How it works
One resume in. A running pipeline of applications out.
Here's the actual sequence — from the first upload to a submitted application — with nothing glossed over.
- 01
Onboard once
Upload your resume. Propel extracts your skills and current role, and proposes next-level roles as aspirations for you to confirm, edit, or replace.
- Add optional context: LinkedIn, GitHub, a portfolio or blog, and a short questionnaire on your strengths, working style, and preferences
- Provide an existing resume per aspiration, or let Propel draft one — either way, you review and correct it before it's used
- Turn off any job boards you don't want searched, and name your current employer if you want it excluded from results
- Set your defaults: auto-apply or approval-required, and typical or aggressive tailoring
- 02
Define what you're looking for
A default criteria set is created for you automatically from your profile. Add more whenever you want to run a different kind of search.
- Name the set, choose the aspiration or role it targets, and set the skills that should — and shouldn't — appear in a match
- Set target locations and pick which resume to use, from your profile or newly uploaded
- Every configured job board is searched for this set unless you exclude one specifically
- 03
Propel searches, continuously
Every criteria set runs against every applicable job board, and matching postings are tracked separately per set so you always know why a job showed up.
- You can also hand it postings directly — as a PDF, a page save, or just a link — without interrupting any search already in progress
- New matches are queued for review or for automatic processing, depending on your autonomy setting
- 04
Applications get prepared
For each queued posting, Propel pulls the matching criteria set, resume, and your profile, then prepares a version of your resume tuned to that specific job description.
- Typical tailoring makes cosmetic changes where a strong match already exists
- Aggressive tailoring makes deeper changes where the match is real but partial
- A cover letter is generated only if the posting asks for one
- 05
Propel actually applies
Up to your configured daily limit, applications are submitted — the rest stay queued in order and pick up the next day.
- If the posting wants an email application, Propel finds the recruiter's address in the listing and sends your tailored resume directly
- If it's a website application, a computer-use browser agent opens the page, creates an account if one's required, and fills every field from your profile and resume
- It uploads the correct resume version, submits the form, and corrects course on validation errors before trying again
- 06
You handle what only you can
If a form stalls after repeated attempts, that application is flagged 'needs your input' — with the exact problem and what's needed to resolve it, not a vague failure.
- Flagged applications surface at the top of your list, in a distinct color, so nothing sits unnoticed
- Answer in plain text; Propel checks the answer is actually sufficient before re-queuing the application
- Anything still incomplete stays flagged rather than being submitted half-finished
- 07
Review everything, anytime
Every application — applied, queued, or flagged — keeps a full record: the exact resume and cover letter used, and every question-and-answer submitted on the form.
- No re-entering information to check what was sent
- A clear paper trail if a recruiter follows up on something specific
Autonomy, made explicit
Two dials, set independently.
How much Propel changes your resume, and how much it does without asking, are two separate decisions — set them however you're comfortable.
Tailoring
Typical
Cosmetic changes — reordering, emphasis, keyword alignment — applied where your background is already a good fit.
Aggressive
Stronger rewrites, used where the role is a partial but real match, to make the connection more legible to an ATS and a recruiter.
Applying
Auto-apply
Propel submits the moment a posting clears your criteria, up to your daily cap — no per-job confirmation.
Approval-required
Every prepared application waits for your yes before anything is sent or submitted.