How Long Will It Take To Get a Job?
When most people look for a job, there’s a clock ticking. You might be unemployed and running out of money or miserable at a dead-end job. Either way, you don’t have all the time in the world. Despite your rush, getting another job takes time. Learn more about how long it takes to find a job and what you can do to speed up the process.
The Average Timeline
It’s impossible to say exactly how long it will take you to find a job. There are simply too many factors that affect the timeline. For instance, the current job market affects the length of the job hunt. Your own skills at applying for jobs and interviewing also affect the timeline.
With that said, one study showed that the average job hunt takes five months. People usually expect it to take one or two months, but this isn’t usually the case. Whether you’re a recent grad or a highly experienced supervisor, you may need to wait a few months to find and start your new job.
Of course, there’s a chance you can get a job much sooner than three, four, or five months. You just need to be aware that the whole process takes time. If you stop focusing on the ticking clock and start thinking about how you can proactively improve your prospects, you may end up beating the clock.
Why It Takes So Long to Find Work
If you’re wondering why the job hunt takes so long, you should consider the steps to finding a job. First, you need to organize yourself for the job search. Once you have a plan, you can begin to search and apply for jobs. This probably only takes a few days, and you can submit your applications right away. If you’re using the right job search tools, finding and applying for jobs is the easiest and fastest part of the process.
After you apply, you can expect to wait about one to two weeks before you hear back from the company. You might get the call a few days after applying, but this isn’t the norm. HR departments and recruiters usually receive hundreds of applications. It takes them time to sift through the applications and pick the best ones. Try not to feel hopeless or undesirable while you wait for a response. Eventually, you’ll hear back from someone.
Typically, candidates receive a response and are able to schedule and have a phone interview by the third week. Not all companies do phone interviews, but it’s a common practice, and you should expect one.
The Four Week Mark and Beyond
If you do well on your phone interview, you may have an in-person interview four weeks into the job search. No matter how well you prepare for the interview, you may not hear back from the employer for a while. The employer probably has a long list of candidates to interview, so it could take days or even weeks for the company to reach out to you.
By week six, you could have a phone call from the company. They may offer you the job or call you in for a second interview with someone else. Once again, you shouldn’t expect to hear back immediately after your interview. The employer probably has a few more interviews to do and they have a big decision to wait. Although you may feel discouraged at this point, don’t give up. Continue applying for jobs and taking interviews.
You could have an official job offer by week seven or eight. But once again, you need to wait. You might have some details to hash out, like salary negotiations and background checks. If the company wants to drug test you, there could be a two week wait for that to happen. Under most circumstances, the new hire starts about four weeks after the job offer.
Speeding Up the Process
Assuming that you don’t want to spend three months or more looking for work, there are a few ways in which you can speed up the process. First, you can apply for urgent job postings. If a company is in dire need of an employee, they might speed through the hiring process. You can target your search to urgent postings, but don’t limit yourself. You should still apply for other jobs.
You can’t control all of the hiring process, such as the availability of the interviewer. However, you can control many aspects of the job search. When the hiring manager offers you a phone or in-person interview, respond to their request right away. This means you need to check your email frequently and always have your phone on. Do whatever you can to open up your own schedule to book an interview at the earliest time slot.
Another way to speed things up is to follow up with companies. If you submit your resume and don’t hear back from the company, send a friendly follow-up email. Do the same for interviews; sometimes, the hiring manager needs a reminder. By following up with the company, you can reduce the wait time.
Finally, make sure to properly complete all of your paperwork. If you need to submit references, verify the phone numbers and email addresses. On new hire paperwork, don’t make any mistakes, or it could take an extra week or two for your hiring process to finish.
Be in Charge of Your Job Search
You may feel like the job hunt is out of your hands. However, you have more control than you think. From the beginning, you should be in charge of your job search. Don’t sit around and wait for jobs to find you, and instead dedicate as much time as possible to the job hunt. If you’re persistent, your actions will pay off. You may even end up with a job offer only a few weeks into your job search.