Closing Job Application Process Early

[CockatooZoo]

Just wanting some thoughts on this. I was applying for a job under the guaranteed interview scheme, I would have been offered an interview as I met all the criteria and had several years experience with all points of the criteria, qualified in the subject area and worked at a more senior level to this role in another organisation (similar).

I read through the application thoroughly and had worked on my draft application for quite a while, adjusted my CV and ensured everything was easy to link together to demonstrate the competencies. It also included a personal statement which I wrote from scratch.

There was no mention of rolling applications or that applications would close early for any circumstance on the website.

I went to submit the application on Friday (having had a reminder email at midnight) and they had closed it early. I have been told it's because they chose the candidate.

Now, I have a big issue with this because I feel it puts women and people with disabilities at a huge disadvantage. I feel really off that they have closed it on the final day of school closures, before a weekend (when partner's could have been in a better position to provide childcare) and with zero information about the possibly this would happen.

I have emailed HR but had no response yet.

@CockatooZoo

Your childcare really isn't their issue.

No, it's not, except schools are closed and they closed the application before they opened.

How are you providing child care when there's zero options and school closures?

Evenings, weekends,

@ComtesseDeSpair used the women and people with disabilities as the stats have shown they've received the highest percentage of redundancies during the pandemic (and both affect me)

In this instance I think yanbu. If closing applications early is a possibility then it should be made clear. You could try talking to HR.

If signposted general I think it’s fair enough if they already get too many candidates a week before closing date.

Most people don't have childcare to do a job application - you do it at home in the evening, not at work in the day when you're kids are in childcare.

I wouldn't be very responsive to someone who felt put out that, having left it till the last minute to submit, they'd missed an opportunity. Employers aren't going to wait till every application is in to start sifting. The early bird catches the worm.

@idontlikealdi they closed the application just before this weekend, and, evenings we are still homeschooling most nights (as three kids and one adult doesn't really work)

@Bedforme if signposted, absolutely fair (that's not my argument - it's the fact it wasn't mentioned).

OP I think you're on a road to nowhere with this.

They'd presumably received more applications than they intended, and closed the advert - this is a frequent occurance and is not extraordinary.

I think that women / disabled people / anyone else who wants to apply for a job need to do so quickly. It's fairly arbitrary to suggest disabled women can only complete a job application at weekends.

I think you should try to use this an opportunity to decide if you want to prioritise job applications or something else, and move on.

It's fairly arbitrary to suggest disabled women can only complete a job application at weekends.

Some disabled women can only complete a job application at the weekends due to child care issues, happy?

I think you should try to use this an opportunity to decide if you want to prioritise job applications or something else, and move on.

That's what I would have done had I known there was a chance it would close early, as it wasn't specified I wasn't able to do that.

Am surprised by the number of posters saying this is a frequent occurrence - I’ve never known it to happen before, so maybe it varies across industries. Personally, I think YANBU, but it’s definitely something I will be aware of from now on!

@CockatooZoo

Your childcare really isn't their issue.

No, it's not, except schools are closed and they closed the application before they opened.

How are you providing child care when there's zero options and school closures?

I'm sorry but you're realllllly reaching here... What has happened has meant an application wasn't open long enough to satisfy your personal situation.

It's not an affront to all women...especially given that your next point was in regards to school closures - so is it still discriminatory to women with no children or only mothers...or only mothers with school age children?!

I'm a woman. With a toddler who's home 24/7 (no nursery). And a husband. And a full time corporate job. We both watch her. It's should not purely be a woman's responsibility to shoulder childcare.

If I wanted to apply for a new role I'd take the time to do the work during the evening when my child goes to sleep. If I was really motivated it could be done in 1 evening, 2 max. In the event that for whatever reason evenings weren't suitable I'd block out some time in my working day to get it done...in the same way I'm able to juggle work presently with a toddler.

If you're not working atm, which your post seems to infer, then you have even MORE time to try and grab a couple of hours to do it during the day whilst your children are doing other activities.

And surely, in the event you can't juggle sending the application quicker with your children also being home, would suggest you wouldn't be able to handle the job in the event we went into another lockdown and schools were closed again.

I completely understand the frustration of missing out but this is not a case of discrimination rather of 'you snooze you lose'. At least you've updated your cv and drafted your personal statement for the next role you'll have less to do and can apply faster

I would assume that children are either young enough to be in bed at a reasonable time and therefore the application could be filled in then, or conversely the children are old enough to be told to be quiet for a couple of hours and left watching a film for you to fill it in.

