With the current unemployment rate down to 5%, the competition for talent has increased. More jobs and less job seekers means that companies need to be very strategic in their recruiting process. In order to maximize your applicant pool and your chances of finding quality talent, go beyond creating well-written job postings and put care into when you post your job ads. If you can post them during the times when more job seekers are viewing ads, you will optimize your chances of recruiting some top-notch employees. So when do most people look for and apply to jobs?
Peak months
According to LinkedIn, job applicants are more active in September and October than any other time of year, leading to a large group of new hires that start in January. Perhaps this is due in part to people wanting to start the new year with a better job, or get a change in place before the holidays come around. The least job seeker activity is shown to be in the early months of the year, especially in January and February as shown on the graph below. Clearly, if you need to fill a position in February, don’t wait until September to post your ad. However, take this information into account when applicable.
Image from Linkedin.com
The most popular days
Back before the internet, the primary way to post a job opening was in the newspaper. Therefore, companies would post their ads on the days the newspapers had the highest sales: Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. However, in the last few years putting job ads in the newspaper has essentially become a thing of the past. The internet is now the primary means of reaching job seekers, and because of this the most popular days to apply to jobs has changed. People no longer wait for the weekend paper; they can access electronic job boards anytime, any day.
Linkedin has found that on their platform, the most popular day to view and apply to jobs is Monday.
Image from Linkedin.com
According to TIME, the most popular day to apply to a job is Tuesday. Research from eQuest says that job seekers are most active on Wednesday. The take-home message? The early part of the week is the best time to post job ads, and Friday and Saturday are the worst. When Friday comes around, most people are tired after a week of work. Many leave work a little early to start weekend plans, and it’s tempting to take a break from all thoughts of work and wait until Monday to resume the job hunt.
Many job boards post their listings from newest to oldest. So if you post your ad on Friday and most job seekers don’t even look until Monday-Wednesday, it is likely to get lost at the bottom of the list before being seen. Instead, post on Sunday evening or Monday morning to line up with the highest traffic on job boards.
