Companies That Respond To Resumes Fastest Have The Highest Turnover

If you apply for a job and the company gets back to you immediately, you may think you’ve got lucky and found a really great company that’s interested in your skills. However, a new six year study of over 16,000 businesses shows the opposite: The companies in the biggest hurry to hire often have the highest turnover.

Photo by William Murphy

Glassdoor notes that companies that fill positions quickly may also be dealing with a high turnover rate:

In fact, the notion that some outfits are constantly and quickly hiring meshes with another finding: the higher an establishment’s worker turnover rate, the more likely it is to fill positions quickly. That is to say, the firms that get back to you immediately about your application may also be the ones where employees are frequently leaving.

The bright side to the story though is that when a job opening appears, most firms are eager to hire for it to be filled as soon as possible. If you want a real leg up on the competition, try to find a way to introduce yourself before a posting goes up:

Looking at data from 2000 through 2006, the researchers found that 42% of hires were happening at establishments that had said, just the month before, they had no vacancies. The take-away for job-seekers: companies often move fast to fill positions as they open. If there’s a place you want to work, find a way to introduce yourself before a job opening is even posted. Because once companies decide to hire, you might not have much time to sell yourself.

As always, doing your homework and learning about the company is critical to find out whether or not you’ll fit in there or actually enjoy working there for the long haul.

How to Get a Job Before It’s Posted [Glassdoor Blog]