Apply at these times to give yourself the best chance of success
Are you starting to think about applying for a position and wondering when is the best time to apply? Look no further…
By comparing the demand for and the quantity of job vacancies in the UK, Joblift has calculated the best time of the year to apply for a new job.
June is a great time to apply for jobs
Looking at the data for 2017, the best time to apply for a role was June. The summer month saw the number of vacancies posted online (10.47%) outnumbering the amount of users searching for vacancies (8.90%) by 1.57 percentage points. This means less competition* in the application process.
Despite the assumption that December sees little action on the job market, it was actually the second best time to apply. Firstly, the Christmas month saw the lowest number of vacancies advertised (6.12%). The open positions outnumbered online searches for vacancies (5.07%) by 1.05 percentage points. This makes the festive period a great time to lower the competition for positions and land a job. Similarly, November ranked as the third best time to get applying. Lower searches (7.35%) meant that supply was 0.86 percentage points higher than demand on the UK job market (8.21%).
New year, new job? Maybe not
For all you resolution makers, it would be a good idea to rethink your early-year applications. In 2017, January and February were the worst times to apply for a new job role. In these months, demand for positions far outnumbered the quantity of job postings. With 8.23% in the number of vacancies and 9.73% in the number of online vacancy searches, January saw the greatest negative difference of minus 1.5 percentage points. Meaning the highest amount of competition for applicants. February didn’t fare much better. Open positions (7.79%) lagged behind the number of online searches (9.22%) by minus 1.43 percentage points. This suggests that you should avoid this time if you want the best chance.
As the third worst time to apply, April saw a difference of minus 0.57 percentage points. The month saw 7.61% in the number of vacancies, compared to a demand of 8.18%. March was slightly better with a difference of minus 0.07 percentage points between supply and demand. However, the month still saw job searches outnumbering the number of vacancies. Noting this, it is definitely important to avoid springtime if you want to give yourself the best odds in the application process.
So, there you have it! You’re now armed with the knowledge to give your application the lowest amount of competition. And, therefore… the best chance to land your dream job! Avoid the New Year and Spring and don’t ignore the festive season’s opportunity. Why not get ahead of the competition already and start searching now… Happy applying!
*We calculated the competition by using Google trends data, observing statistics for when users searched for vacancies online.