How Filters Work

Every job upHunter finds on Upwork goes through your filters before it reaches you. This page explains how they work together so you can set them up the way you want.

The Core Rule: AND Between, OR Within

Each filter type acts as a gate. A job must pass all active filter types to reach you. But within a single filter type, a job only needs to match one entry.

	Logic	Example
Between filter types	AND — all must pass	Categories AND Keywords AND Countries
Within a filter type	OR — any match is enough	"React" OR "Vue" OR "Angular"

For example, if your categories include "Web Development" and your keywords are "React" and "Vue", a job is sent only if it's in the Web Development category and contains either "React" or "Vue" in the searched fields.

Empty Means "No Restriction"

Leaving a filter empty doesn't block jobs — it removes that filter from the pipeline entirely:

• No keywords set → all keywords are accepted (within your categories)
• No countries set → all countries are accepted
• No budget filters set → all budgets are accepted

Only set a filter when you want to narrow results. The only required filter is categories.

Dependent Options

Some settings only take effect when their related filter is active. If the parent filter is empty or at its default, these options have no impact:

Option	Depends on	What it does when the parent is active
Search scope toggles (title, description, skills)	Keywords list	Controls which job fields are searched for keyword matches. No keywords set → toggles do nothing.
Search scope toggles (title, description, skills)	Stop words list	Controls which job fields are checked for stop words. No stop words set → toggles do nothing.
Include new clients + threshold	Minimum rating or minimum hire rate	Lets new clients bypass the rating and hire rate filters. If neither minimum is set → nothing to bypass, toggle has no effect.

Filters like payment verified and hourly unspecified are independent — they filter jobs on their own criteria regardless of other settings.

Filter Evaluation Order

Filters are checked in this order. If any filter fails, the job is rejected immediately and remaining filters are not evaluated:

1. Categories
2. Keywords
3. Stop words
4. Countries (include / exclude)
5. Finance filters
6. Client filters