The actual cost of a manual application
Twenty minutes here, forty there. Multiply by a month.
Time one application yourself, from opening the posting to clicking submit, then multiply by how many you send in a month. For most people the total is several full working days a month, spent mostly on forms. That is the budget you could move to interview prep and networking.
Timing one application
Do it honestly, with a stopwatch, on a real application. Include everything:
- Reading the posting, all of it, including the requirements at the bottom.
- Deciding it is worth applying to.
- Creating an account, or remembering the password to the one you made last month.
- Uploading the resume and fixing what the form got wrong.
- Answering the extra questions and any short essays.
- Tailoring the resume or writing a cover letter, if you do.
- Logging it somewhere so you remember you did it.
A quick application on a site you have used before is fast. A first application on a new Workday site, with an account and a long form, is not. Time a few different kinds and use the average.
The monthly total
| Row | Your number | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Minutes per application (your average) | ____ | 30 |
| Applications per week | ____ | 15 |
| Hours per week (minutes x applications / 60) | ____ | 7.5 |
| Hours per month (x 4.3) | ____ | about 32 |
In the example, that is four full working days a month. On forms.
What else that time buys
- Practising interview answers out loud, which almost nobody does enough of.
- Messages to people at the companies you actually want.
- Looking harder at which roles you are genuinely strong for, so the applications you do send are better.
None of those can be automated. The forms can.
Is saving the time worth it?
Only if the time goes somewhere better. Saving thirty hours a month and spending them sending three times as many weak applications does not help. See Applying more is not always a strategy.
HUNT handles the searching, forms and tracking, so those hours come back to you. See pricing for what each plan includes.
Related: Why job searching feels like a full-time job and Autofill vs auto-apply.
Published
Back to field notes