Out of all 443 job applications I submitted, I received just over 100 responses where the company declined to move forward with my candidacy. Eight of these were because the positions were canceled or put on hold. If you do the math, that means 72% of companies that I applied to never responded to my application at all. Job applications take a considerable amount of time, and it’s surprising how many companies don’t follow-up with candidates.
On average, companies responded 5 days faster when extending an interview invitation as opposed to a rejection. I observed an average 12.6 day response time for successful applications, compared to 17.9 days for declines. In most cases if it’s been more than two weeks since applying and you haven’t heard anything, that’s a good sign to move on and keep looking.
I did receive an offer in the third month of my search for a Business Intelligence Analyst position at a small company. I ended up declining the offer for reasons that I might just have to write a whole other blog about to explain. But in short, it wasn’t the right opportunity, and I chose to keep looking.
In a strange twist of fate, there was actually a second offer I received from an application I submitted a month before I started tracking this data. I applied for a data science position with the federal government in May, was called for an interview 4.5 months later in September, and after one 30-minute call with the hiring manager (which I thought I bombed), I got a job offer the next business day.
The experience of interviewing is invaluable, but even after all this practice, I still struggle with confidence and have trouble articulating my skills and abilities. Exploring this data analysis has helped me realize that even though I ultimately found a great job, I should continue to work on recognizing my strengths and accomplishments. Furthermore, almost all of my initial assumptions about where to find jobs, how to apply, or what roles to target turned out to be wrong. While my journey on this path is finally coming to an end, I hope the insights from my experience can also help others make more informed decisions on how to best use their time and energy.
Let this be the final lesson: You never know when doors will open for you. Keep your head up, keep trying, and stay positive. It’s a tough job market, but it won’t be like this forever. And if you are fortunate enough to have the resources to continue searching, never take a questionable offer. If you see red flags, don’t ignore them. Companies may have the upper hand right now, but that doesn’t mean you should compromise on what’s important to you. If it’s a bad fit, keep looking — other opportunities will come along. Never be afraid to put yourself out there, and always remind yourself of your worth. And for the final hot takeaway, stay off LinkedIn, apply for jobs even if you think they are a stretch, and don’t waste too much time customizing your resume!
All data visuals were created by the author using R. The full analysis and sample data set is available on GitHub.