Is my job application to interview ratio good?
March 29, 2021 2:12 PM Subscribe
What do you think of my interview hit rate? I've been averaging about one interview a week in a technical field. This week I secured one, maybe two based on 30 applications. So let's say my hit rate is 3 -7%. I think that is outstanding but friends and family don't think I do enough or are doing something wrong. If you take out all the LinkedIn "Easy Apply" applications the hit rate is probable 10-20%
One friend yesterday told me something is not working for me because I haven't had any offers so take any job just to get a job. There has been the COVID situation mucking things up. That put a halt on everything for almost a year. I do get government support so paying bills is not a problem. There is no pressure there
I've been told I need to apply for more jobs. After having almost a year to really polish my resume and getting strategic about only applying for jobs that fit my background, I've been getting around one interview a week. As with anything, we can always do more but at some point, it's a waste of time. I'm spending hours a day.
I've been told that I need to just get a job, any job. I'm interviewing for jobs that are pretty high-paying jobs putting me in the top 10% of individual household earners. I have some pretty unique work experience and an advanced science degree. I'm not going to take a retail job. I couldn't afford rent in my city on $16/hr. (Currently, I'm staying with family, so I do not have rent to pay, but they are some of the people giving me suggestions). I've tried to apply for what I would call a middle-income range position and I get even fewer responses or interview requests. Then the comments from those interviews are that I'm overqualified.
One to two interviews a week I feel is pretty outstanding. What do you guys think? If you count the fact that I apply to jobs on LinkedIn if they are close to what I'm looking for and they have the "EASY APPLY" option, if you take those out my hit rate is significantly higher. My actual hit rate might actually be closer to 10-20%. If you Google interview hit rates the numbers are all over the place. Being that I'm in a technical field I think I'm doing pretty well.
I'm pretty sure that a lot of job seekers here have heard similar advice or comments to the ones above. Those comments really are not helpful. I know that they are trying to help but they are almost cliches of bad job hunting advice.
One friend yesterday told me something is not working for me because I haven't had any offers so take any job just to get a job. There has been the COVID situation mucking things up. That put a halt on everything for almost a year. I do get government support so paying bills is not a problem. There is no pressure there
I've been told I need to apply for more jobs. After having almost a year to really polish my resume and getting strategic about only applying for jobs that fit my background, I've been getting around one interview a week. As with anything, we can always do more but at some point, it's a waste of time. I'm spending hours a day.
I've been told that I need to just get a job, any job. I'm interviewing for jobs that are pretty high-paying jobs putting me in the top 10% of individual household earners. I have some pretty unique work experience and an advanced science degree. I'm not going to take a retail job. I couldn't afford rent in my city on $16/hr. (Currently, I'm staying with family, so I do not have rent to pay, but they are some of the people giving me suggestions). I've tried to apply for what I would call a middle-income range position and I get even fewer responses or interview requests. Then the comments from those interviews are that I'm overqualified.
One to two interviews a week I feel is pretty outstanding. What do you guys think? If you count the fact that I apply to jobs on LinkedIn if they are close to what I'm looking for and they have the "EASY APPLY" option, if you take those out my hit rate is significantly higher. My actual hit rate might actually be closer to 10-20%. If you Google interview hit rates the numbers are all over the place. Being that I'm in a technical field I think I'm doing pretty well.
I'm pretty sure that a lot of job seekers here have heard similar advice or comments to the ones above. Those comments really are not helpful. I know that they are trying to help but they are almost cliches of bad job hunting advice.
My last period of unemployment was five years ago (in a far better economy), if I got an interview a month I felt I was doing pretty well. More than one a week is superb.
As a matter of psychological advice, though—I always used to find it useful to think of my 'hit rate' for applications as 0%, whether I got an interview, a rejection letter, or nothing, because there's nothing so dispiriting as comparing effort to outcome in this context. When I got work, my 'hit rate' (of job search to job) suddenly became 100%. Effort put in or time spent searching has very little relationship to getting work.
