Abstract: The disclosed embodiments provide a system for processing data. During operation, the system obtains a set of rules for filtering job recommendations, wherein the rules are selected to maximize a reduction in negative outcomes associated with the job recommendations. Next, the system generates a label for a set of candidate-job pairs that match one or more of the rules and inputs the label with a set of candidate-job features for the set of candidate-job pairs as training data for a filtering model. The system then applies the filtering model to additional candidate-job features associated with a candidate and a set of jobs to produce a set of scores, wherein each score represents a likelihood that the candidate perceives a corresponding job as an undesirable recommendation. Finally, the system outputs a subset of the jobs as recommendations to the candidate based on the set of scores.