How Fast Should You Apply to New Job Posts?
Hi friend,
Do you have a list of jobs you haven’t applied to yet? Most people save links and job posts that seem interesting so they can do more research and customize their cover letter and application material. Whether you drop everything to apply when a new job is posted or take your time (and then wonder if that’s hurting your chances), here’s what you need to know about the timing of applying to a new job posting:
Firstly, recruiters and hiring managers often review applications in batches based on when people applied for the job. If enough people in a batch are qualified, they will often proceed straight to interviews before reviewing anyone in a later batch. Even if you are well qualified, you may never get an interview if you applied late. You want to be in the first batch of job applications considered, if at all possible.
Secondly, the majority of job applications come in the first 2-5 days after a job is posted. After that, there is a slow tail off over a two week period. By day 15, recruiters don’t generally expect to see new applications unless it is for an extremely high volume or high demand job (i.e. an Entry Level Software Developer). This means that the first batch is likely to be based on either the first week, or the first two weeks following the post date. To be on the safe side, you should try to apply within the first week.
Thirdly, don’t make the mistake of applying immediately after a job is posted. By immediately, I mean in the first few minutes after something is posted. I have received a surprising number of applications within 10-30 minutes of making a job live, and they were always very poor quality. If a recruiter sees an application in such a short time, they will understandably be skeptical of the amount of research you have done into the company or attention that you paid to the job description. (Unless they previously contacted you about the opening and invited you to apply right away— that’s a different story.) Even if your application is different, don’t create an extra hurdle for yourself. Just hold off until later that day or the next morning.
Obviously, if a job description includes a specific timeline, defer to that. Hiring managers are not in the habit of lying to people in their job description about how long the post will be live and when they will start reviewing applications. But for everything else: apply between days 2 and 5 after a job is posted for the best chances of being considered!
Happy Thursday,
Karissa
