One of the challenges of looking for a job when you have a job is finding time to apply, without taking the risks of applying on the company time. For that reason, some job seekers dedicate their weekends to job searching, sending off their cover letters, CVs, and cold inquiries on Saturday and Sunday. There’s just one problem: a recent study shows that by waiting until no one’s in the office, you might be consigning your resume to a black hole.
(Photo Credit: Death to the Stock Photo)
The SmartRecruiters study examined 270,000-plus job postings in the hiring platform’s system to determine which days of the week were most popular for job postings, and which were most popular for job applying.
The results showed that if you want to get hired, Tuesday is probably the best day to concentrate your efforts.
“According to the findings, not only is Tuesday the most popular day for companies to post jobs, it’s also the day when the highest number of people apply for jobs and the most popular day to get hired,” writes Kasia Senderowska, Recruiting Data Scientist at SmartRecruiters.
In general, the beginning of the week was better than the end; 58 percent of jobs were posted from Monday to Wednesday, and 54 percent of job applications were submitted during the same.
The majority of job postings went up at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, according to Senderowska, while most applications peaked around 2 p.m. So if you’re going to take a personal day to submit applications, Tuesday’s the day to do it, and if you want to be ahead of the curve, beat the 2 p.m. rush and get in ahead of the sneaky job searchers who file their applications after lunch.
Also significant: many applicants apply during the first week the job is posted.
“Nearly 60 percent of applicants apply within the first week of the job being posted,” said Jerome Ternynck, CEO and founder of SmartRecruiters, speaking to Business News Daily. “From a candidate perspective, the data sets up who the competition is. From a hiring manager perspective, it lets them know what to expect from the posting and how to plan to accommodate the demand for a specific position.”
So, the best advice for job seekers is:
1. Use the weekend to update your materials, so you’re ready to go when those listings go up.
2. Set up alerts and check listings regularly, so that you know when new job postings appear.
3. Apply as soon as you can (without violating your current employer’s trust, if you have a job right now).
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