<p>There's a position available with a company I want to work for, however. The job has been listed online for 29 days. Because the position has been listed that long (on Monster.com), I imagine they've already begun interviewing applicants. Should I still apply for the position? I don't want to submit my resume if it's too late, because I won't be able to apply for a similar position once it's available, since I have already applied to the business already.</p>
<p>Not at all sure what you mean when you write, “you won’t be able to apply for a similar position once it’s available…” If you like a particular company, send your resume. They may have many positions open, so even if this particular one is unavailable, they may be able to place you in something similar. Think of this just like college applications: the more you demonstrate interest, the more likely they will want to hire you.</p>
<p>30 days isnt much for many positions. In fact applying late is often advantageous, providing you can get an interview. I know that from actual experiences.</p>
<p>There are all sorts of logical fallacies on which you are basing your thoughts, kinglin.</p>
<p>First, although it is common for companies who recruit largely out of colleges to have standard time periods for hiring (spring for internships, fall for full time), that isn’t the way it works for most companies. Some companies will have an ongoing listing, not necessarily trying to fill a specific need but ensuring that if a qualified applicant comes along, there is no silly red tape to go through. Other companies have a large hiring need but want to be very selective about who they hire: although a company may need to fill 100 slots and gets 1,000 applications, they may only fill 10 during recruiting if they aren’t happy with what they see; it is easier for a company to wait and find good talent than to spend tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars on someone who isn’t the right person for the job.</p>
<p>Second, what is stopping you from submitting resumes? Standard advice to job seekers is that you must continue applying for jobs up until you ACCEPT an offer from a company. When I was going through recruiting, I started dropping resumes in June, continued through December and had a week in which I submitted multiple resumes, had a first round interview, had a second round interview and got an offer (none with the same company!) since the companies were all on completely different hiring schedules. Job applications is like applying for colleges in that you may apply to as many as your heart desires (my number was around 50… yuck), but they are NOT like college in that you have no set date to receive word back. In some ways it is more stressful, but in others it gives you great leverage (i.e. if you get an offer and another company is interviewing you, the simple act of mentioning your other offer will get their attention, and if you do get an offer, you will have a solid leg to stand on for salary negotiations). If different positions appear within the same company, that’s fine. You aren’t going to get blackballed because you applied for another position… if you are qualified to do the job, why would a company not want to take a look at you?</p>
<p>Remember that you as the employee are as valuable to a company as the company is to you. Financially speaking, companies are investing much more than you see in your salary (think about the cost of training, relocation, benefits, expense reimbursements, etc), and you are worth far more to your company than you will be paid (it is common for people to be paid the annualized version of $20.00 per hour by their employer, but bill out upwards of $100.00 per hour to any clients they have). Companies want to be sure that they have the right person when they make the offer, and once they do, it is the job of HR to keep you with them for as long as possible, provided you are competent at your job!</p>