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Home/Resources/Passive Mode
Pro Feature

Passive Mode

You found a job. Or you're just not in the mood to scroll through 200 listings today. Passive Mode keeps working while you don't.

How It Works

Four steps. Once it's set up, you don't touch it again unless you want to.

01

Set your criteria

Job titles, locations, salary floor, remote preference. The same filters you use in manual search, locked in so they run automatically.

02

Pick your score threshold

Only get pinged about jobs that score 70+, 80+, or whatever you choose. You're setting a quality floor so noise stays out of your inbox.

03

We scan every 6 hours

Four times a day, ShouldApply pulls fresh listings from JSearch, Remotive, Adzuna, Arbeitnow, and Wellfound. Every result gets scored against your resume, skills, and experience.

04

You get notified

Email digest with your top matches, in-app notification bell, or both. You pick how you want to hear about it. No match above your threshold? No notification. Simple.

Not Another Job Alert

Indeed and LinkedIn alerts tell you about new postings. That's it. Passive Mode tells you about new postings that actually fit your background.

The Difference
1

Every job in your Passive Mode digest has already been scored against your resume, skills, and experience. It's not just keyword matching.

2

You set a quality floor. No more "500 new jobs" emails where 490 are irrelevant. If it doesn't hit your threshold, you never see it.

3

Scores reflect your actual profile: skill depth, experience years, location preference, salary range, seniority fit. Not just title keywords.

4

One digest per day instead of constant noise. Or real-time bell notifications if you prefer. Your call.

Who It's For

Employed but open

You're not actively searching, but you'd move for the right fit. Passive Mode keeps one eye on the market without you spending any time on it. If a 90+ match shows up at a company you'd actually consider, you'll know.

Taking a break

Burned out on applications. Need a week (or a month) where you don't look at a single job board. Passive Mode runs the search for you while you recharge. The good ones will be waiting in your inbox when you're ready.

Selective searchers

You only want to apply to 90+ matches. You don't want to scroll through 200 listings to find the 3 that are worth your time. Set a high threshold and let the system surface only what actually fits.

Here's the math: If you spend 30 minutes a day scanning job boards manually, that's 3.5 hours a week. Passive Mode runs 4 scans per day across 5 job boards, scoring every result against your full profile. It does in the background what would take you hours, and it only surfaces what's actually worth your attention.

Go Deeper

Job Board Scanning
How ShouldApply searches 6 major boards and deduplicates results.
How Scoring Works
The scoring model behind every match in your digest.
Ghost Job Detection
How stale and fake listings get filtered before they reach you.

Frequently Asked Questions

How often does Passive Mode scan for new jobs?

Every 6 hours. Four times a day, the system pulls fresh listings from all connected job boards, scores them against your profile, and filters out anything below your threshold. You don't need to be logged in for this to happen.

Which job boards does it scan?

JSearch, Remotive, Adzuna, Arbeitnow, and Wellfound. The same sources available in manual search, just running on autopilot.

Can I change my score threshold after setting it?

Yes. You can adjust your threshold anytime from your dashboard. If you set it to 80+ and you're not getting enough matches, drop it to 70+. If you're getting too many, raise it to 85+. Changes take effect on the next scan cycle.

What notifications do I get?

You pick: email digest, in-app notification bell, or both. The email digest groups your matches from the past 24 hours into a single message. The notification bell updates in real time as new matches come in.

Is Passive Mode free?

Passive Mode is a Pro feature. It's included with every Pro plan at no extra cost.

Can I pause Passive Mode?

Yes. One toggle in your dashboard turns it on or off. Your criteria and threshold stay saved, so you can flip it back on whenever you want without setting everything up again.

Passive Mode is included with Pro.

Set your criteria, pick a threshold, and let the search run itself. You'll only hear from us when something's worth your time.

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