Average time to find a job: 5 months. How you can stand out.

Last year, job candidates were strongly courted by employers. My how times have changed!

CNN reported in early May that, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics March jobs report, the number of job openings fell to 9.59 million, the lowest since May 2021. This also was lower than February’s report (9.974 million) and January’s report, when the BLS reported that employers had 10.56 million job openings.

This also is MUCH lower than the number of job openings just a bit more than a year ago (March 2022): 11.9 million, which was the highest number on record for the past 20 years,

Plus, according to the Federal Reserve, there now are 1.7 jobs for every job candidate, a big difference from the

(This may not sound like a big difference but it is. Remember in March 2020 before the pandemic? There were 1.2 job openings per unemployed person and that’s considered an extremely tight labor market. Two openings per unemployed person is a massive increase and even though it’s now decreased to 1.7 openings per unemployed person, it’s still a huge number of openings available to people looking for work.)

The unemployment rate remains about 3.5 percent, a very low number, especially when many experts in the U.S. consider a rate between 3 and 5 percent to be very “healthy.”

Regardless: you now could find that it will take you longer to find work.

How much longer? The average time to find a new job in 2023 is 5 months (with a range of eight weeks to six months.)

Here are some reasons for this:

• In January, com reported that 96 percent of us are looking for a new job (mostly to receive a higher salary.) More people looking means hiring managers and recruiters are inundated with resumes/applications.
• Tens of thousands of workers in the tech sector have been laid off in recent months. These are folks who need a job; they are competing with the currently employed for open positions.
• Companies are making applicants do a lot more throughout the interview process. Or, as written in a January Vox.com article: “Companies are seemingly coming up with new, higher, and harder hoops to jump through at every turn. That translates to endless rounds of interviews, various arbitrary tests, and complex exercises and presentations that entail hours of work and prep.”
• Remote work means that recruiters and hiring managers can now hire people who don’t live near the company’s offices: they can expand their talent pool geographically, thereby greatly expanding the number of qualified candidates. Yet even video interviews take time. Add in more interviews overall and the process simply takes longer as a whole.
• The job market is slowing down: the Federal Reserve’s interest rate increase is slowing the economy’s growth and job growth will slow with it. (As evidenced by the lower number of available jobs reported in February, as mentioned above.)

Therefore, if you landed a new job a year or two ago – or even during the candidate market in the three years or so before the pandemic – it may take you longer to land a job now than it did last time.

And that means you’ll need to ensure your application/candidacy stands out

Here’s how to do so:

1. Always, always, always, edit your resume to reflect each individual job to which you’re applying.

You should look at the description and rearrange your resume so that your skills that match the description are showcased front and center. You want them to be easy to see/find – place them right at the top of your resume…or darn near close to it!

Recruiters, hiring manager and even HR professionals are inundated with applicants right now. They are under extreme pressure to hire quickly and hire well.

Make it as easy as possible for them to know you can do the job by giving these necessary skills a prominent place on the document.

2. Consider using AI to help you revamp your resume for each job to which you apply.

An AI such as ChatGPT can make this process a lot easier and a lot quicker.

In the prompt form, tell the AI to “take the following job description pasted below and my resume pasted below that and rewrite my resume so that my skills that match the job description appear near the beginning/top of my resume.”

Then simply paste the job description in the AI’s “prompt” form, followed by your current resume and hit “go.” (In ChatGPT, “go” is a small arrow at the bottom right corner of the prompt form.)

You’ll have to reformat the new resume, of course, but the hard work is done.

3. Once you’re called in for an interview, research the company beforehand.

This way you’ll be able to discuss how your skills/background are a great fit. You’ll wow the interviewer because you’ll ask intelligent questions: “I hear your company plans to expand into such and such market next year. How will this position help you do so?”

4. At the end of the interview, ask for the position.

So many people don’t think to do this. Either they don’t know that it’s “allowed,” or they think it’s too bold/impertinent.

Believe us, it’s not. Instead, it shows you truly want the position, you’re confident you can perform well within it, and that your skills will provide great value to the company.

All you need to do is (if interviewing in person), at the end of the interview, stand up, extend your hand for a hand shake, look the interviewer in the eye and say something along the lines of: “Thank you for interviewing me. I feel that my (mention a skill/experience/education you possess that you believe is critical to the position) will be of great use to you and I hope you will choose me for the position.”

If interviewing via video, before saying goodbye, look directly into the computer’s/laptop’s camera and say pretty much the same thing.

(Note: we know that many job interviews now take place via video. If you’ve never interviewed for a job this way before, here’s a great primer on how to ace it.)

Here at DISYS, we’re always looking for great IT, financial, administrative, banking, sales, call center/customer service, HR, insurance, legal, management, marketing, and mortgage professionals in top-level companies across the country.

Take a look at some of our open opportunities and either apply directly for those that appeal to you, or register with us for future openings (we often fill positions without ever posting them publicly.)