I figured out how to actually be the “first applicant” on LinkedIn

I finally figured this out and it’s kind of ridiculous that LinkedIn doesn’t make it obvious.

Like most people, I used to sort jobs by “Past 24 hours” and assume I was seeing fresh listings.
Turns out… you’re not.

Even with that filter on, LinkedIn still mixes in older jobs, reposts, and listings that already have hundreds of applicants.

The hidden trick: f_TPR

LinkedIn’s job search actually supports a hidden time filter in the URL that’s not exposed in the UI.

There’s a backend parameter called f_TPR that filters by seconds since posted.

Here’s how it works:

• Last 24 hours → r86400
• Last 1 hour → r3600
• Last 10 minutes → r600
• Last 60 seconds → r60

So if your jobs search URL looks like this:

https://www.linkedin.com/jobs/search/?keywords=frontend%20developer

You can change it to:

https://www.linkedin.com/jobs/search/?keywords=frontend%20developer&f_TPR=r60

This biases your feed toward the newest listings and significantly reduces older/reposted jobs.

That’s it. That’s the whole hack.

Does it actually work?

I tested it for a few days and noticed:

• Way fewer listings (obviously)
• Almost zero reposted jobs
• A lot more cases where I genuinely was among the first applicants
• Fewer “500 applicants” nightmares

It doesn’t magically fix the job market.
But it does make the process feel less like shouting into the void.

Why this is frustrating

What annoys me is that:

• LinkedIn already has this functionality
• They just don’t expose it in the UI
• Most people have no idea they’re not actually seeing fresh jobs

So people keep thinking they’re early… when they’re actually applicant #347.

If you’re job hunting

Try it with your own searches:

• Use &f_TPR=r3600 for last hour
• Use &f_TPR=r600 for last 10 minutes
• Use &f_TPR=r60 if you really want to catch things instantly

It’s a small change, but it can make your applications a lot more intentional.

Good luck out there. This market is brutal enough already.