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 2:18 PM on March 29, 2021 [6 favorites]
As a matter of psychological advice, though—I always used to find it useful to think of my 'hit rate' for applications as 0%, whether I got an interview, a rejection letter, or nothing, because there's nothing so dispiriting as comparing effort to outcome in this context. When I got work, my 'hit rate' (of job search to job) suddenly became 100%. Effort put in or time spent searching has very little relationship to getting work.
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 2:18 PM on March 29, 2021 [6 favorites]
Can you give some context on the content of these interviews? I'm in a technical field too and these are the types of "interviews" that employers do in my industry:
- recruiter/intro chat, ~20 min - talk about yourself, your experience, what you're looking for
- phone screen interview, ~45-60 min - can you solve a time-boxed challenge in a way that pleases the interviewer. sometimes this would be replaced by a take-home challenge that you do on your own time.
- on-site/full-day (or Zoom equivalent in covid) - ~5+ hours - multiple time-boxed chats with people throughout the company, that could be whiteboarding, talking through challenges, otherwise technical talks
For recruiter/intro chats, these take very little prep time and have no technical content, so you could easily do 2-3 a day.
Phone screens can be taxing, so when I was interviewing I might have done 2-3 a week max.
On-sites would take weeks to prep for, and I would not schedule multiple of them a week, but I know others who would.
posted by rogerroger at 2:20 PM on March 29, 2021 [1 favorite]
- recruiter/intro chat, ~20 min - talk about yourself, your experience, what you're looking for
- phone screen interview, ~45-60 min - can you solve a time-boxed challenge in a way that pleases the interviewer. sometimes this would be replaced by a take-home challenge that you do on your own time.
- on-site/full-day (or Zoom equivalent in covid) - ~5+ hours - multiple time-boxed chats with people throughout the company, that could be whiteboarding, talking through challenges, otherwise technical talks
For recruiter/intro chats, these take very little prep time and have no technical content, so you could easily do 2-3 a day.
Phone screens can be taxing, so when I was interviewing I might have done 2-3 a week max.
On-sites would take weeks to prep for, and I would not schedule multiple of them a week, but I know others who would.
posted by rogerroger at 2:20 PM on March 29, 2021 [1 favorite]
I think you need to put your advice-giving friends and family on an information diet. They don't need to know the details of your hit rate - pull it back to "yes the job hunt is still going, I'll let you know when I have news to share", and refrain from any additional info. You're doing great.
posted by brainmouse at 2:21 PM on March 29, 2021 [36 favorites]
posted by brainmouse at 2:21 PM on March 29, 2021 [36 favorites]
I think it actually doesn't matter what your interview vs. resume rate is, unless you're trying to figure out if your resume is any good. It sounds like your resume is not bad.
What matters is that you can get a job.
If you have been working at it hard for two months (when unemployed, the usual advice is that your job is getting a job) and you've been out of work in a technical field for an entire year, and you're early- to mid-career, I would say you need to lower your expectations or apply more broadly.
If you've had more than 10 interviews, it may be that something is going really wrong in your interviews (this is really field dependent, and depends on whether by "interviews" you mean full-out interviews, or screening interviews. If you're averaging 1-2 screening interviews a week and not getting any further, you probably need to adjust your expectations for the kind of job your qualifications match.) It might be a good idea to see if you can sit down with someone you know in your field and go through a few questions with them.
In my last job search (media) I was laid off at the end of June, and I had a child having surgery in July so I only applied to about 20 jobs. I had 4 interviews and was offered three positions by mid-August.
I also remember that you are in conflict with your family and that they are not following Covid protocols, so I understand why other people are giving you the advice to get any job. But I'd just stop talking to them about it.
posted by warriorqueen at 2:23 PM on March 29, 2021 [8 favorites]
What matters is that you can get a job.
If you have been working at it hard for two months (when unemployed, the usual advice is that your job is getting a job) and you've been out of work in a technical field for an entire year, and you're early- to mid-career, I would say you need to lower your expectations or apply more broadly.
