When is the best day and time to apply for your dream product job?
When it comes to job applications wouldn't it be nice to know when the recruiter is going to post the job so that you can be among the first to apply and the first to get in front of the decision maker?
"Knowledge is power" as the saying goes and when it comes to getting started in a new product role you can try and get the edge on other candidates by obtaining that little bit more knowledge from them.
Once such piece of information is knowing when is the best time to apply for the job of your dreams. Know that and you have the opportunity to beat the competition to the punch and get your CV in front of the recruiter which means you set the bar for others to beat.
The question is though, how do you know when the best day or time is?
A recruitment firm a few years ago studied the activity around 270,000 jobs that were advertised in order to determine any patterns in job searching and job hiring behaviour, and they found some interesting things.
Most new job postings are advertised on a Tuesday
Although Monday and Wednesday are popular days for posting your job advert, it was Tuesday that came out as having had the highest number of new roles becoming available.
As a former recruiter, this fits with my experience, as you're likely to have had meetings with teams or managers on a Monday which make the decision to proceed with recruitment for a role, and then you action that decision on the following day - Tuesday.
The most popular time of day to post a new vacancy is 11am
Again this seems like common sense. A recruiter starts work at 9am, maybe has a meeting, and then prepares the vacancy information and immediately posts it, hitting the popular 11am time.
The second most popular time is 4pm, which again makes sense as recruiters return from lunch, maybe have another meeting, and then work to get the job posted before the end of the working day.
The most popular time of day to apply is 2pm
If you've spent your lunch hour looking to find a new opportunity to get you out of your current role, then as soon as you're back at your computer after lunch you're applying for that job, hitting the 2pm hot spot.
This gives you an advantage
Knowing that jobs are posted at 11am on a Tuesday and that most applications will start rolling in at about 2pm, means that you have a 3 hour window in which to get in first and make sure your CV is top of the pile.
So take an early lunch break on a Tuesday so you can beat the crowds!
Don't miss your chance
The research shows that 60% of all applications for a role occur within the first week of the role being advertised, which means that if you wait then chances are then your CV will sit below a large pile of quicker applicants and the recruiter might never need open yours and your chance has gone.
Is this the same for your preferred employer?
Of course, not every employer fits the stereotype, so if you have a particular organisation that you're interested in joining then do some research and find out what their typical behaviour is, so that you'll be ready based on their timings.
If you see they post all their jobs at 10am on a Monday, then you know when you've got to take action.