Determined headhunters snap up hot techie resumes before dawn, contacting candidates by e-mail and sometimes even by phone. The competition for candidates is fierce. As a result, the early bird gets the worm,'' says K.C. Ward, until recently an Oak Brook, Ill., recruiting director for Premier Technical Solutions Inc., a software and systems consulting company. Recruiters have honed their online techniques down to a science, and their methods work especially well late at night, when traffic on the Web is low and the system moves data faster. Candidates with technical skills that are especially in demand often find themselves bombarded with calls and e-mail within minutes of posting a resume online.
Recruiters say the window for making overtures closes quickly.
Late-night job searching isn't limited to techies. But they also see a significant spike long after dark on Sundays and weekdays. There are still over a million pages being viewed between 1 and 2 a.m.,'' says Judy Hackett, senior vice president of marketing for Atlanta-based Headhunter.net. The number is comparable to regular weekday early-morning traffic. Sue Kim was recruited for her job as communications manager for Blue Martini Software Inc., of San Mateo, Calif., in an interview with a company manager at a dive bar around midnight on a Tuesday.