Questions, answered plainly.

It turns the documents you already have into a profile where every fact has a source, finds real opportunities you can win — jobs, internships, investors, accelerators, grants, fellowships, calls for papers, residencies, competitions and more — and prepares each application for you. You tap the ones you want, confirm, and we submit, follow up and keep going toward the goal you set.

Whatever you already have: a résumé or CV, a pitch deck, a portfolio, a transcript, papers, certificates, or links to your website, GitHub or ORCID. PDF, Word, PowerPoint and plain text all work. LinkedIn can't be read automatically, so save your LinkedIn profile as a PDF and upload that. Please don't upload passports or ID cards; we don't need them.

Rarely. Fields are filled from your profile, and when something is missing we ask with options to tap, at most three questions at a time. When an application asks something only you can answer — why you want this particular role or program — we ask you for a sentence or two instead of inventing your motivation.

Jobs and internships, graduate programs and returnships; investors, accelerators, incubators, pitch competitions and trade shows; grants, fellowships, scholarships, awards and hackathons; calls for papers, journals, PhD, postdoc and visiting positions; residencies, open calls and brand partnerships; speaking slots, podcasts and media; communities and events. The library grows as we add sources.

First we remove what you aren't eligible for: wrong level, location, language, work authorization or a passed deadline. Then we rank the rest by fit, your chances and the effort involved, and show the reasons and the gaps for each one. Tell us why something isn't for you, and the next picks take it into account.

Yes. You can run a job search and a PhD application, or a fundraise and a speaking push, side by side. Each goal has its own success definition and milestones; your board shows them together.

No. Every fact in a generated document traces to a document you uploaded or something you confirmed. Claims we can't source are highlighted for you, never sent quietly. We reflect a posting's keywords only where your record supports them.

No. Each application and each email waits for your tap. The only exception is a standing authorization you switch on yourself in Settings for a category you choose — for example, automatic follow-ups, which come with Pro — and you can switch it off at any time. Every submission keeps a record of what you approved and when.

They tell you how a draft was made. “Drafted from your profile” means our own engine assembled it from your sourced facts, without sending anything to an AI provider. “Written with AI” means a language model polished it, using only your facts. Either way, every sentence shows the facts it used.

No, and nobody honest can. Decisions belong to the organisations you apply to. What we can promise is that you'll see more of the right opportunities, apply to more of them with less effort, and never be misrepresented.

Each email is written for one person and sent from your own Gmail, never in bulk. There are daily and weekly limits; we never start a new conversation with the same person within 30 days; a thread gets at most 2 polite follow-ups, which stop as soon as a reply is recorded (forward it to your reply address or tap “they replied”). Anyone whose reply asks not to be contacted is never emailed again by any Onward Scout user.

Yes, with a parent or guardian: we ask for a guardian's email on your profile before your first submission, and outreach email is switched off for under-18s. Onward Scout is not for children under 13.

You, and the organisations you approve an application to. Files are kept in private storage and opened through short-lived links. They are sent to a service provider only when it's needed for a task you asked for — for example, to an AI provider for drafting when AI drafting is switched on. Our analytics tool can also record the pages where you upload, including images, unless you turn analytics off in Cookie settings.

No. We don't train models on your data, and under our AI provider's commercial terms the content we send through its API isn't used to train its models either. Today most drafting runs on our own engine, which sends nothing anywhere.

In Settings you can download everything we hold about you and delete your account. Deleting removes your profile, documents, applications and messages; billing records are kept as long as accounting law requires.

No. If you connect Gmail, we ask only for permission to send email on your behalf, plus your address so we know which account it is. We can't read your inbox. To let us see a reply, forward it to your personal drop-box address or paste it into the application.

We use one analytics tool, FlowGlance. Besides page views and clicks, its detailed capture records text typed into forms on our site and images uploaded through it. In the EU, the UK and Switzerland it only runs after you accept; elsewhere it runs by default and you can opt out from “Cookie settings” in the footer.

Because those platforms forbid automated applications, and doing it anyway would put your account at risk. Instead we prepare a handoff: your cover letter, answers and files in the order their form asks for them, with the exact link. You paste them in and tap “I submitted it”.

The moment a person is genuinely needed — a CAPTCHA, a login, a payment, a signature, or a platform that forbids automation. We stop, tell you exactly what's needed, and have everything else ready: you open the official form, paste the prepared fields in order and submit. That usually takes a few minutes, with nothing to write. A single quick action, like sending a ready email from your mail app, takes seconds.

We never try to get around it. The application moves to “Needs you”, you get a notification, and the handoff panel shows the link, the step that's needed and every prepared field. Once you've done it, tap “I submitted it” and we carry on with the follow-up.

Connect your Gmail once, with send-only permission. Each email is drafted for one recipient, shown to you, and sent from your own address after you approve it. Without Gmail, you get the finished text and a link that opens it in your own email app.

A free, complete run of the whole flow against our own test form: we prepare the answers and documents, you confirm, we submit and show you the confirmation. Nothing reaches a real organisation, and it costs no credits.

One credit is one application submitted for you through any channel, including a handoff you confirm, or one outreach email to a new contact. Follow-ups, drafts and practice applications don't use credits.

Build your profile, get matched and ranked picks, see previews and document drafts, send follow-ups and run practice applications — all free, with no time limit. New accounts also get 3 credits, valid for 60 days, to submit their first real applications.

You keep it. A credit is reserved when you confirm and only spent once the application is actually submitted. If it fails, you withdraw it, or the deadline passes first, the credit comes back automatically.

Yes. Cancel from Billing in your account. You keep Pro until the end of the period you paid for, and credits from that period stay usable for 30 days after it ends. Nothing renews after you cancel.

Yes. Free starter credits last 60 days. Pro credits stay usable for 30 days after the month they belong to. Pack credits last 180 days from purchase.

Yes, within 14 days of a charge, if none of the credits from that charge have been used. Write to contact@onwardscout.com from the email you sign in with. Credits spent on submitted applications can't be refunded, and failed submissions never use a credit in the first place.

No. You can drop in your documents and see what we find before signing in. To save your profile and apply, sign in with your email; the draft you started moves into your account.

With your email address and a one-time code we send to it. There's no password to remember and no separate sign-up: a new email creates your account in the same step.

The site and the app are in English and Chinese. Your documents can be in any language, and drafts can be written in English or Chinese, whichever the opportunity calls for.

Write to contact@onwardscout.com or use the contact form. We reply to every message within two business days.