Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

I applied to 250 jobs and timed how long each one took

careerfair.io

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

61–70 of 220 posts

Re: I applied to 250 jobs and timed how long each one took

#61

Post by postcynical »

super256 wrote: post #26

I only apply to companies I really, really want to work for. Might sound a bit kitsch, but I work a lot on my cover letter to show how eager I am to work with them. Of course it could be luck, but so far I wrote only two applications in my life and got both got accepted + for job offer from both (after interviewing). When I tell people about my cover letters some say that HR don’t even read cover letters, but I want…

I do read them. It’s the easiest way to stand out for candidates. A paragraph about what interests u in this role usually is enough.

Re: I applied to 250 jobs and timed how long each one took

#62

Post by Ilasky »

These are some really interesting results that I have felt empirically, but is great to put some data to. One thing this doesn’t take into account is the best practice of tailoring resumes to job descriptions. This is a time-intensive task that does actually improve call back rates. A bit of a self-plug, but I’ve made Resgen[0] to help do this for you.

[0] https://resgen.app

Re: I applied to 250 jobs and timed how long each one took

#64

Post by gear54rus »

kevmarsden wrote: post #27

Most job application flows are suboptimal, but job seekers need to stop maximizing the number of applications they submit and instead create a few really great applications. I typically spend two or three hours writing a cover letter and customizing my resume for each job application.

My god.. 3 hours for a cover letter, mind sharing an example of one?

Re: I applied to 250 jobs and timed how long each one took

#65

Post by kraftman »

timmaxw wrote: post #25
miscaccount wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

you generally apply to several jobs across several companies even with referral. based on my experience its > 5 mins most of the time.

That still doesn't seem like very much time to me. Job hunting involves hours and hours of interviews; five minutes of paperwork is negligible by comparison, right? Are people mass-spamming applications or something?

When you see a job and it says '3000 applicants so far' or something, this is why

Re: I applied to 250 jobs and timed how long each one took

#66

Post by kraftman »

Is how long it takes to submit your generic CV a valuable statistic? Is there a benefit for companies to make it easy for you to apply to them?

I don't think anyone is sitting around going 'We just have no good candidates, if only people could apply in 71 seconds instead of 160, then we'd finally see the applicant quality increase'

Re: I applied to 250 jobs and timed how long each one took

#67

Post by roamerz »

kiltedpanda wrote: post #23
jddj wrote: post #17

I overheard a guy at the gym a couple of weeks back saying that he's automated (gpt4) the keyword-optimised CV/cover letter process to the point where he was able to apply to - I'm a bit suspect on this bit, but the generation at least is believable - 75 jobs in an hour and a half. We've raised the noise floor significantly. Ps. If you're here mate I hope it worked out for you.

We hire on Freelancer sites quite a bit and have noticed that about 50%-80% of applicants now very obviously use ChatGPT or equivalent to apply. Now suddenly every person magically has 8 years experience in a weird esoteric requirement that we're looking for. They are currently very easy to spot and the applications go directly into the trash, so the freelancers aren't doing themselves any favors using them. It is in…

> Now suddenly every person magically has 8 years experience in a weird esoteric requirement that we're looking for.

That's crazy to me. Why would someone put ANYTHING on their resume that is not factually correct? That in the end is a disservice to yourself and to your potential employer, not to mention the pressure it puts on job seekers to push the envelope on embellishment.

What I am on the fence about in my own resume is including a skillset that yes I have done but maybe a couple years in the past. Right or wrong I have decided to keep them on their knowing full well that it might create a bit of a challenge for me during the interview process.

Re: I applied to 250 jobs and timed how long each one took

#68

Post by kiltedpanda »

thaumaturgy wrote: post #59
kiltedpanda wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We hire on Freelancer sites quite a bit and have noticed that about 50%-80% of applicants now very obviously use ChatGPT or equivalent to apply. Now suddenly every person magically has 8 years experience in a weird esoteric requirement that we're looking for. They are currently very easy to spot and the applications go directly into the trash, so the freelancers aren't doing themselves any favors using them. It is in…

Okay, but I have a resume that is a good fit for a lot of different roles but isn't seen by any human ever because it doesn't include the specific combination of keywords mentioned in the job posting. I am in the process right now of embedding keywords and a "shadow resume" invisibly in my resume to get past the stupid filtering software. Employers are doing this to themselves.

Sure, tailoring your resume for a specific job is pretty standard. Perhaps an LLM that has access to your resume, along with loads of documentation on what you have previously done would provide for a much better automation process.

It could read the job spec, then tailor your application with information that is actually true. Starting off with a company with information that is false is not a great way to start a (hopefully) long relationship.

FWIW, we review every application we receive on the freelancer sites and do not use automated filters.

Re: I applied to 250 jobs and timed how long each one took

#69

Post by lazide »

rgblambda wrote: post #49
transcriptase wrote: post #20

Apply to Procter & Gamble, and as part of the application itself enjoy being put through 1-2 hours of ambiguous personality/morality testing and Mensa-style math, memorization, and logic puzzles! With adaptive difficulty! It's the most surreal and absurd experience. There are actually prep courses you can pay for just to improve your odds on the P&G testing process just to get someone to actually see your resume. Be…

Is P&G a particularly great employer that justifies such a bizarre job application?

The worse the job, usually the worse the application process. In my experience anyway.

Re: I applied to 250 jobs and timed how long each one took

#70

Post by antisthenes »

ambicapter wrote: post #5

Two and a half minutes to apply to a job doesn't seem like a lot of time at all. Do people really think that's too much time?

The answer to that depends entirely on the success rate.

Over 11 years in the workforce, my success rate with applying to ATS-like platforms on company websites is 0%. And even just getting a rejection is in the neighborhood of 5-10%.

So with those numbers do you still think 2.5 minutes is a lot of time? 2.5x500 applications is ~21 hours of applying to jobs.

With recruiters on LinkedIn, my success rate is roughly 80% to 1st interview, 60% to second and 20% to getting an offer.

Post reply on HN