If you've had more than 10 interviews, it may be that something is going really wrong in your interviews (this is really field dependent, and depends on whether by "interviews" you mean full-out interviews, or screening interviews. If you're averaging 1-2 screening interviews a week and not getting any further, you probably need to adjust your expectations for the kind of job your qualifications match.) It might be a good idea to see if you can sit down with someone you know in your field and go through a few questions with them.
In my last job search (media) I was laid off at the end of June, and I had a child having surgery in July so I only applied to about 20 jobs. I had 4 interviews and was offered three positions by mid-August.
I also remember that you are in conflict with your family and that they are not following Covid protocols, so I understand why other people are giving you the advice to get any job. But I'd just stop talking to them about it.
posted by warriorqueen at 2:23 PM on March 29, 2021 [8 favorites]
P.S. I would never have that hit ratio in media today. :)
posted by warriorqueen at 2:25 PM on March 29, 2021 [3 favorites]
posted by warriorqueen at 2:25 PM on March 29, 2021 [3 favorites]
I agree with what everyone else is saying--that's a good hit rate on interviews. If you're financially sound, waiting is probably best.
BUT: if you're staying with family and that family is saying "get a job, any job," then that sounds like a sign that they might want you to not be staying with them anymore. If they don't want to wait for the perfect job to come along before you move out (or contribute more financially to the household), then you should consider ways to deal with that issue--which might be a part time anything job (that you don't have to put on your resume), offering more money to the household, or even just a frank talk.
If the "take any job" advice is from anyone else, I would ignore it.
posted by gideonfrog at 2:49 PM on March 29, 2021 [12 favorites]
BUT: if you're staying with family and that family is saying "get a job, any job," then that sounds like a sign that they might want you to not be staying with them anymore. If they don't want to wait for the perfect job to come along before you move out (or contribute more financially to the household), then you should consider ways to deal with that issue--which might be a part time anything job (that you don't have to put on your resume), offering more money to the household, or even just a frank talk.
If the "take any job" advice is from anyone else, I would ignore it.
posted by gideonfrog at 2:49 PM on March 29, 2021 [12 favorites]
In normal times, I think it’s worth spending more effort on fewer but well targeted applications and would say that your interview rate sounds good to me though I’m not in your field. But in normal times I would also say that after a year of trying, something isn’t working right and you need to try something else, whether that’s lowering your salary/title targets or doing some practice interviews with someone who will give you feedback to try to get a sense of whether something’s going wrong there. (Or with your references?)
But this is the weirdest year to be job hunting and I don’t really think you can compare anything that’s happening right now to a normal job hunt.
So I think in your shoes I would stop talking about this with most friends and family and just keep focused on yourself and whether your current goal is to hold out a long time for the right job or get something less ideal faster.
The family you’re living with is unfortunately the exception; they get some input here on how long they’re willing to support you, and if they’re working toward “we’re going to cut you off soon if you don’t start contributing to the rent,” you need to take that seriously. But they don’t get to decide how you do that. If you want to go for a part time retail job or do some gig work or dig into your savings, while you keep being exacting about your search for full time work. so be it.
posted by Stacey at 2:57 PM on March 29, 2021 [1 favorite]
But this is the weirdest year to be job hunting and I don’t really think you can compare anything that’s happening right now to a normal job hunt.
So I think in your shoes I would stop talking about this with most friends and family and just keep focused on yourself and whether your current goal is to hold out a long time for the right job or get something less ideal faster.
The family you’re living with is unfortunately the exception; they get some input here on how long they’re willing to support you, and if they’re working toward “we’re going to cut you off soon if you don’t start contributing to the rent,” you need to take that seriously. But they don’t get to decide how you do that. If you want to go for a part time retail job or do some gig work or dig into your savings, while you keep being exacting about your search for full time work. so be it.
