New data from SmartRecruiters reveals best times of year to post and apply for jobs, which job categories are hottest from coast to coast, and more
SAN FRANCISCO – May 19, 2016 – SmartRecruiters, the Hiring Success Company, today released internal data about the state of hiring across the U.S. The data reveals the hottest job categories in major cities from coast to coast, the best times of the year to post and apply for jobs and which job categories have the shortest – and longest – time to hire.
Want a job in tech? Try Austin
Unsurprisingly, tech remains the hottest job market in major cities from coast to coast, with 24 percent of all job postings in this category. Looking at just San Francisco, New York, Austin and Los Angeles, the figure rises to 43 percent.
The five most popular job industries In the U.S.:
| Technology | 24 percent |
| Healthcare | 16 percent |
| Communications | 7 percent |
| Retail | 6 percent |
| Manufacturing | 4 percent |
The hottest job categories in each city are more surprising. For example, the hottest market for tech jobs is Austin (71 percent). Only 2 percent of job ads in “the Live Music Capital of the World” are for entertainment/media.The hottest market for communications is in New York (13 percent of local jobs), while the hottest market for finance is in San Francisco (5 percent of local jobs). The data also illustrates how hard it is to hire for high-demand tech jobs: each tech job only gets five applications.
“Our mission is to re-invent recruiting for both companies and candidates,” said SmartRecruiters CEO Jerome Ternynck. “We are pleased to release these results to assist anyone looking for a great job or anyone looking for great talent. These results are based on the amazing level of hiring success activity–ten million candidates and one million jobs–occurring on the SmartRecruiters Talent Acquisition Platform.”
Best time of the year to post and apply for jobs
According to SmartRecruiters data, the most strategic time for companies to hire is in the spring and summer (May, June and July). That is when the highest number of job applicants are on the market. Companies will find the fewest candidates just before the holidays, in October and November.
Meanwhile, the best time for job seekers to look for a job is in January, February and March, when the highest number of jobs are open to be filled. November and December are the months with the fewest available positions.
Average time to hire
Job seekers looking for work in a hurry would be advised to flex their sales and admin muscles – according to SmartRecruiters’ data, companies fill these positions the quickest. On the other hand, companies take their time when hiring senior sales executives and sales engineers, as these positions can go unfilled for almost three months:
| Top ten positions that take the longest time to fill: | Top ten positions that are the quickest to fill: | |||
| Senior Sales Executive | 89 days | Sales Representative | 19 days | |
| Sales Engineer | 88 days | Executive Admin Asst | 21 days | |
| Process Engineer | 82 days | Inside Sales Manager | 25 days | |
| Project Manager | 80 days | Receptionist | 31 days | |
| Technical Account Manager | 77 days | Delivery Driver | 31 days | |
| Senior Product Manager | 77 days | Office Administrator | 32 days | |
| Dietary Aide | 76 days | Brand Ambassador | 32 days | |
| Production Supervisor | 74 days | Accounting Assistant | 33 days | |
| Systems Engineer | 73 days | Dishwasher | 36 days | |
| Regional Sales Manager | 71 days | Customer Support Rep | 36 days | |
