A minor league baseball broadcaster was fired up when a job with a great organization in his home state opened. He knew it was open before it was public knowledge.
What he didn’t know is if he should wait for the team to publish a position description before applying.
Never wait!
I knew a team that had an opening immediately after their season ended. When I contacted them they said, “We’re going to hire that position after the Winter Meetings. We won’t consider anyone who reaches out to us before then.”
Guess what?
They hired someone before the Winter Meetings. Applicants who snoozed missed the opportunity.
Another team with an opening told me they weren’t going to solicit applications. “We already have a short list,” they said. People who knew the position was open did not get to throw their names into the hat because the team never solicited applications.
A third team conveyed annoyance that I wanted to know if they were accepting applications for an opening I knew they had. They also hired someone without soliciting applications.
Apply as soon as you learn of a job opening
An employer who won’t accept your application because it was unsolicited is not one for whom you want to work.
The person in the example at the top of this post was never a candidate because he waited for a position description that was never published. The Visalia Rawhide never published a position description when their job opened in 2018. However, we told STAA members it was open. One of them, Jill Gearin, applied and got the job.
Don’t wait for publication of a position description to apply for a job you know is open. There are advantages to being among the first.