I am not a recruiter. But my experience, backed up by _plenty_ of anecdata here and on Reddit, is that applying for jobs on LinkedIn and other job listing sites is GIGANTIC waste of time unless you already have a connection in the company you are applying for.
I myself spent the better part of my free time in 2023 scouring LinkedIn for potential jobs. I was careful not to overreach, I only applied to jobs where I was sure I had the skills they were looking for. The whole year, I got ZERO responses. Until I noticed that one of the companies I was applying for looked familiar. A few minutes of digging revealed that an old co-worker of mine had moved to that company a few months prior. I called him up, we chatted about the company, he agreed to refer me. Long story short, I got the job.
If you are serious about finding a job, you HAVE to rely on your network. It's how I have landed 100% of my civilian jobs over the past 20-something years. If you don't have a network, the second best time to plant a tree is now.
(I suppose you could also work with an independent recruiter, but a lot of companies won't work with them because they charge the hiring company a fee. I don't have any experience with recruiters.)
> that applying for jobs on LinkedIn and other job listing sites is GIGANTIC waste of time unless you already have a connection in the company you are applying for.
In my experience, that's not my case. I found my last 2 jobs by applying to a post in linkedin... but I also contacted the recruiter that posted the job ad via DM. In my whole career (+10 years) I've never relied on my "network" to get a job (mainly because I don't have one).
Same. My current job resulted from: seeing a hiring manager post about the role, applying at the link she shared in her post, and spending 2 hours crafting a DM to her. Interviewed and got the job, and knew nobody at the company.
This has been conventional wisdom for my entire (half century now) life, but every job I've been referred into has ended up being a nightmare. The best jobs I've ever gotten were the "cold approach" ones... hopefully those aren't going away forever.
I (also half a century life now) have always relied on my network for work, mainly because almost no interview time wasting (interviews are short and 'with the boss', no homework or other nonsense), higher wages and work from home. My first network were my classmates; some fathers worked in positions that were able to get me in; grew from there.
I'd recommend against taking any advice from Reddit, especially subreddits like:
- /r/recruitinghell
- /r/jobs
- /r/cscareerquestions
That's like asking a meth fiend for lifestyle advice. Most people there have no idea what they are talking about and never took part in recruitment on the company side, they just repeat some bullshit they were told or try to rehash some opinion pieces as universal rules.
FWIW I recently got a great job off a random LinkedIn EasyApply for a company I never heard of at the time. I didn't even remember applying to it when the recruiter reached out to me to set up and interview. I was on unemployment at the time and the state I was in required a minimum of two job contacts a week, and sometimes I would just apply to random jobs that looked interesting. Turned out I picked one that was perfect for me and the recruiter actually followed through.
That being said, you're still right when you point to reliance on the network. My network didn't get me that job per se, but I had a strong network from which to pull from for employment references (old mangagers, etc.) as well as a friend from school who now does career counseling/interview prep at a college.
I'd been unemployed for over a year, but was able to get a quick pep talk from an old mentor and some good interview advice from that friend from school. It was definitely great to have that support to lean on.
Most jobs I've had, I got by cold applying to a website. In a few cases recruiters reached out to me by email/LinkedIn (this is also fairly unreliable). The approach you're describing is definitely higher yield and you absolutely should cultivate and use a network, but all is not lost without a referral.
In answer to the overall question, I think most places leave a job posting up for a few days/week at least just as standard practice. Within that window I don't think it matters.
I’ve worked in recruiting and with countless career coaches.
This is the best advice for anyone looking for a job. Thanks for sharing.
My friend Sarah’s company has some free resources that can help you get started if networking for a job feels uncomfortable: https://www.briefcasecoach.com/
My network sucks and doesn’t do that for me. Annoying
However, what I generally do is use LinkedIn to find postings then apply directly at the company’s site. I generally had about a 20% response rate I think? (I’d have to check my spreadsheet)
I myself spent the better part of my free time in 2023 scouring LinkedIn for potential jobs. I was careful not to overreach, I only applied to jobs where I was sure I had the skills they were looking for. The whole year, I got ZERO responses. Until I noticed that one of the companies I was applying for looked familiar. A few minutes of digging revealed that an old co-worker of mine had moved to that company a few months prior. I called him up, we chatted about the company, he agreed to refer me. Long story short, I got the job.
If you are serious about finding a job, you HAVE to rely on your network. It's how I have landed 100% of my civilian jobs over the past 20-something years. If you don't have a network, the second best time to plant a tree is now.
(I suppose you could also work with an independent recruiter, but a lot of companies won't work with them because they charge the hiring company a fee. I don't have any experience with recruiters.)