Waiting for potential employers to contact you to set up an interview is stressful. Until the hiring manager calls, you don't know if your resume has been lost in the middle of cyberspace or it was reviewed. Don’t worry. There’s a simple solution. By altering the day and time that you apply for jobs, you can increase your chance of receiving a call.
Why Does the Day and Time Matter?
When you email a resume to a hiring manager, it doesn’t mean that the manager reviews the resume immediately. Hiring managers are just like everyone else; they let their email get backed up sometimes, and they pay more attention to their email at specific times of the day. So, in order for you to get a quick response from a hiring manager, you need to email your information during times that the hiring manager is most likely to read her email — typically, first thing in the morning, as well as before and after lunch. Emailing your resume to a hiring manager any other time of day could cause it to get buried in her inbox.
Days and Times to Avoid
You should avoid emailing your resume to a hiring manager in the afternoon, as afternoon emails are more likely to get pushed to the side, unless they are extremely urgent. Also, you should avoid applying for a job on Fridays. For most people, Fridays are devoted to any work they need to wrap up before the weekend begins. In fact, it’s common for people to check out completely on Friday afternoons. Once they are mentally checked out, they are only worried about urgent tasks and counting down the hours until it’s time to go home. Anything that isn’t urgent often gets pushed back to Monday. You don’t want your resume to be at the bottom of the hiring manager’s inbox at the start of the workweek.
Why Monday Is the Best Day
While you can apply for jobs anytime during the week, as long as you send your email early in the morning. Monday is the best day to email your resume to a hiring manager. On Monday mornings, people arrive to work refreshed and ready to tackle their to-do list. By emailing your resume to the hiring manager early Monday morning, your email is right at the top of the list. This means you’re more likely to get called about scheduling an interview quickly if employers like what they see.
Technically, you can email your resume to a hiring manager any time or day and still be called to schedule an interview. However, emailing your resume early in the morning, especially on Mondays or right before lunch, increases the chances that you’re at the top of the manager’s call-back list.
Photo courtesy of resumeway at Flickr.com
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