Job search tip: Stop selecting ‘Immediately’ as your joining date. Employee says this psychological trick brought 7 recruiter calls

Job hunting can be frustrating, especially when applications seem to disappear into a black hole without a single call from a recruiter. Sometimes, even small details in an application form can affect how a candidate is perceived. One job seeker on Reddit claims he discovered this after changing just one answer on his applications.

The employee said he had spent months applying for jobs after being laid off and had repeatedly selected “Immediately” when companies asked when he could join. According to him, that approach produced almost no response. He then changed his availability to a few weeks later while keeping the rest of his application unchanged.

The result, he claimed, was surprising: seven recruiter screening calls in just two weeks.

He applied for around 70 jobs with immediate availability

The Reddit user said he was laid off five months earlier and started applying through online platforms and regular company career portals.

Since he was unemployed and needed another job, choosing immediate availability seemed like the obvious answer. “Why wouldn't I? I need rent money and they claim they need someone fast,” he wrote in the Reddit post.

He said he submitted around 70 applications while selecting “Immediately” as his availability. But instead of recruiter calls, he mostly received silence along with a few automated rejection emails.

After several months of seeing little movement, he decided to change one thing in his applications.

One small change appeared to make a difference

Last month, the job seeker stopped selecting immediate availability. Instead, he started choosing “2 weeks notice” or entering a joining date roughly three weeks into the future.

According to his post, everything else remained the same. He said he used the same resume, portfolio links and skills.

But the response was very different. “My callback rate jumped to almost 28%. Got 7 recruiter screens in two weeks after months of a dry spell,” he wrote.

The experience led him to question whether saying that you can start immediately could sometimes work against a candidate.

His argument was that recruiters and hiring managers may associate immediate availability with unemployment or desperation, while someone who needs to give notice can appear to be currently employed and therefore in demand.

Reddit users say they have seen something similar

Several people responding to the post said they had experienced something similar when applying for jobs.

One commenter said they had gone two months without calls while unemployed, but started hearing from recruiters after selecting a two-week notice period.

Another commenter claimed that immediate availability could cause candidates to be overlooked by automated hiring systems.

“They aren't even looking at your resume if you're ready immediately,” the commenter wrote.

Another Reddit user described the practice as a way of creating an impression that the candidate is already in demand.

“They want the illusion that you are in high demand. If you are available right now, HR automated screeners flag you as unemployed background noise. It is toxic as hell but 100% accurate.”

However, these comments are individual experiences. The discussion does not establish that applicant tracking systems generally reject candidates simply because they can join immediately.

Some recruiters say companies prefer passive candidates

One commenter who identified themselves as a recruiter offered another explanation.

“As a recruiter, it's so bad. Leadership just loves people who are not available and have jobs. Hiring managers love snatching up people are considered "passive" candidates. Literally the dumbest thing about recruiting. One my metrics at a company before was how many people were people I found and did not apply. What does it matter if the person is qualified and passed all the interviews?”

The comment points to a broader trend in recruitment: candidates who are already employed can sometimes be viewed as more desirable because another company has already hired them.

That perception can create an odd situation for unemployed applicants. Someone who is genuinely available to start quickly may be more flexible for the employer, but the same availability can also be interpreted differently by recruiters.