When should I apply for a job?
April 12, 2011 6:30 PM Subscribe
How early is too early to start looking for jobs? I am moving across the country in July, and I don't know how timing works for applying to private sector jobs.
I am currently in grad school in Library and Information Science and relatively happily employed at an academic science library. Come August, we will be moving across the country for my partner's new postdoc. I will graduate in December with a MSLIS from my distance-based program. I plan on getting a job doing something with scientific or health-related data, as that has primarily been my training so far (SQL, XML, Python, Matlab). As there are few academic positions available right now, I will probably be aiming for private sector jobs. I would love to have a job nailed down before we move.
The problem is, I have never applied for a private sector job. Academic jobs have enormous lead times. My partner started the post-doc application process almost a year before her start date. Even librarians can start 4-6 months after the closing date for the position. I stumbled into my current position through connections I had made during a previous graduate degree- it was created basically for me. All other jobs I have had were garnered through standard grad student/undergrad channels or through family/friend connections.
I have already been applying to jobs that do have start dates in or after August. Unfortunately, they are few and far between. I have also been conducting informational interviews and working whatever networking connections I do have.
There is a company that seems really promising, in healthcare informatics. They appear to hire pretty much continuously due to growth and turnover. Compensation is vastly more than I have ever had. I would be able to put some of my skills to use and learn new ones. They might pay for the move(which would be awesome!).
Should I apply to this company now, explicitly stating my start date date in early August? Or should I apply closer to my move date? When SHOULD I start sending out my newly revised resume to companies?
I am currently in grad school in Library and Information Science and relatively happily employed at an academic science library. Come August, we will be moving across the country for my partner's new postdoc. I will graduate in December with a MSLIS from my distance-based program. I plan on getting a job doing something with scientific or health-related data, as that has primarily been my training so far (SQL, XML, Python, Matlab). As there are few academic positions available right now, I will probably be aiming for private sector jobs. I would love to have a job nailed down before we move.
The problem is, I have never applied for a private sector job. Academic jobs have enormous lead times. My partner started the post-doc application process almost a year before her start date. Even librarians can start 4-6 months after the closing date for the position. I stumbled into my current position through connections I had made during a previous graduate degree- it was created basically for me. All other jobs I have had were garnered through standard grad student/undergrad channels or through family/friend connections.
I have already been applying to jobs that do have start dates in or after August. Unfortunately, they are few and far between. I have also been conducting informational interviews and working whatever networking connections I do have.
There is a company that seems really promising, in healthcare informatics. They appear to hire pretty much continuously due to growth and turnover. Compensation is vastly more than I have ever had. I would be able to put some of my skills to use and learn new ones. They might pay for the move(which would be awesome!).
Should I apply to this company now, explicitly stating my start date date in early August? Or should I apply closer to my move date? When SHOULD I start sending out my newly revised resume to companies?
It never hurts to do it now. The worst that could happen is that they say no. The best that can happen is they say, "sure we'll wait". Another option is "well, you're not a great fit for this position, but we really like you and I know of this other position that will open soon that we can fit you into."
Go for it now.
posted by zombieApoc at 5:30 AM on April 13, 2011
Go for it now.
posted by zombieApoc at 5:30 AM on April 13, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by kjs3 at 7:09 PM on April 12, 2011