1Age is a clue, not a verdict
A listing that's been up for 64 days isn't dead. It isn't fresh either. What matters is which of those facts counts for the role in front of you.
In the scoring engine, posting age is the heaviest single input. Each age band adds a fixed number of points to the ghost probability: nothing under 30 days, 20 points from 30 to 59 days, 35 from 60 to 89, and 50 from 90 days on. The total caps at 95 percent.
Age alone tops out at 50. That's deliberate. A 90-day-old posting is flagged as risky, but it takes a second signal, like a missing careers-page listing, to push the score toward "probably dead."
Treat the number as a prompt to look closer, not a reason to skip. The same 64-day-old listing can be a stalled search at a company that's still hiring, or a corpse nobody remembers to delete. The checks below tell you which.
Ghost points added by posting age
Fixed values from the scoring engine, before other signals
Age adds nothing. Other signals can still fire.
Aging. Worth a quick application, not a long one.
Verify before you invest an evening.
The heaviest single signal in the model.
The full model adds other signals on top and caps the total at 95 percent.
2Why some good jobs stay up for 60 days
Time to fill varies a lot by role. Senior, specialized and regulated hires usually take longer than retail or entry-level searches, because there are more interview rounds, more approvers and fewer qualified applicants. Sixty days on a director-level listing says less than sixty days on a customer support one.
Two other things stretch a posting's age without any problem behind it. Evergreen roles like delivery drivers, nurses and inside sales stay posted because the company hires for them all year. And some applicant tracking systems can refresh a listing on a schedule, which resets the date and makes an old role look new.
So age can understate a problem as easily as it overstates one. That's why it's the first check, not the only one.
3Find the real posting date
On LinkedIn the date sits under the job title. On Indeed it's lower in the listing, near the footer. Both show the most recent date, which means a reposted role looks younger than it is.
The scoring engine adds 25 points when it detects that a posting was seen earlier under a different date. If you suspect a role has cycled through the board, what a reposted job listing means explains the patterns, and the reposted-after-interview checker covers the case where you've already talked to the company.
Saving a copy helps. If you plan to apply, copy the description text and note the date. When the same role reappears, you can see whether anything changed: a new pay range, a new reporting line, a different list of tools. Changes mean someone is working the requisition. Identical text for the third time means the listing is on autopilot.
4A ten-minute check for any listing past 60 days
Run these in order. Stop as soon as one fails clearly.
- Search the careers page. Look for the same title on the company's own site. The scoring engine adds 30 points if a board listing has no match there, and subtracts 15 if it's confirmed.
- Find a human. A named recruiter, a hiring manager in the description, or a recent post about the team all suggest someone owns the requisition.
- Compare the wording. If the description has changed since you first saw it, with new tools or a new pay range, somebody is still editing the req.
- Check the pay. No salary adds 10 points. In states that require pay ranges, a missing one is an extra tell.
- Price the application. If it takes fifteen minutes, apply. If it needs a tailored cover letter, wait until the careers-page and recruiter checks pass.
5How the signals add up
Age rarely acts alone. These examples use the scoring engine's real point values.
Four old listings, scored
Points are summed, then capped at 95
| Category | Score | Your move |
|---|---|---|
| 65 days, on the careers page35 - 15 | 20 points | Apply today. The role is live and just slow. |
| 65 days, on the careers page, no salary35 + 10 - 15 | 30 points | Apply. Ask about pay in the first call. |
| 65 days, not on the careers page35 + 30 | 65 points | Skip, unless you know someone inside. |
| 95 days, reposted, no salary50 + 25 + 10 | 85 points | Skip. The odds don't justify the hours. |
Two of these four old listings are worth applying to. Age alone would have flagged all four.
6Put the saved time somewhere better
The point of checking is to stop treating every listing the same. Run the ghost job checker on anything that looks stale, and score the keepers against your resume with Should I Apply before you tailor anything.
For a wider look at why employers leave dead listings up, why companies post ghost jobs walks through the survey data. And the jobs board shows the ghost flag on every posting before you open it.
Every posting in the jobs board carries a ghost probability, so you see the age penalty before you click.
Browse Scored JobsWritten 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
There's no fixed cutoff. The scoring engine starts adding ghost points at 30 days, adds more at 60, and reaches its maximum age penalty at 90. Evergreen and senior roles can run past all three and still be real.
Check the company's careers page first. If the role is still listed there and a recruiter is named, apply quickly. If it's missing from the careers page, treat it as a likely dead listing and move on.
On the board it does, since the date shown is the new one. The scoring engine adds 25 points when it detects a repost, so a young-looking listing with a repost history is scored as riskier than its date suggests.
Not necessarily. A company that hires for the same role all year may keep a standing ad with real seats behind it. Look for a named recruiter and a consistent posting pattern. Without them, treat it as a talent pool.
Sources & References
- Age bands add 0, 20, 35 or 50 ghost points; careers-page miss +30; repost +25; no salary +10; confirmed on careers page -15; total capped at 95ShouldApply scoring engine (ghost probability model)Proprietary Data
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