1Five Minutes Before You Apply
The decision to apply to a role is a real commitment. A decent application takes 30-90 minutes. Most people make that commitment based on 30 seconds of scrolling through a job description.
A structured 5-minute evaluation before you commit changes the math: you apply to fewer roles and convert at a higher rate because you're spending time on roles where you have a genuine case to make.
2The Checklist
1. Posting age
When was this posted? Anything over 30 days old has a materially lower probability of active review. Over 60 days and you should confirm via the careers page or recruiter before investing time.
2. Core requirements check
Read the first 5 required qualifications. Do you meet them? These are the items hiring managers actually screen for. Missing 2 or more at this level is a real gap, not a number gap.
3. Salary check
Is a range posted? If yes, does it work for you? If no, use a salary estimator or pay transparency laws to get a rough number. Don't invest significant time before knowing whether the comp is in your range.
4. JD specificity scan
Does the description name actual projects, tools, team size, or near-term goals? Specific JDs signal a real, defined role. Vague JDs ("dynamic self-starter, fast-paced environment") often signal a placeholder or poorly defined hire.
5. Company health check
One minute on LinkedIn: headcount trend over 12 months, recent news, Glassdoor rating. Growing headcount and a recent product launch are positive signals. Recent layoffs combined with a vague JD are a different story.
6. Apply link quality
Does the link go to a real careers page, or does it redirect through multiple trackers to a broken form? Broken apply links are a dead job signal. If the link doesn't work, check the company careers page directly.
Go through these in order. Each takes 30-60 seconds. The whole thing is under 5 minutes.
3Decision Matrix
After the checklist, you're in one of three situations.
All six checks pass: apply. This is a well-defined, recent, feasible role at a stable company with comp that works. Your 30-90 minutes of application time is well spent here.
Three to five pass: make a call. If the gaps are in non-critical areas (older posting but comp and fit are strong, or JD is vague but the company is credible), you can proceed with lower application investment. If the gaps are in comp or core requirements, skip.
Two or fewer pass: skip or deprioritize. This isn't a high-probability application. You're competing against better information or a structural issue that won't resolve. Save the time for a role where the checklist looks better.
4What Makes This Faster
The Job Authenticity Score automates steps 1, 4, and 6. It combines posting age, JD specificity, source quality, and apply link status into a single 0-100 number. A score above 70 means the posting passes the structural checks.
The fit score handles step 2 automatically: it reads the JD and compares your profile against the core requirements, weighted by importance. You see the gap analysis in 60 seconds instead of 10 minutes of manual comparison.
Steps 3 and 5 still require a human judgment call. The salary estimator helps with step 3; the company page review for step 5 takes 60 seconds.
Get the posting authenticity score and fit breakdown in one place.
Check a Job5How to Use the Checklist When You're Time-Constrained
If you only have 2 minutes, do steps 1, 2, and 3. Posting age, core requirements, and comp alignment are the three filters that eliminate the most wasted applications. The other checks add nuance; these three add clarity.
Don't skip step 2 under time pressure. Applying to a role where you're missing core requirements isn't an optimization, it's noise for both you and the recruiter reviewing your application.
Written by
Jesse Johnson
Founder, ShouldApply
Founder of ShouldApply. I write about job search strategy, hiring, and how to spend your time on opportunities that actually fit. Full bio →
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Frequently Asked Questions
Posting age and core requirements, in that order. A great fit on a 60-day-old posting is a lower-quality opportunity than a decent fit on a 3-day-old posting. And applying when you're missing core requirements is usually a low-ROI use of application time.
Check the company's careers page for the same role. If it appears there, it's active in their ATS. If it's on LinkedIn or Indeed but not on the careers page, the posting may be expired or the listing may not have been taken down. The careers page is the most current source.
Short JDs are either very early-stage companies where the role is still being defined, or placeholder postings. A 3-sentence job description at a company with 200 employees is a red flag. The same at a 5-person seed startup is more explainable.
For roles you're going to invest 60+ minutes in: yes. A 30-second Glassdoor scan takes less time than any other part of the process and will occasionally surface a strong signal you would have missed. For lower-priority applications, skip it and return to it if you get an interview.
Two weeks is fine. At two weeks, most roles are in the middle of their active review window. The concern is 30+ days, where many processes have already moved to later rounds. Apply to a 2-week-old posting the same way you'd apply to a 3-day-old one.
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A more detailed guide to extracting useful signal from a JD.
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How to Know If a LinkedIn Job Is Worth Applying To
A LinkedIn-specific version of this checklist with platform-specific signals.
A 5-minute check before every application compounds over time.
The authenticity score and fit breakdown automate the most time-consuming parts. Use the 5 minutes for the judgment calls the tools can't make.
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