Whether you are applying for remote or in-office jobs, the process can cause quite a bit of stress. After all, you’re spending time and effort to land a dream role and often you hear nothing back.
So to give yourself the best chances, you may wonder how many jobs you should apply for. Although it can vary based on your job needs and goals, there are some best practices to follow.
Let’s dive in!
How Many Job Applications Per Day Should You Apply To?
Job seekers should apply for 3 to 5 jobs per day to maximize their chances of landing an interview. However, you can choose to send more or less each day, pending your goals. Remember, the quality of your application is more important than quantity.
Now, you may think the number above is low, but between my own job searches and colleagues, less is sometimes more.
I’m a believer in quality over quantity in pretty much all aspects of life.
The data does show that the average job search can take about 3-6 months from start to finish to get a job, according to FlexJobs.
So it’s understandable you want to move fast and get more applications out to ensure you have income flowing in.
How many applications should you submit if you’re graduating college?
If you are nearing the end of your college years, you may be thinking about your transition into your career. In this situation, you may want to ramp up and apply for 5 to 10 jobs per day. This will give you good experiences and learning as you look to land an interview.
This is also a great time to attend networking events, and job fairs hosted on campus, work with your school’s career services or guidance counselor, etc. Use any service or resource available to you in order to get into those entry-level roles.
It may be a bit overwhelming at first between wrapping up school work, exams, and other activities – so give yourself a break when needed.
How many jobs can you apply for at one company?
It is certainly acceptable to apply to multiple jobs at one company if your experience is relevant. But it is recommended you only apply to two or three jobs at one company maximum that are most attractive to you and fit your skills.
If you start applying to every variation or one you aren’t qualified for to get attention, it’s going to cost you the job interview. And it might also hurt your chances in the future if a job you are qualified for at said company opens up.
Benefits of Submitting Many Job Applications
By submitting several job applications each day, you are giving yourself the best possible chance to get hired. But here are a few key benefits:
- Can shorten the time it takes you to get a job. The more you submit, the more interviews you can get. But don’t forget the importance of quality over quantity!
- Increases your application skills and quality. Practice can lead to a better resume, cover letters, and overall submissions. You should start to notice your process and skills improving.
- By being super active, you can catch available job positions faster. When you are dedicated each day, you give yourself the opportunity to be interviewed.
Disadvantages of Submitting Many Job Applications
As I’ve called out, you want to balance carefully how many job applications you submit in a day. Doing too much can have some disadvantages, here are a few examples:
- You may burn out. Finding a new job whether you are laid off or want a new opportunity can be stressful. If you try to do too much right away, your mental and physical health could feel the impact. Work-life balance applies to job searching too!
- It may hurt your chances if you apply to multiple jobs at the company. While it can be okay if two or three fit your skills, move with caution. It could be a sign to a recruiter that you are desperate and throwing out a hail mary, hoping something lands.
- Impacts the quality. If you are pumping out cover letters and applications at a fast pace, it’s easy to overlook grammar and spelling mistakes. You don’t want to get sloppy and hurt your chances just because you think more is better.
What Else Can You Spend Your Day On During the Job Hunt?
I’ve seen some recommendations to apply to as many as 10 to 15 jobs per day. However, I think that is too much in most circumstances and can harm your chances of finding the position you want.
So beyond applying for jobs, then what can you do? Here’s a bit of my own approach:
- Optimize and clean up your LinkedIn profile. Make sure it’s up to date, represents you well, and has the details you want to display to hiring managers. Consider adding the “open to work” option or adding volunteer experiences to boost your profile reach.
- Networking. Sometimes it’s about who you know over what you know. While I do dislike that phrase, it really has some truth to it. Connect with people on LinkedIn (you should be even when you aren’t searching for a job), stay in touch and catch up with people, go to networking events, etc.
- Build out your “job criteria” and “companies you want to work for” list. Learn more about them, read what the organization is up to, read company reviews on Glassdoor, etc. This will help you speak their language and think of questions you might ask in an interview.
- Figure out how you can stand out among the crowd. Some companies and job applications will have hundreds, if not thousands of applicants. This means just applying won’t generally get you in the door.
Your best plan will be to divvy up your day into how you plan on finding a job. For example:
- 9 am to 11 am – Search for jobs at companies you’d like to work for and apply. Look at LinkedIn, check out communities, and look at job boards like the Remote Work Junkie Job Board.
- 11 am to 12 pm – Take time to network, engage on LinkedIn, and follow up with some past colleagues or friends.
- 12 pm to 1 pm – Take a break for lunch or something you enjoy doing.
- 1 pm to 3 pm – Respond to emails, messages, job applications, and update your log of jobs you already applied to. If a recruiter reaches out on LinkedIn, make sure to respond even if you aren’t interested in that role.
Hopefully, those few quick tips help you speed up your job search and timeline. It can be a daunting and frustrating process, but you got this!
About Todd Kunsman
Todd is the founder of Remote Work Junkie and has been featured in numerous publications like Business Insider, HuffPost, CNBC, and more. He’s been a remote work advocate for close to a decade and has been working remotely full-time for 5+ years. He’s also a marketing, personal finance, and music nerd 🤓
