takes 2–3 minutes and can take up to 5; it runs in the background — you can safely navigate away and pick the results up in History.

Deeper dive: Generate application documents and How generation works behind the scenes.

5. Your Application Package

A successful generation produces up to five documents:

• Motivational Letter — a cover letter tailored to the job and your background.
• Application Email — a ready-to-send application email.
• Interview Q&A — likely interview questions with suggested answers for this role.
• Job Summary — a concise analysis of the position and company.
• Job Posting — an archived copy of the original posting for your records.

6. Download Your Documents

Switch to the History section of Apply AI (or use the Application History quick action on the dashboard) to open your Generation History. Find your generation and download each document in the formats your plan allows — the Free plan downloads watermarked PDFs; Word and text formats come with higher plans. Download All (ZIP) bundles everything into one archive on the Premium plan.

Generation history is kept for up to 30 days, so download what you need — for long-term records, use the Tracker (next section).

Deeper dive: Generation history and downloads.

7. After You Apply

1. Review and personalize. Open each document and make final tweaks before sending.
2. Send your application. Use the Application Email as your starting point and attach the Motivational Letter.
3. Track it. Add the application to the Tracker so you keep an overview of statuses and follow-ups — the Free plan tracks up to 5 applications, each kept for 365 days. See the Application Tracker guide.
4. Prepare for the interview. Study the Interview Q&A, then try a live session under Interview — your first coaching and practice sessions are free on any plan. See Interview preparation.
5. Generate again. For the next application, go straight to Apply AI — your CV is already saved, so you only add the new job (10 credits) and generate (100 credits).

8. Getting Help

• In-app feedback — use the feedback option inside the app to report problems or suggest improvements (text-only; see Feedback and getting help).
• Email — admin@preparaitor.ch is the single point of contact for support, billing, and privacy questions.

You are all set. Good luck with your applications!