Question for those who have been/are job hunting:

About how long did it generally take from sending in an application to hearing back from the company? Keep in mind that I have had a grand total of TWO interviews since I started this whole process nearly a year ago.

I've had people look at my resume, cover letters, the types of job I'm applying for, etc. and I'm not doing anything that's obviously wrong. I'm getting rather tired of sending resumes out into the void.

Anne, I'd say it takes anywhere from a week to a month. The job my mom just got? It was six weeks from when she sent the resume to when she had her first phone interview. It can take a while with some places.

That's good to hear, vw. The waiting and not knowing is driving me absolutely nuts.

Yeah, I'm no good at that either. I'm so sorry!

About how long did it generally take from sending in an application to hearing back from the company?

I sent an e-mail to one recruiter on Friday; he e-mailed me Monday night. But he hasn't actually called like he said he would, so maybe that's a wash.

I sent an e-mail to one pharm company; she replied to me three hours later with the writing test I'm still doing.

I sent an e-mail for a whole bunch of jobs to a recruiter and got nothing. About a week later, there were more postings, so I resent my shit for all those, and I got a phone call two days later. I can only assume the position he was referring me for was one of the recent batch; they all started to run together after a while.

So...in my experience, the response seems to be really prompt, which is actually kind of saddening, cause it makes me think that if any of the dozens of other places I've applied to were going to contact me, they would have done so by now.

But listen to vw! I like that better. In a way. *crosses fingers*

Happy Birthday, JZ!

Anne, IME the range is anywhere from a day to 6 weeks, with a week to a month being more typical.

I'm planning to apply for 2-3 jobs this week myself. I've found one that looks like a perfect fit for my abilities (special events manager for a midsized nonprofit), and the pay is right too, but it's downtown and might involve more evening and weekend work than I'd really want, just because that's the nature of the special events beast. Also an admin specialist position through UW, but not on campus, so I'd have to carpool with DH to campus, then hop on the Health Sciences shuttle, which would be a pain, but OTOH, bus=reading time! And it's a temporary position, just through Feb., which is good and bad. The bad is obvious--I'd be searching again in 6 months. The good is I wouldn't have the annoying commute forever, and if I ended up deciding the whole going back to work thing was a terrible mistake, I'd have an easy out. And finally there's a small business owner VERY local to me--we're talking a 10-minute commute--who wants a sort of combo marketing/PR/admin person. It'd be Tues.-Sat. to start with, with eventual potential to choose my own hours within reason, and did I mention the 10-minute commute? But I wonder how much he's willing to pay.

Anyway, I should probably actually apply for the jobs before I weigh all the pros and cons, huh? Later today I may ask for someone to look at my cover letters and resume.

Does the following sound like a good way to handle in cover letters the fact I've been freelancing the past year or so? "I left my position at UW in 2004 upon the birth of my child and have been a freelance writer since then. Now I am looking for an opportunity to return to full-time work." (Or, if it's a part-time position, I'd say something like "a part-time position.") In a way it's none of their business, and feels a little personal to mention. But I want to make sure it's clear I left my UW job of my own volition, and also to spin going back to work as if it were my plan all along.

Yay! Stephanie got her stuff! Wheee!

Hi, Bitches! JZ, I hope you have a great birthday.(Ok, that situation with your dad would be one of those where I'd be glad it was my dad because I wouldn't know if he was upset or not...) Good luck with everything, everyone...I'm still awaiting the verdict on the opus...a verdict hasn't been sweated this much since OJ dissed Bruno Magli.

Happy Birthday, JZ!!!

{{Fay}} Good luck with all the end of school stuff. Sounds like an ooky situation.

vw, eek! Let's hope the secondary candidate has a little better verbal skills. Egad, like she might talk to people, like, on the phone like that. Like, what will the parents think? And a non-Buffy person? Death is too good for the dissing of our Buffy.

WindSparrow, sounds like Daniel is making good time! I'm so excited for you.

Happy birthday, JZ!

Cashmere, you're due date is my birthday. Auspicious!

I had other stuff, but the congestion in my sinuses seems to be interfering with the proper operation of my brain. Bit of a design flaw.