How to tell if a job is worth applying for: fit, conditions and red flags

Why it pays to filter before you apply

Applying has a cost that hardly anyone counts: the time spent tailoring your CV, writing the cover letter if one is asked for, and then waiting for a reply. If that time goes on roles you don't fit, roles that don't exist or roles that hide conditions you would never accept, your search drags on and wears you down for no reason.

And not every advert is real. Greenhouse, a recruitment software company, reported that in any given quarter between 18% and 22% of jobs posted on its platform are classified as ghost jobs. That is data from its own platform, mostly US and European employers, but it shows the problem is real and not small.

How to tell if a job is worth applying for: five reading steps

Reading an advert properly takes no more than ten minutes. The order matters: first whatever can rule it out quickly, then whatever needs closer attention. If the answer at any step is a clear no, you can stop there.

1. 1
   Check the date and the employer

   An advert more than a month old, or one with no identifiable employer, starts with doubts. Look the company up and check whether the role also appears on its own careers page.

2. 2
   Separate essential from desirable

   Mark what the advert says is essential and what it says would be a plus. The first decides whether you apply; the second only ranks people who already meet the basics.

3. 3
   Check the conditions

   Working pattern, location, hours, type of contract and salary, if it is published. If any of them is something you would not accept, don't spend time on it, however good the employer looks.

4. 4
   Look for red flags

   Requests for money, promises of high earnings for little work, contact from a free email address, pressure to decide quickly or requests for bank details before any interview.

5. 5
   Decide with the scoring sheet

   Add up the fit signals and take off the warning signals with the sheet further down. It gives you a quick answer you can compare across jobs.

Criteria: which ones decide and which don't

Plenty of people rule out a job because they don't meet every criterion, when the advert mixes what is essential with a wish list. The wording gives it away: «essential», «required» or «must have» mark what decides; «desirable», «a plus» or «nice to have» mark what ranks.

An impossible requirement is something else: five years' experience for an entry-level role, ten different tools for a junior post, or experience with a technology for longer than it has existed. It usually means an advert written in a hurry or a process that doesn't yet know what it wants. It isn't always a reason not to apply, but it is a reason to read the rest more carefully.

Ghost jobs: how to spot them

A ghost job is an advert posted or kept live with no real intention of hiring in the short term. It may be a role already filled that nobody took down, a listing used to collect CVs just in case, or an advert reposted every few weeks without anyone reaching interview.

No single signal confirms it, but several together are a good reason to give it less time. If the role still interests you, apply quickly, without a tailored cover letter, and don't count it as a live process until someone gets in touch.

• Posted more than 30 days ago, or reposted several times with the same text.
• A generic description that could belong to any company in the sector.
• No company name, or an employer that doesn't show the role on its own careers page.
• A very high number of applicants and no visible movement for weeks.
• An «always open» advert for the same role, with no closing date or start date.

Hidden salaries: what to do when the range isn't published

Plenty of UK adverts still say «competitive salary» or leave pay out altogether. That doesn't make a job bad, but it means you need to find out before investing a lot of time. If similar roles do publish a range, use those as a benchmark; if you know someone at the company or in the sector, ask what is reasonable.

As a reference from across the Channel, the EU's Directive 2023/970 gives job applicants the right to receive the starting pay or its range from the employer, for example in the job advert or before the interview, and bars employers from asking about pay history. EU countries had until 7 June 2026 to bring it into national law. The UK is no longer in the EU and is not covered by the directive, so in the UK the question is still yours to ask.

Fake job adverts: the signs of a scam

A fake advert isn't trying to hire you: it wants your money or your data. The most common ones promise a lot of money for little work, ask you to pay for training, a uniform, a background check or a starter kit, or ask for bank details and ID documents before any interview. Others impersonate a well-known company while writing from a free email address or a foreign messaging number.

The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) sums it up in a rule that works in any country: never pay to get a job. It also warns about the cheque trick, where a supposed employer sends you money and asks you to send part of it back. No genuine employer does that.

Cernoria's scoring sheet: fit against red flags

To decide quickly and compare jobs, we use a simple sheet of signals. Each fit signal adds a point and each warning signal takes one away. The two scam signals don't take points off: they rule the job out straight away.

An example from start to finish: one advert analysed

An invented advert, to see the sheet in action. It is read by Hannah Example, an accounts assistant with three years' experience who is looking for a hybrid role in Leeds.

The checklist to run before you apply

Copy this list and run every job through it before you open your CV.

• Is the advert under 30 days old, with an employer I can identify?
• Do I meet every essential criterion?
• Do I meet half or more of the desirable ones?
• Do the working pattern, location, hours and contract type suit me?
• Is the salary published, or do I know how to find it out before going further?
• Are there impossible requirements or a generic description?
• Am I being asked for money or bank details, or promised easy earnings?
• How many points does it score on the sheet?