Don’t Be a Buzzer-Beater: Why Early Applications Win the Game

A last-second shot from beyond the arc is the most thrilling way for a basketball game to end. A puck ripped from the blue-line as time expires is an unsurpassed ending in hockey. Wherever sport is timed, the miraculous, save-the-day, win-the-game, buzzer-beater shot brings fans and foes alike screaming to their feet. 

Alas, that is not a consultant’s reaction to the last-second filing of an application. Rather than a yelp of joy, this kind of late-in-the-game shot more likely produces a groan. In fact, at the end of a recent position statement, I wrote: “Don’t be a buzzer-beater if you’re interested in this position; we would like to hear from you early in the process.”

Consultants like to give every applicant a fair-shake. When a search becomes public, usually several months before its deadline, that’s the ideal time for a candidate to submit an application. The consultants have time to interview candidates at that point; toward the end of the process, as the deadline looms and applications pile up, there is less time for the careful reading and in-depth interviewing that we like to do. The accumulation of materials is just too much, dossiers need to be sent to the Search Committee asap—there just isn’t as much time to spend getting to know a candidate.

Further, consider what you’re saying when you apply at the last second. Is this an after-thought? Had you not considered the position carefully throughout the time it’s been posted? Were you just lazy and didn’t get around to it? Does coming in just under the wire indicate a lack of real interest, that you’re merely throwing this up against the wall in hopes that it will stick?  

Know why you’re applying for a certain position. Give it the thought it deserves. Plan your timeframe to give yourself maximum exposure. Arriving as the buzzer buzzes likely assures you minimum exposure—and that’s not the road to success. How old were you when you learned that the early bird gets the worm? Not very. But it’s just as true in adult life. To be sure you get seen, get in early.