Timing Is Everything

Timing is everything, and after taking a few months off from this blog (my apologies), it's time to re-focus again. Now for this entry, I want to stress the importance of timing in your job search - particularly your response time. As a recruiter, I often juggled many openings at once. When it was time to contact candidates for a certain position, I was eager to communicate with the candidates then...not a few days later. I can recall instances when I would leave a voice mail for a candidate on a Tuesday, and not hear back from them until that Friday. Well, by then, I had either moved on or was irked by the long response time. Now, I am not saying that if you are looking for a job you need to wait by your phone or email - absolutely not. However, if you are looking for a job, you should be mindful of the contact information you listed on your resume. If you created a special email account for the search, make sure that you are checking that at least once a day (ideally, two or three times). If it's a cell phone number, and you get a message that morning at work, try to step out during lunch and return the call. Your response time as a candidate is important in the job search process, and your speedy - and professional - response may set you apart from the other candidates.