Someone has wisely said that in some ways, all economics is personal: if I am doing well the numbers must be wrong and if I am doing wrong the numbers (if they are good) must be lying.
As part of my job searches for some years now (at least since 2009) I have been keeping statistics on my efforts and success rates. Based on my recent new job I thought it might be of interest to relate the numbers of my most recent search.
Starting this year, I submitted a total of 36 resumes to companies or recruiters, with the bulk (31) occurring after 28 May. Of those 36 resumes, I received responses (e.g. a follow up call, a phone screen, a phone interview on 14 of them, or 39%. 3 of those 13 (8%) had on site interview requests (2 of which came after my job acceptance, but had I still been available I would have gone). I received a total of 10 responses (27%) up to the point that I accepted the new position.
The short form: I received a response on 1 of every 3.5 CVs I submitted and had on site interviews for 1 of every 4.
Timing? I do not know what I can read from this. For one position, the CV was submitted around the 1st of June and I just received a call (11th of August) asking if I was still available for an initial phone interview. In opposition, I submitted my CV for my current position, interviewed and was made a job offer in 16 days.
Not sure what lessons can be drawn from this, other than the basic confirmation that it really is a numbers game: the more you submit and interview, the greater the odds that you will secure something. Yet there are other elements at work as well: in 2012 I sent out 52 CVs and a total of 36 over the next 3 years with one offer (which I did not take). And the timing issue makes little sense at all either: an offer in 16 days, while another company does not follow up for a phone interview in 70.
My advice to a friend: Just keep submitting. The process can really take longer than you think. But know that while there may not be any logic, there is some kind of statistics at play. Just keep hope alive - and keep sending them off.
I know one thing that helps. If you can make your name sound Black or Female they will call you for an interview about 90% more often.
ReplyDeleteCourse that don't help ya when you show up :)
So I do not believe this to be my experience, at least in my own and my circle of friends. My industry is still, for the most part, a meritocracy: if you have the experience and education that trumps all other factors. In my most recent case, every job I did not get had everything to do with my lack of the particular experience that they were looking for. I suspect this goes across some industries - perhaps not all, but many of the science and potentially technology based ones. As cash is the bottom line, if you can demonstrate you have the experience and willpower you will get the job.
DeleteI do wish - and maybe this is just a lack of understanding on my part -that schools these days were treated more like an education experience and less as a socialization tool. Someone - some years ago now - pointed out that in terms of career, we are now competing with the world. Sadly enough, our cosmopolitan society still seems to act as if our career competition is only internal - to our detriment.