posted by Stacey at 2:57 PM on March 29, 2021 [1 favorite]
I'm actually in your boat in terms of industry and income and just finished a job search that went longer than expected. What you need to focus on here is where the "leaks" in your funnel to the next round are, if there are any, and fix those. I only apply to jobs where I think I am well qualified (not trying to apply with less years of exp than they ask for, etc.) and I had a similar application to screening interview rate, probably. It was worse this year than in years past, recruiters are overwhelmed and even a good resume has 50/50 odds without a direct referral and it's largely down to making your resume pass an NLP machine learning model, which is bogus but not anything you can change except 1) get direct referrals by cold DMing hiring managers on LinkedIn which people have very mixed feelings about 2) make your resume pass the stupid model if you can with whatever buzzwords and super clean formatting
Next, you need to think about the screening to hiring manager/code test conversion rate. This was pretty high for me, like 80%. The only times it didn't happen were when I discovered new things not in the job posting about what kind of skills they wanted, or policies about remote work that didn't work for me, or the hiring manager just flaked and stopped the process, etc. You have to really screw up here most of the time to not progress and you should be pretty polished at this stage with your 2 min pitch about yourself and your skills. You need to rehearse at least one reason why you are interested in their specific company (mission, tech stack, whatever) ahead of time, don't be long winded with the screener, and you're good. The thing to focus on at this stage is not giving them a reason to say no and doing your homework if they ask about salary (unreasonable salary expectations might be a reason for a low pass rate here if you are sure your pitch is fine)
Next is homework/code tests, this is where Leetcode and getting feedback on your technical fundamentals from whoever you know that does this kind of screening at their job. If you're failing here it's probably just that you need to practice more but if you never get past this point you are applying for jobs that are too advanced or you have some weakness in your fundamentals, but I had something like 75% pass rate here.
Final interview is about personality and nebulous "fit" stuff and I had a terrible pass rate on this over the last few months, maybe 20% of the interviews where I made it past homework, but in retrospect I'm glad I didn't get any of those jobs where they didn't like my personality because I probably would have been miserable.
I'm not saying your funnel will have rates exactly like this, but the jist is that you should be getting a high pass rate at the stages after the initial screening if your fundamentals are good and the reasons for repeat failures at the different stages may give you better ideas on things to address. It doesn't matter if your rate at the beginning of the funnel is stellar or not if you never make it to final interview or offer, so focus on those rates, too.
posted by slow graffiti at 3:21 PM on March 29, 2021 [7 favorites]
Next, you need to think about the screening to hiring manager/code test conversion rate. This was pretty high for me, like 80%. The only times it didn't happen were when I discovered new things not in the job posting about what kind of skills they wanted, or policies about remote work that didn't work for me, or the hiring manager just flaked and stopped the process, etc. You have to really screw up here most of the time to not progress and you should be pretty polished at this stage with your 2 min pitch about yourself and your skills. You need to rehearse at least one reason why you are interested in their specific company (mission, tech stack, whatever) ahead of time, don't be long winded with the screener, and you're good. The thing to focus on at this stage is not giving them a reason to say no and doing your homework if they ask about salary (unreasonable salary expectations might be a reason for a low pass rate here if you are sure your pitch is fine)
Next is homework/code tests, this is where Leetcode and getting feedback on your technical fundamentals from whoever you know that does this kind of screening at their job. If you're failing here it's probably just that you need to practice more but if you never get past this point you are applying for jobs that are too advanced or you have some weakness in your fundamentals, but I had something like 75% pass rate here.
Final interview is about personality and nebulous "fit" stuff and I had a terrible pass rate on this over the last few months, maybe 20% of the interviews where I made it past homework, but in retrospect I'm glad I didn't get any of those jobs where they didn't like my personality because I probably would have been miserable.
I'm not saying your funnel will have rates exactly like this, but the jist is that you should be getting a high pass rate at the stages after the initial screening if your fundamentals are good and the reasons for repeat failures at the different stages may give you better ideas on things to address. It doesn't matter if your rate at the beginning of the funnel is stellar or not if you never make it to final interview or offer, so focus on those rates, too.
posted by slow graffiti at 3:21 PM on March 29, 2021 [7 favorites]
Well, from my own limited IT experience (5 jobs from college to 67 years old) I think "networking" has to be mentioned. Of my five jobs, one was found traditionally (newspaper ad), two were found via "head hunter" and two through networking.
