when to stop applying

crazyITguy

I started looking for a new position over the weekend. I applied to 7 jobs that fit either what I am doing now or what I want to be doing. At this point I have had phone interviews with 5 of the 7. At what point do you typically stop looking and concentrate on the positions you are interviewing for. 3 positions local, one in Austin, and one in good ole sidney, NE

Node Man

you stop applying after you get your first paycheck from the job you accept.

W Stewart

I stop looking when I've been given an offer for employment and even them I'm pretty skeptical about whether or not I've really got the job. I'm less skeptical about 3 months into the job. By then, I've had enough time to show my employer how valuable I am as an employee. There's no reason you can't keep applying to jobs while preparing for an interview. You just have to be mindful of your interviewing schedule.

Essendon

Till you have a confirmed start date and written offer of employment. That does it for me.

N2IT

When you get a job you like.

crrussell3

I agree with waiting until you get an offer letter. But always keep one eye on the job boards, as you never know when your dream job or opportunity may come around.

coreyb80

Personally, I know I won't stop until I receive an offer letter in hand. Don't know when that's going to happen, but I have an inkling that it may be sooner than I think.

About7Narwhal

crrussell3 wrote: »

...But always keep one eye on the job boards..

I agree with this 110%. There is nothing wrong with keeping your eyes open.

W Stewart

Depending on how crappy the company is that offers you the job, you may not even want to stop looking after an offer letter. Maybe my paranoia is jinxing me or maybe I'm psychic but I've been given an offer letter, had the drug test paid for and passed along with the background check and even given a start date, and then had my start date pushed back indefinitely due to unforeseen events. They called me back months later after I was employed at a higher paying job. The only real stability in this job market is the value of your skill set.

JamesEubank

Until you would be cleared that you got the job after getting the letter of acceptance...

Valsacar

Node Man wrote: »

you stop applying after you get your first paycheck from the job you accept.

This +1

CompuTron99

W Stewart wrote: »

Depending on how crappy the company is that offers you the job...

+1

I've been in that boat before myself.

ptilsen

I stop at the offer letter. I can understand the idea of wanting to stop when you feel your chances are good, but you'd be surprised how many can fall through because it's not a good fit. Plus, that perfect one might be the one you haven't applied to.

That being said, if I'm getting tons of responses, I will get more selective. On my last hunt, I went too broad and I was overwhelmed with interview requests. I was filling my lunch break every day and frequently having to step out during business hours. I ended up getting essentially the exact job I was looking for.

In short, be selective, but don't count your chickens before they hatch.

inscom.brigade

I went to get my ID badge for one company yesterday; I went on an interview today. Next week I have an interview; my last phone conversation with an agency that made me an offer said that as soon as they get the papers in my hand that they will go upstairs to say I am suitable for fed employment.
I have hopped through lots of hoops, and am still hopping threw them. I think I am solid with the agency, and will have a start date soon. I stopped applying, (but wow) ,the guys today feel the pressure and are about to offer me 20k more.
next week I am going to push that one up even higher.
But bottom line, I think i will take the lowest $$$ position cause it is one of the hardest agency’s too get into. (????) Don’t stop applying

apr911

In regards specifically to the ops original question: "At what point do you typically stop looking and concentrate on the positions you are interviewing for?"

You dont. Or at least you shouldnt. If you are you are doing yourself a disservice by focusing on just those you already applied and are interviewing for you may miss out on a better opportunity/position/match that opened up at a different company.

That said, it probably wouldnt hurt to cut back on the number of applications you are sending out depending on just how many you are sending out and what sort of response rate your getting. I.e. If your sending out 10 applications a week and getting 100% response rate, you might want to cut back and focus on applying only for positions that really interest you and the positions you've already lined up interviews for. Similarly if you are sending out 20 applications a week and getting a 25% response rate, you might want to keep pace at 20 still.

Your job search will vary based on personal circumstances. An unemployed person may be able to afford spending all week in interviews during the day while someone working 40 hours a week may need to take on less interviews due to needing to take off work. Ultimately though, how many applications you should or shouldnt send out comes down to what you can keep straight in your head, how much you can remember and how well you can juggle your schedule to fit in interviews. Personally I recommend copying the job posting to a text document somewhere so you can refer to it later. This helps you avoid applying to the same position twice and often times the posting will be removed once the company enters into interviews so it helps to have something to refer back to as there's nothing worse than having to ask for the job description (asking the recruiter the Req # or job title is ok but the full posting/description not so much).

As far as applying to a specific company, I usually stop applying or greatly curtail my applications to a company once Ive made contact with an internal recruiter (this may vary on company structure especially in HR/recruiting... i.e. they dont have internal recruiters, they have a nationwide/global set of recruiters to facilitate job hirings or they have recruiters in each location). In my last 2 positions/companies, I applied for a req at a company, got an interview and an internal recruiter assigned. The first position fell through and the second position came back with a low offer that I couldnt accept take for financial reasons. In both cases I ended up going to work for the company anyway even though I didnt apply for any further positions with the company. I secured both positions by pushing the recruiter to find me something else. In both cases the recruiter found me reqs that weren't listed on their job boards whether it was because it had already closed, was intended for internal only, or hadnt been open yet I dont know but in both cases the recruiter was able to get me in for an interview for a "non-existent" position/req that then turned into a job offer.


Finally, as others have already said, you should keep applying until you at least have a job offer in hand and a start date. Once you have those, you still want to keep searching the job boards for open positions and maybe apply to a few here or there but your job search should start winding down. Once you start your new position, you can step down your job search after the 1st week and then again after the 1st 3 months have completed. Even after all that, you should still keep your resume updated and an eye out for positions as you never know what you might find out there or what might happen tomorrow at the company.

petedude

ptilsen wrote: »

. . .I can understand the idea of wanting to stop when you feel your chances are good, but you'd be surprised how many can fall through because it's not a good fit. Plus, that perfect one might be the one you haven't applied to.