I think there is always an unspoken suggestion that adverts will close early if the response is overwhelming, unless you are very young or very naive employers would expect you to understand this.

You sound very rigid in your ways.

@Babysharkdododont then you didn't read the thread :-)

At least you've updated your cv and drafted your personal statement for the next role you'll have less to do and can apply fast

Well no, I did that for this role - not any other role, this role.

It's odd that they sent a reminder out for a position that had closed - I would have thought if the post was closed on the recruitment system reminders about submitting applications wouldn't be sent out.

What date and time did the reminder email say you had to submit by?

It's should not purely be a woman's responsibility to shoulder childcare.

Is your husband working in intensive care due a pandemic? And vaccinating on his days off as a volunteer?

That's what I would have done had I known there was a chance it would close early, as it wasn't specified I wasn't able to do that.

OK - now you know. This is just one job out of thousands, they've given you a lesson that applications need to be sent in well before the deadline because the position can be closed at any point.

From the position of the employer, when I've had large quantities of applications you can get your shortlist well before the application deadline. A high quality application submitted on day one is better than a high quality application on deadline day. Speed, flexibility and adaptability are good attributes - better than leaving everything until the last minute. Also, if I had a great candidate, I would want to interview them and offer them the job ASAP before they had the chance to be snapped up by someone else.

@FruityPolos

The reminder was sent out at 11:55pm on Thursday night, with the original deadline closed.

I went to submit the application at 07:15 on Friday morning and it had closed.

This is just one job out of thousands,

No it's not, there really are not thousands of jobs in my field of specialism, and it is very unlikely thousands of people would have applied that were actually eligible for it - given one of the criteria was a PhD in a specialist field

How does everything become discriminatory?
They're not required to leave it open to make sure that everyone that either couldn't organise themselves quicker or took ages doing their application gets a chance. I don't think I'd bother even looking at the applicants that sent their application at the last second.
I want to hire the most efficient worker, not the one that takes every last second I give them to do every job. Whatever excuse you may create for that.

I don't think I'd bother even looking at the applicants that sent their application at the last second.

It wasn't the last second, it was actually several days before the deadline

@FruityPolos Sorry that should say upload, not submit - I had done the next sections so to speak and went to insert them on the Friday morning.

I think it’s very bad form that they didn’t specify that it could close early if they deemed it appropriate (amount of applicants for instance).

I was 3/4 through a very lengthy and grandiose application process when I went in to retrieve my almost completed form and they’d close the submission early. I was so angry and pissed off. I had a very young baby and home and a toddler and was doing childcare whilst trying to juggle job hunting during first summer lockdown so I had very little free time.

When I read the website closely they did say they sometimes closed early due to high number of applicants. So I was majorly fucked off but couldn’t realistically complain as I’d missed it.

In your position I would complain that it was not specified in the advert. That’s an absolute piss take. Awful behaviour - but it shows you the type of organisation they are

@CockatooZoo

At least you've updated your cv and drafted your personal statement for the next role you'll have less to do and can apply fast

Well no, I did that for this role - not any other role, this role.

A CV is not role specific. It is a detailed account of your experience so you shouldn't be re-writing for every application. Yes you can of course add certain buzzwords if you are looking to catch the eye of a recruiter but for the most part doing that takes 10 mins.

The personal statement is bespoke yes but again a large % of that should be related to you and your skillset which again can be re-used. The only new thing you'll need to add each time is the section on why you're interested in that particular role/company.

It shouldn't be taking you excessive amounts of time to do a cv and PS for every job you're interested in and if it currently does you need to look at creating something that's more re-useable as that will be how you avoid having this problem a second time around

@2020iscancelled Yes to absolutely everything you have said, I honestly wouldn't mind if they had said on the application form it may close early.

@MyLittleOrangutan

How does everything become discriminatory? They're not required to leave it open to make sure that everyone that either couldn't organise themselves quicker or took ages doing their application gets a chance. I don't think I'd bother even looking at the applicants that sent their application at the last second. I want to hire the most efficient worker, not the one that takes every last second I give them to do every job. Whatever excuse you may create for that.

Then you may well be missing out on the best applicant. What a ridiculous statement. Maybe they only saw the job advert two days before the closing date. Perhaps they’d been on holiday or been unwell or not actively looking for work but then noticed the advert and believed it was the perfect opportunity.

It’s totally bonkers to imply someone who submits easier than later is better for the job?

Are you one of those people who assigns a task with a deadline then insists on chasing it up and demanding updates before the deadline is due? So annoying