I did not know it until much later (and the wonders of the Web) but apparently networking can be positive and negative. I benefited from positive networking, where people had heard of me and came to me directly or via intermediaries. But I hear (?) that sometimes interviews are "cover" for when an employer knows exactly who they want to hire but, they need to show due diligence to their own staff or to government agencies that they are open to any and all qualified applicants.
I do not want to make it sound like the latter is true in all industries, or that it's true very much at all. But I thought I should mention the possibility. I was once hired for a short gig when I was a consultant because my resume matched the requirements of the funding department, not the team I would be working with (seriously).
posted by forthright at 3:28 PM on March 29, 2021
I did not know it until much later (and the wonders of the Web) but apparently networking can be positive and negative. I benefited from positive networking, where people had heard of me and came to me directly or via intermediaries. But I hear (?) that sometimes interviews are "cover" for when an employer knows exactly who they want to hire but, they need to show due diligence to their own staff or to government agencies that they are open to any and all qualified applicants.
I do not want to make it sound like the latter is true in all industries, or that it's true very much at all. But I thought I should mention the possibility. I was once hired for a short gig when I was a consultant because my resume matched the requirements of the funding department, not the team I would be working with (seriously).
posted by forthright at 3:28 PM on March 29, 2021
Are there any people in your field you can reach out to in order to get advice? I'd imagine this really varies in field to field.
Also agree with those above suggesting the number of interviews seems good, but if you're never advancing beyond round one, that suggests you might want to do some mock interviews, ideally with people in your industry, to get feedback on what you're doing wrong. Maybe you ramble, maybe you fidget, I obviously don't know- but it's possible there is a fixable a problem.
posted by coffeecat at 3:46 PM on March 29, 2021
Also agree with those above suggesting the number of interviews seems good, but if you're never advancing beyond round one, that suggests you might want to do some mock interviews, ideally with people in your industry, to get feedback on what you're doing wrong. Maybe you ramble, maybe you fidget, I obviously don't know- but it's possible there is a fixable a problem.
posted by coffeecat at 3:46 PM on March 29, 2021
Apologies for the double-post, but I just looked back at your questions and realized you're the person who was wondering if joking about national stereotypes was okay in job interviews, as long as the nation was wealthy.
I'm just an internet stranger, but the fact that you needed people here to correct you on that, makes me suspect that perhaps the problem is your interview skills. Which you shouldn't feel bad about - interviewing is a rather bizarre skill of knowing how to seem personable without being too personable. It took me awhile to figure it out myself (and I still don't think I'm great at it). So yeah, ask a trusted friend to conduct a mock interview, and see if they don't notice some phrasings or mannerisms that might be OK in many social contexts but not interviews.
posted by coffeecat at 4:01 PM on March 29, 2021 [8 favorites]
I'm just an internet stranger, but the fact that you needed people here to correct you on that, makes me suspect that perhaps the problem is your interview skills. Which you shouldn't feel bad about - interviewing is a rather bizarre skill of knowing how to seem personable without being too personable. It took me awhile to figure it out myself (and I still don't think I'm great at it). So yeah, ask a trusted friend to conduct a mock interview, and see if they don't notice some phrasings or mannerisms that might be OK in many social contexts but not interviews.
posted by coffeecat at 4:01 PM on March 29, 2021 [8 favorites]
Sticking to the question at hand, I think an interview a week is decent. Obviously that’ll vary depending on various factors - whether you’ve been elected to the US Senate, whether you’ve been convicted of multiple felonies, etc. But if I were getting an interview each week on 30 applications (a very reasonable amount), I’d be satisfied with myself. Like others have said, your question history indicates that interviewing may be a problem, but for this question, your hit rate is good.
posted by kevinbelt at 4:14 PM on March 29, 2021
posted by kevinbelt at 4:14 PM on March 29, 2021
Application to interview is a meaningless, unproductive statistic. Interview to offer is the only statistic that matters. I recommend you stop applying for roles just to get an interview and instead narrow your focus to companies where you can see yourself in three years. Then, find the right person and make a focused approach for an informational interview without prejudice about them, the department, the company.
