Triple-check your resume. Get to your interview early. Always send a thank-you note.<\/p>\n
A recent scholarly article co-authored by UCSD Rady School of Management professor On Amir found that job seekers have one more tool to help boost their chances of getting hired: answer fast.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur studies identify a distinct signal that employees can control to increase their hireability: replying to messages quickly. Empirically, every minute counts,\u201d the authors write.<\/p>\n
To anyone who has applied for work or hired a worker in this century, this discovery may not be surprising. Fast is good. It hints at a job applicant\u2019s potential eagerness and competence as a worker. It shows a job seeker is around, available, ready to dive in.<\/p>\n
Amir, who teaches marketing at Rady and is an expert in behavioral economics and decision making, said the findings are good news for job seekers.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that a lot of people hesitate and wait. They don\u2019t want to seem too eager. They don\u2019t know exactly what the right timing is to respond. Maybe they\u2019re looking for the perfect answer,\u201d he said. The study can help cut out that fretting and help workers know what to optimize for: speed. You\u2019re \u201cmuch better off\u201d replying swiftly and on target than waiting, trying to be strategic, trying to be perfect, Amir said. \u201cI think that should alleviate stress.\u201d<\/p>\n
To test their hunch that speed matters greatly \u2014 and that greater speed is even better \u2014 the authors conducted four studies that together analyzed millions of hiring transactions on Fiverr, the internet gig platform. They also tested their ideas in more narrow job seeking conditions.<\/p>\n
The researchers found that when a job applicant lags even a few hours when communicating with a potential employer or client, that can really hurt his or her chances of getting hired.<\/p>\n
\u201cEach additional minute of delay significantly reduces a responder\u2019s likelihood of being hired,\u201d they found, when looking at Fiverr communications between job seekers and employers. Even when an employer contacted just one job candidate \u2014 a situation where there was no competition between several candidates to answer fastest \u2014 the seller\u2019s or job candidate\u2019s reply speed influenced the buyer\u2019s or employer\u2019s interest.<\/p>\n
The effect was magnified with Fiverr\u2019s mobile app, probably because there\u2019s an expectation that people on the app are more connected and should be quicker to reply \u2014 unlike laptop or desktop website users.<\/p>\n
\u201cA one-hour delay reduced conversion (i.e. the likelihood of being hired) by 46% and a one-day delay reduces conversion by about 90%,\u201d the article says.<\/p>\n
In experiments they crafted to find out more, the authors factored in dimensions besides speed and zeroed in on industries including catering, photography, copy editing and medicine. They tested different kinds of responses, again with different speeds. Again and again, fast won.<\/p>\n
This time around, they discovered that employers do care about applicant quality (where star ratings were seen as a signal for quality). But among similarly highly rated professionals, response speed helped seal the deal.<\/p>\n
Employers also care about the quality of a response. Fast is good, but fast and relevant is better. AI slop, canned answers or those distracted, generic emails that are almost but not quite spam \u2014 \u201cDear sir, my resume is attached\u201d \u2014 all count against job seekers and service providers.<\/p>\n
Speed can lose value, \u201cbut only when responses themselves are so poor \u2026 or appear to be automatically generated \u2026 that reply speed is no longer a relevant signal of future responsiveness,\u201d the article says.<\/p>\n
The paper also pokes holes in a few misconceptions.<\/p>\n
One busted myth is that perfection \u2014 in messages to potential employers \u2014 is worth the wait. Someone bidding on a job might agonize over the subject line or craft a meticulous, deeply thought-out proposal, when all that was needed was a short, fast and thoughtful answer to get the ball rolling.<\/p>\n
Another myth is that appearing unavailable makes you look busy and desirable. Kind of like when you\u2019re dating, and you might think playing hard to get will up your value.<\/p>\n
If I answer fast, a job seeker might think, does that make me look desperate? Should I slow my roll so this company thinks I\u2019m busy reviewing other offers?<\/p>\n
The article\u2019s findings should reassure job seekers: a high-quality job applicant can\u2019t seem too eager.<\/p>\n
Amir gave this example. \u201cImagine you need, God forbid, some medical experts for a family member. You search online and find three experts. You send all three messages, and one of them replies immediately. Do you hold it against them?\u201d<\/p>\n
What about professions where workers don\u2019t have a degree and a license to prove their excellence, like graphic design or nannying? Amir said that across the board, regardless of the industry the researchers tested, speedier responses made job candidates more desirable.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe searched for one example where this (scenario) doesn\u2019t work, and we (couldn\u2019t) find it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
One more reason answering fast helps: you might be competing against people who already know this and are fast responders themselves.<\/p>\n
How does this insight bode for work-life balance? Must job seekers reply to midnight messages from potential bosses (in different time zones, perhaps) and stay tethered to their phones in the dental hygienist\u2019s chair, lest they miss a job opportunity?<\/p>\n
Amir walked a tight rope here, suggesting that a quick reply saying you\u2019ll answer in greater detail later is one way to buy some time. \u201cHere are my first thoughts, but I can think more about it.\u201d This can get your foot in the door. Another solution, if you really need to be out of touch: set up an auto-responder saying you\u2019re out for the day and will reply first thing Monday.<\/p>\n
But, he added, \u201cIf you\u2019re looking for work, you\u2019re looking for work. You should be responsive.\u201d<\/p>\n
He drew from his research to advise his own daughter, who was looking for a job and ended up with several offers.<\/p>\n
\u201cI did tell my daughter, when she got an offer, she should answer immediately,\u201d Amir said.<\/p>\n