The Early Bird Gets the Worm

By Marian Li, Toppel Peer Advisor

You’ve moved into your new house, but the water’s not working, your storage is nowhere to be found, and your food is mysteriously disappearing from the refrigerator although your roommate swears they haven’t touched any of your food. All you want is for it to be the weekend, where you have enough time to play catch up. Job-hunting may be the furthest thing on your mind; you might want to think again and re-prioritize.

In the ideal world, every candidate who applies for a job has the same likelihood of landing the opportunity based on qualifications; sadly, that’s not the case in reality. According to recent research, more than one-fourth of jobs are filled with candidates who applied early within the first few days of posting. So what’s the moral of the story painted by this research? Apply early! Most hiring managers want to hire right away since it’s fresh in their minds so getting your application in early greatly increases your chances of being chosen.

Here are some tips to get you on top of your game AND your resume to the top of the hiring managers’ list:

Network, network, network – Career centers have been tossing around this buzz word throughout your entire college career, but it’s true! When possible, seek out an internal contact within the company of interest who can put in a good word for you. As a referral, you get priority as someone who is already recommended by a staffer.

Tune in for daily updates – Many job sites, including HireACane.com have the option to automatically send out lists of newly posted job opportunities within your field of interest. When waiting for the professor to start class, maybe browse these postings rather than liking yet another Instagram post your friends recently posted.

Not all jobs are posted – Despite all the wonderful job search websites out there, some companies may not be publicly announcing positions available. If the company of interest doesn’t have any positions posted on HireACane.com (or even on their company website), don’t be afraid to shoot them a letter of inquiry indicating your interest in joining the company.

If you’ve deemed this post more stressful than helpful, BREATHE! It’s okay! As interesting as what the research factoids show, it may not apply to every situation and it definitely doesn’t show a cause and effect between being early to apply and getting hired. Go ahead and apply! If you’re lost and don’t know where to start, Toppel is always here to help.