Ask yourself, are you really a candidate for the jobs you're finding or are you just bored and seeking a way to make yourself feel good about your life? This is a great time to take up a musical instrument, learn to decorate, start a podcast with your best friend.
posted by parmanparman at 4:47 PM on March 29, 2021 [1 favorite]
Ask yourself, are you really a candidate for the jobs you're finding or are you just bored and seeking a way to make yourself feel good about your life? This is a great time to take up a musical instrument, learn to decorate, start a podcast with your best friend.
posted by parmanparman at 4:47 PM on March 29, 2021 [1 favorite]
Hi, I'm in a high end niche of tech, and have some weird circumstance! But as always, YMMV and Your situation will _definitely_ vary.
Different people have different strategies that work for them - my strategy is damn near spam, since I've found that when I'm talking to a human, that the actual job rarely matches the description. So I get a call back rate of around 4%, and an interview rate of about half of that. And honestly - I've been fairly constantly employed in tech for the last 15 years, so this is obviously okay.
I'd say that the idea that you should only apply to jobs which are an "exact match" is bad advice. If everyone is calling you back, my view is you're not spreading your resume out there enough, because you're not a match for everyone! (which is to say, I'd strongly disagree with some of the commenters above who are suggesting only apply to places you really like). My experience has been that finding good roles is a numbers game, and that applying and interviewing broadly (remember: the interview is as much for you to decide if the role is for you!). I've had a bunch of "short term contract" offers turn into "full time employment" when the rubber has actually hit the road, though to be fair I've also had the opposite happen.
I ended up writing a script last time I needed to do this, and applied to around 300 jobs before landing one. That was a while ago though, and not covid.
One piece of advice I'd give if you do want to increase your callback rate, is make your resume very keywordy - I got this weird piece of advice about twenty years ago now, where I was applying for a role where I knew the director of the company, but he needed to still push things through his partners - and he asked me "Why are you not listing your TCP/IP skills and your Unix skills?". This was for a role where it was crystal clear from my work history that I had those basic skills.... but the initial recipients are usually keyword-filter equivalent humans, and spamming a list of _every_ tech thing you can do on the front page really helped me get in the door, which gets you onto the phone/into the room. The worst that can happen is you get in there, and either of you don't like each other - at which point, nothing is really lost.
Also: the overqualified thing is a thorn in my side too... but honestly I'm surprised they're bringing you in for interviews and _then_ deciding that - in that case, I'd say your resume is definitely light on keywords, since more of them would filter those roles out at the head end. It works both ways...
I do think 1-2 interviews per week is pretty good, although if you consider callbacks as interviews, it's low-ish for phone interviews. But covid!
posted by jaymzjulian at 6:45 PM on March 29, 2021 [1 favorite]
Different people have different strategies that work for them - my strategy is damn near spam, since I've found that when I'm talking to a human, that the actual job rarely matches the description. So I get a call back rate of around 4%, and an interview rate of about half of that. And honestly - I've been fairly constantly employed in tech for the last 15 years, so this is obviously okay.
I'd say that the idea that you should only apply to jobs which are an "exact match" is bad advice. If everyone is calling you back, my view is you're not spreading your resume out there enough, because you're not a match for everyone! (which is to say, I'd strongly disagree with some of the commenters above who are suggesting only apply to places you really like). My experience has been that finding good roles is a numbers game, and that applying and interviewing broadly (remember: the interview is as much for you to decide if the role is for you!). I've had a bunch of "short term contract" offers turn into "full time employment" when the rubber has actually hit the road, though to be fair I've also had the opposite happen.
I ended up writing a script last time I needed to do this, and applied to around 300 jobs before landing one. That was a while ago though, and not covid.