. . .

In short, be selective, but don't count your chickens before they hatch.

+1 to this. I know of someone who may be in a similar boat soon. Stopping when you have an offer letter is probably normally the best approach, but if the prospective employer doesn't like your pre-hiring paperwork or otherwise changes opinion, you can still be dropped before the start date. Which might mean a more cautious approach is:

Node Man wrote:

you stop applying after you get your first paycheck from the job you accept.

And yes, this thread was set up almost exactly a year ago today, but it may be almost eerily prescient for some.

techwizard

I have been looking for a job since April of 2013. I did not have my A+, Net+, Sec+ until end of November of 2013. Since April I have filled out over 120 applications, done over 20 interviews, and 5 phone interviews. I really hope it doesn't take me a year to find a job. That would really suck. I have been really close to getting a job 3 times out of all that, however. I did turn down a part time cashiering job at kmart, because if I took it, it would have taken longer to get my certs and find a real job.

petedude

techwizard wrote: »

I have been looking for a job since April of 2013. I did not have my A+, Net+, Sec+ until end of November of 2013.

Seems a little surprising that the "holy trinity" of CompTIA certs wasn't enough to land you something by itself-- maybe there's not enough military work going on in Northern Cali to make the Sec+ work for you?

I'd suggest you take a low-end help desk job for now just to get some experience and some good references.

What are you gunning for now, cert-wise? Needs to be something big like MCITP, CCNA, etc.

As to the "how long" the statistic was one month for every $10K of earnings in your new role in 2007. Of course, things are way more challenging now than they were in 2007 and I'm told that statistic is now worse, but personally I don't want to know the updated number.

santaowns

I got a new position at work, enjoy my job, but am always willing to entertain new offers especially if they are heading in the direction I want to be in, or pay more for the same job. That is my 2 cents. ALWAYS progress and plan on where you want to be, or you will become stagnant.

techwizard

petedude wrote: »

Seems a little surprising that the "holy trinity" of CompTIA certs wasn't enough to land you something by itself-- maybe there's not enough military work going on in Northern Cali to make the Sec+ work for you?

I'd suggest you take a low-end help desk job for now just to get some experience and some good references.

What are you gunning for now, cert-wise? Needs to be something big like MCITP, CCNA, etc.

As to the "how long" the statistic was one month for every $10K of earnings in your new role in 2007. Of course, things are way more challenging now than they were in 2007 and I'm told that statistic is now worse, but personally I don't want to know the updated number.

I have had 3 very close, almost got the job kind of deal. I have 10 years of exp in the field as computer repair, virus removal, gaming machine building, etc. its a small business that I created in 2005, and the problem is I am not getting enough work due to a variety of factors: tablets are not field serviceable, its cheaper to buy a new laptop then it is to fix one, consumer home routers need very little IT expertise to setup, etc. So that is what I have on my resume, including the "holy trinity" as of the end of November 2013. Back in June 2013, I applied for a help desk position (before I had any certs), that paid 18/19/hr to start. It was a very long hiring/interview process, I went through one 5 person panel interview, and 2 phone interviews after that. By the time I went through all that, it was early August 2013, they told me it was a very close decision between me and another candidate, and if I only had my A+ cert they would have hired me. I got my A+ cert just 2 weeks after that, at the end of August, I was too late. I got my Network+ by early October 2013. I got my Sec+ at end of November 2013. I have applied to two more positions, at the local school district for "technology technician" positions which pay 17-22/hr to start. Both times making it through the first 5 panel interview and second meet with the school superintendent interview process. Both times, they went with someone else.

I am going for MCSA. I plan to take my windows 8 70-687 exam after the 8.1 content is released. I plan to take the windows server 2012 410 series after the R2 content is released. I am currently working on getting my CompTIA Healthcare IT cert just as an extra cert to have, because there are a lot of hospitals in my area, and I figure that would only help. After that I am planning on getting my CCNA. My ultimate goal is to get into infosec, one way or another.

It is definitely frustrating, and discouraging, because I have been trying to get a job since April 2013.

To the OP, dont give up. Ever. lol. Most people give up after 5 months of searching for a job. I am going on 9 months now.

markulous

techwizard wrote: »

To the OP, dont give up. Ever. lol. Most people give up after 5 months of searching for a job. I am going on 9 months now.

I first thought "Wow, 9 months is quite a while", then I looked at your location. I used to live near Stockton, CA and it was impossible to find work there. I couldn't even find work doing fast food or at a grocery store. Moving away from there was one of the best things I ever did.

NetworkingStudent

Node Man wrote: »

you stop applying after you get your first paycheck from the job you accept.

This right here!!!

I didn't stop looking until my first day of work.

petedude

NetworkingStudent wrote: »

This right here!!!

I didn't stop looking until my first day of work.

Used to be you could land a job, then slack off until your first day of reporting in.

No more. So much can happen between points A-Z that you're better off staying on your toes until the last second.

N2IT

The horror stories of being offered a job and signing the acceptance letter only to have a wrench thrown in somewhere along the way of the acceptance letter and your first day of work happens often enough to keep it in the back of your mind. I personally feel it takes AT LEAST 3 months at a job before you know if it's going to work out or not. I've been in situations where the first 3-4 months were great and then all the sudden it goes sour. There is not specific timeline, but personally for me I wouldn't rest until you felt out the company.