# Why we are building Nico

By Dirk de Kok (https://staging.nico-jobagent.com/blog/authors/dirk)
Published: 2026-09-06
Tags: nico, job-search, product
Canonical: https://staging.nico-jobagent.com/blog/why-we-are-building-nico
Cover image: https://staging.nico-jobagent.com/_astro/cover.CFcBYrC5.png

> Nico is an AI agent that works the whole job hunt with you, one role at a time. Here is what it does today, who it is for, and how the private beta works.

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Looking for a job is a project. It has research, writing, follow-ups, deadlines
and a lot of waiting, and most people run it in the evenings, on top of the job
they already have. We started Nico because that project deserves better tools
than a spreadsheet and a stack of browser tabs.

## The idea in one sentence

Nico is an AI agent that works the whole job hunt with you, built around the
one role that is right for you rather than the hundred that are not.

That sentence carries two choices we made early and have kept.

The first is **the whole job hunt**. Finding a role, preparing an application,
keeping conversations moving and getting ready for interviews are one process
to the person doing it. We wanted one agent that understands all of it, not a
separate tool for each step.

The second is **fit over volume**. Applying to a role you match well, with an
application written for that role, is a better use of an evening than applying
to twenty roles at once. Nico is designed to make the well-matched application
the easy path.

## What Nico does today

**It finds roles where they are first published.** Nico reads the career pages
of thousands of companies directly, in the language they were written in.
Many roles appear there and nowhere else, and the rest appear there first.
You describe what you are looking for, name a city or a company, and Nico
shows you the few roles that fit.

**It reads job descriptions the way a hiring manager would.** For a role you
like, Nico compares your resume to the description and shows where you match
and where you do not. Where there is a gap, it points to courses and resources
that close it, so the next time that kind of role comes around you meet all the
requirements.

**It tailors your resume to the role.** Not a new resume from scratch, but
your resume, with the experience that matters for this role brought forward
and phrased in the language the description uses.

**It keeps every conversation moving.** Nico reads your inbox, surfaces what
needs a reply, helps draft the response and schedules interviews. Every
application has a clear next step and a date on it.

**It works with the assistant you already use.** Nico has its own
intelligence, and it also connects to ChatGPT and Claude, so you can ask about
your applications and interviews from the chat window you already have open.

Nico speaks English, Dutch, German, French and Spanish, and reads job postings
in many more languages than that.

## Who it is for

Anyone whose next role is a considered choice rather than a numbers game.
People changing companies, changing fields, or returning to work after a break.
People who would rather be doing almost anything else than job hunting, and
want it done well anyway.

## The private beta

Nico is in private beta. We are opening spots in small groups so that every
new person gets attention while we learn what works. Requesting access takes a
minute on the [homepage](/), and we will be in touch as spots open up.

On this blog we will write about what we learn along the way: how companies
publish roles, what makes an application land, and what an AI agent can and
cannot do for a job search. If there is a topic you would like us to cover,
reply to any of our emails and tell us.