This is the first in what I hope to be an on-going series of articles relating to a variety of businesses perspectives on the odds of getting hired after you apply. I can only say what I have learned in the past 14 years of owning and managing my Ben & Jerry’s scoop Shop, so other perspectives are important.

There are millions of other large and small business where young people apply for jobs everyday. They all have statistics and stories too.

I will be interviewing many of those businesses including restaurants, retail shops and stores, large and small hardware stores, employees, managers and owners, all in an attempt to shed light on what happens to a job application once it is returned to the business, and their statistics and hiring processes.

Do you know what happens to your job application after you return it to a potential employer? Do you know how many people ask “are you hiring” at a particular business. Or, how many job applications get turned in in a day, a week, a month or a year. 

Then, how many job applications turn into an interview, and how many interviews turn into a job. You will be surprised as this series of articles develops.

All businesses are a little different depending on their size, where they are located and their attraction to teen job seekers.

These are really interesting facts and are worth looking at. They will help you get the job you want.

I recently interviewed the general manager of one of our cities busiest and most successful restaurants, Austin’s American Grill. They serve the best rotisserie chicken on the planet and have a casual, contemporary, comfortable eating environment. They have two locations that are about 6 miles apart.

Their wait staff are nice, clean cut young adults who all have a couple things in common, they are all happy smiling people, and they are all wearing white collared dress shirts and blue jeans.

It looks like a fun place to work because of the great staff, good food, nice atmosphere and its always busy, so good tips and its not boring.

Alan, the GM at Austin’s told me they receive about 1000 job applications a year between both of the restaurants. That number does not include the hundreds of job applicants who simply ask, “are you hiring” and don’t even ask for a job application. I’m gonna guess but I would estimate that number to be equal…a thousand applicants who don’t fill out an job application.

If you don’t fill out a job application, you have zero chance at getting a job.

Then, Alan told me that they interview about 75% of everyone who returns an application! That’s a huge percentage and I’m going to go out on a limb and say that is not common. They are doing young people a giant favor by taking all the time it takes to interview that many people.

They are also doing themselves a favor by having such a large pool to choose from. They get to hire the “cream of the crop”.

Out of the approximately 750 interviews a year at Austin’s, over two a day, year round, only 12-15% turn into a job. Only 98 are hired out of the 750 interviews.

What happened to the other 652? We’re they not chosen because they all had 3 eyes? I don’t think so.

I think they all had 2 eyes each, BUT many of them probably lacked one trait that Alan and most employers are looking for.

I asked Alan what is the strongest attribute he looks for in a potential job applicant and he said, “energetic, personable people who had something in common with the rest of the staff.”

What does this all mean to a young person looking for a job? Learn what it takes to get the job you want and know that you are up against many, many others looking at the same job. So for one thing, smile and be energetic and personable.

A great smile and enthusiasm are critical to the job search process.

Being energetic and personable is just a part of what you need to know, the Job Kit on this website outlines other important steps.

Thank you Alan for your helpful information! And, thanks for interviewing so many young people, I am sure they have learned a lot from you!

Written by Lee The Job Guy

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