To apply for a job the day before the closing date

[WildPineapple]

I’m applying for a job and the closing date is tomorrow. Chatting to DH and he thinks that applying the day before the closing date shows a lack of enthusiasm for the job and that in a lot of cases they close the post early due to having enough applicants. I’m freaking out now!

I also applied recently for another position and DH said I made zero effort with the application as I didn’t phone the company to discuss the position? He said it looks bad if you don’t check in before sending in your application and it might look like you are not that bothered? I made a huge effort with that application but didn’t phone the company to ask questions?

Well obviously they can close applications early, but it doesn’t mean they will. It makes zero sense to not apply because it might be too late. The one thing that guarantees you won’t get the job is not applying for it!

Is your husband always such a glass half empty wet blanket?

At my organisation I wouldny even be sent the applications until after the closing date.

I do lots of recruitment. When people apply has absolutely no bearing on whether a person gets asked for interview.

I recruit and wouldn't care at all when the application came in , if it was last minute (if I even noticed) I'd assume they'd been working hard on it .
I also don't particularly want to do phone calls before the interview as I'm busy and they can take ages, especially if it's someone who's not a particularly strong candidate

Absolutely no one cares when you apply. When doing recruitment, we wouldn’t get the details sent over from HR until we were ready to begin interviews, so we’d have absolutely no idea what date people applied.

It makes no difference if people contact us to express interest. I think an email with specific questions related to the post or the interview would be fine. I would definitely be annoyed if someone actually called me though to express interest. Why? What’s the point? It’s not urgent. And we have strict criteria against which we have to rate candidates. Whether they made contact isn’t one of them (though if they were annoying or a big pest it would definitely go against them).

There’s a slight risk they might close the application once they’ve got enough, but I don’t see it that often in private sector. I’ve never seen the advice to call the company beforehand. I imagine it would be quite annoying if loads of people call you for a chat.

you definitely won’t get it if you don’t apply, so do it.

I agree with this. All the information you need to apply for a job is in the advert. If you call me to ask questions, I don’t think you’re interested, I think you’re either incapable of reading, or are trying to game the system. Either way you are trouble.

One job I had I'd discussed with a friend who worked at the same place in the pub, then went home and submitted the application with a minute to spare. I don't think waiting makes much difference.

Sometimes the closing date is brought forward if there have been a lot of applications, in certain companies/organisations - but not in any I've applied for. Absolutely get your application in - I recruit and pay no notice to when each applicant has submitted their CV/application etc. The closing date is there as there will be a time frame in mind for going through the applications and scheduling interviews/assessments.

As PP have said, I'd find it unusual if people called to ask questions about the job (although I'd be happy to answer them). There should be sufficient info in the job advert for people to decide whether or not to apply, and questions are usually by applicants during the interview process.

Best of luck - it sounds like you're very keen on the role. And don't let your husband put you off! He should be supporting you, not being negative!

Rubbish !

I’ve just sent an application off and it was sent 10 minutes to midnight !

a deadline is a deadline

I got my first job in the NHS 26 years ago by sending in my application just before the deadline. Go for it!

Your DH is talking rubbish. My current job I submitted 2 hours before the deadline (on a Friday with a glass of wine 🍷 in my hand).

I never phoned them either.

This is quite normal but it doesn't mean you shouldn't apply. And literally no one phones up to discuss an application. This isn't the 1990s. Not sure what your DH agenda is here. Does he have your best interests at heart?

I'm a recruiting manager in a local authority. My name and number go on the advert but I've only had a couple of people call me to ask about the role in the last 5 years. Our recruitment system hides all identifying information until after the first sift and shortlisting so I won't be able to match applicants who called me to their application anyway. I never look at the time and date of application as part of the role and we never close adverts early. I seem to recall NHS ones so specifically say that advertised roles may close early if they have many applications but not seen it on other public sector roles.
The last job we advertised at entry level we had 150 applications which we got down to 50 in the initial sift for 12 posts.

The vast majority of applications arrive the day before and recruiters do t give a shit about that.

i also can’t remember the last time a candidate phoned about it job.

date of application and phone calls do not feature at all in the scoring system

Jobs do sometimes close before the initial deadline, but this one evidently hasn't? I wouldn't have advised you to leave it this late if you'd seen the role easier, but if it's still open there's nothing wrong with an application.

I’ve never phoned a company. That’s just weird! Imagine if everyone did that, it would certainly piss them off!

and nothing wrong with applying today. Makes no difference what so ever. You might not have seen it. Good luck!!!

I think your DH is wrong. I think the NHS is in the minority of organisations that close early (usually due to not being a specialised job & lots of applications so they may close early. Imo most employers are sticklers for closing a vacancy on time... sometimes to the minute. I also wouldn't dream of phoning asking questions before applying unless there was something I thought of as imperative that I couldn't find via research. In fact I'd go so far to say if someone phoned asking really obvious questions I'd feel it would negatively effect their chances.

I would imagine it is very industry dependent. I've never phoned ahead and I have got applications in at the last minute and got the job. If you're the best fit for the job they'd be mad to turn you down for that.

What nonsense. Just apply. It doesn't close till it closes, makes no difference if you apply on day 1 or day 30 at 11.59pm.

He’s talking nonsense. You can apply for a job right up to the closing date. And please don’t ring anyone about the job! I can assure you that no one who works in recruitment wants a phone call from everyone interested in the job.

I’d stop listening to your DH if I were you. I applied for a job after the deadline and got the job. I’ve contacted companies before sending in an application and not got the job and vice versa.

What matters is a good application and a good interview(s).

Well he sounds supportive(not) 🤔 best of luck go for it !

I am a hiring manager. For a larger company with a closing date, the closing date is the point which they then start sorting the cvs, there will be a window of time for each phase and it wont make a difference, HR will be dealing with it anyway.
For a small company, they might be sorting cvs as they come in, so early applicants will get a better chance at being considered as they will be first in the pile, usually these roles dont actually have a closing date though. However a good cv coming in later will still be considered.
I would still apply.

I've called twice ever before applying for a job, because I had very specific questions that weren't detailed in the advert. One related to a job working for a faith based organisation - I belonged to a different faith, and declined to submit my application after talking to the hiring manager. The other had a very minor mention in the advert about carrying things around, and I called to ask what sort of weights and frequency that would be due to minor disability - I applied for that (temp) job after asking and got it.

I've also regretted not calling before applying for a job that mentioned being able to drive, as part way through the interview it turned out that it required driving the organisation's own small manual van, whereas though my license covers manual my disability means I often can't use a clutch so only drive automatics. Plus I need to be careful about the seat due to a back injury, and most vans have seats that aren't suitable. So everyone's time was wasted for an hour when a call beforehand could have saved that.