One piece of advice I'd give if you do want to increase your callback rate, is make your resume very keywordy - I got this weird piece of advice about twenty years ago now, where I was applying for a role where I knew the director of the company, but he needed to still push things through his partners - and he asked me "Why are you not listing your TCP/IP skills and your Unix skills?". This was for a role where it was crystal clear from my work history that I had those basic skills.... but the initial recipients are usually keyword-filter equivalent humans, and spamming a list of _every_ tech thing you can do on the front page really helped me get in the door, which gets you onto the phone/into the room. The worst that can happen is you get in there, and either of you don't like each other - at which point, nothing is really lost.
Also: the overqualified thing is a thorn in my side too... but honestly I'm surprised they're bringing you in for interviews and _then_ deciding that - in that case, I'd say your resume is definitely light on keywords, since more of them would filter those roles out at the head end. It works both ways...
I do think 1-2 interviews per week is pretty good, although if you consider callbacks as interviews, it's low-ish for phone interviews. But covid!
posted by jaymzjulian at 6:45 PM on March 29, 2021 [1 favorite]
friends and family don't think I do enough or are doing something wrong
Based on your recent AskMe history, my best advice is to worry less about what your friends and family think and trust your own judgement more.
posted by flabdablet at 10:01 PM on March 29, 2021
Based on your recent AskMe history, my best advice is to worry less about what your friends and family think and trust your own judgement more.
posted by flabdablet at 10:01 PM on March 29, 2021
I'm not going to take a retail job. I couldn't afford rent in my city on $16/hr. (Currently, I'm staying with family, so I do not have rent to pay
Every family culture is different, even within the same larger culture, so I couldn't guess what is expected of you or what you expect of yourself here. but while you may have family that will never evict you, it is generally a good idea to actively offer some small but regular sum of money in lieu of formal rent. "a good idea" in a purely practical sense, such as in the event that you need to ask for help again someday, at some unknown time in the future. unless you have the kind of family culture where your hosts would be genuinely insulted by the offer. if you don't pay rent in money, you have to pay rent in patiently and respectfully listening to bad advice.
to do this, you need an income, but it doesn't have to be the kind of income you could fully live on, because...you don't have to live on it. so in your place, I would devote a small portion of your application time to seeking a part-time job of the sort you have ruled out. Full-time would eat up all your energy and, as you say, not even make you independent. but part-time would allow you to both build savings and contribute to family goodwill towards you, while still leaving time free to keep applying selectively to the serious jobs you really want.
as to the numbers, an interview a week is a good rate. I would concentrate more on interview skills/technique. The jobs exist and hiring managers agree that at least on paper, you're qualified for them.
posted by queenofbithynia at 10:14 PM on March 29, 2021 [1 favorite]
Every family culture is different, even within the same larger culture, so I couldn't guess what is expected of you or what you expect of yourself here. but while you may have family that will never evict you, it is generally a good idea to actively offer some small but regular sum of money in lieu of formal rent. "a good idea" in a purely practical sense, such as in the event that you need to ask for help again someday, at some unknown time in the future. unless you have the kind of family culture where your hosts would be genuinely insulted by the offer. if you don't pay rent in money, you have to pay rent in patiently and respectfully listening to bad advice.
to do this, you need an income, but it doesn't have to be the kind of income you could fully live on, because...you don't have to live on it. so in your place, I would devote a small portion of your application time to seeking a part-time job of the sort you have ruled out. Full-time would eat up all your energy and, as you say, not even make you independent. but part-time would allow you to both build savings and contribute to family goodwill towards you, while still leaving time free to keep applying selectively to the serious jobs you really want.
as to the numbers, an interview a week is a good rate. I would concentrate more on interview skills/technique. The jobs exist and hiring managers agree that at least on paper, you're qualified for them.
posted by queenofbithynia at 10:14 PM on March 29, 2021 [1 favorite]
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I also need to note that as a new person in the field and being a mid-career professional that career pathing is my ultimate concern. I am absolutely willing to compromise on salary for the right position. I feel that the right career path at my age is mission-critical.
posted by Che boludo! at 2:17 PM on March 29, 2021 [2 favorites]