Why Tuesday Is a Job Seeker’s Favorite Day
- Tuesday is the most popular day in the hiring world: more companies post jobs on Tuesdays, more job seekers apply to jobs on Tuesdays, and more people get hired on Tuesdays than on any other day of the week.
- Overall, most hiring activity occurs in the beginning of the week: 58 percent of jobs are posted between Monday and Wednesday, and 54 percent of applications are submitted in the same time frame.
- Most companies post jobs around 11 A.M., and most job seekers apply for jobs around 2 P.M.
Given the strangeness of SmartRecruiters’ findings — why Tuesday? Why 2 P.M.? Why aren’t people applying for jobs on the weekends? — I decided it would be a good idea to speak with SmartRecruiters CEO and founder Jerome Ternynck to find out more about what the study’s results mean for employers and job seekers. What follows is a transcript of our Q&A session, minimally edited for style and clarity.
Recruiter.com: Jerome, I wanted to start by asking about what motivated you guys to conduct this study. Why did you decide to analyze the days and times of job posting and hiring?
Jerome Ternynck: We actually spend a lot of time looking into our customers’ usage data as we try to identify patterns and build predictive analytics that will help them reach hiring success. Very early on, I invested in a data science team, and we’ve been constantly looking at data to try to raise the bar.
For example, we’ve built predictive analytics for where to advertise your job so we [could] make recommendations on job advertising. [Now] we [can] predict how many candidates you will receive based on when you should post a job to maximize your chances.
[It’s the result of] being a data-driven startup, I guess.
RC: Tuesday is the most popular day to apply to jobs and get hired. Any ideas on your end about why that is the case? Why Tuesday of all days?
JT: It’s really an interesting result. For me, the most interesting part is looking at, ‘Why would people focus efforts on Tuesday?’ I guess the only plausible explanation I have would be that Monday is [for] catching up and internal business meetings, and Tuesday is the first time I am at work and I have time for me.
What’s really staggering here is the amount of people who apply to jobs on weekends. You would think that applying to jobs is something you would do during the weekend. You do this on your own time. If you’re looking to buy a house, or you’re looking to buy a car, these websites are super busy on weekends. But it turns out that looking for a job is part of your job, and that’s probably why people do it during work hours and workdays, and not during the weekend.
RC: Based on some of the results of this study, is there any advice you would give to employers? Anything you think they should really pay attention to or do given this information?
JT: I think employers [should] stretch out advertising and posting dates to the length of the week, kind of evening it out.
And, as always, they need to source quickly. When you look at the trend of how quickly people apply, within 14 days you have 80 percent of the candidates you’re going to get on that job. A lot of people wait 30 days because the employment market has told us it’s a 30-day job posting, but the reality is 14 days max.
If you wait too long, you might end up losing the candidates that applied in the first week. So, give recruiters a sense of urgency. Say, ‘Advertise my jobs, let the week pass, and then go through the pipeline and move candidates forward quickly.’
RC: What about advice for candidates? Anything they should know or do, based on this survey?
JT: Apply during the weekend! If you apply on a Tuesday, [everyone is applying on a Tuesday], so it’s like, ‘Okay.’ But on the weekend, a Friday – those are really good days to do your job search.
Plus, you should be working while you are at work — not looking for your new job.