Send Out 100 Applications To Get A Job In Tech Sales
At the beginning of every job search, there’s always the same question:
How many applications should I send out?
Well, just like sales, recruiting is a numbers game. So the more, the better.
But it also depends on the strength of your candidacy.
If you’re an above-average candidate, you might be able to get away with sending fewer applications and still getting a decent number of offers. If you’re a below-average candidate, you might have to send out more applications.
Three different scenarios
Let’s look at three scenarios based on different “rejection rates.”
- Above-average candidate
- Average candidate
- Below-average candidate
If you’re an above-average candidate with a low 30% rejection rate at each of four different stages of an interview process, you might only need to send out 20 applications to get 5 offers.
| Stage | Rejection Rate | Number of Opportunities | |||
| Resume | 30% | 10 | 20 | 50 | 100 |
| Homework | 30% | 7 | 14 | 35 | 70 |
| Phone interview | 30% | 5 | 10 | 25 | 49 |
| On-site interview | 30% | 3 | 7 | 17 | 34 |
| Offers | 2 | 5 | 12 | 24 | |
If you’re an average candidate with a 50% rejection rate at each of four different stages of an interview process, you would need to send out at least 50 applications to get 3 offers.
| Stage | Rejection Rate | Number of Opportunities | |||
| Resume | 50% | 10 | 20 | 50 | 100 |
| Homework | 50% | 5 | 10 | 25 | 50 |
| Phone interview | 50% | 3 | 5 | 13 | 25 |
| On-site interview | 50% | 1 | 3 | 6 | 13 |
| Offers | 1 | 1 | 3 | 6 | |
If you’re a below-average candidate with a high 70% rejection rate at each of four different stages of an interview process, you would have to send out over 100 applications to get 1 offer.
| Stage | Rejection Rate | Number of Opportunities | |||
| Resume | 70% | 10 | 20 | 50 | 100 |
| Homework | 70% | 3 | 6 | 15 | 30 |
| Phone interview | 70% | 1 | 2 | 5 | 9 |
| On-site interview | 70% | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Offers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
These scenarios are oversimplified, but they demonstrate a point …
Cast a wide net!
You need to cast a wide net at the beginning of the recruitment process in order to guarantee the maximum amount of job offers at the end of the process.
Here’s another way to visualize it.
A funnel is a common diagram in sales. You’ll start out with the list of companies that you want to target, and then companies will drop out of the funnel at each stage of the recruitment process—this creates the “funnel” shape.
The higher your rejection rates at each stage, the shallower the sides of the funnel become.
You need to make your funnel as wide as possible at the top (sending out applications) so that it doesn’t become too narrow before you reach the bottom (the offer stage).
Sales is a numbers game. Job hunting is the same.
Remember to cast a wide net at the beginning of the recruitment process.