@Jessica Booker I was wondering how it works in terms of when our applications are read? Why is it an application submitted on the deadline can be read and reviewed before one submitted much earlier? Is it just because different members of the GR team will read apps from different time periods? Just interested in the logistics of it all!
no set answer to this unfortunately. It will depend on the firm and even just the circumstances of the time and your application. Just some reasons though:
- applications are split across different people and some people screen quicker than others
- applications are ranked and prioritised on some basis (sometimes this is done through AI, sometimes it is done through previous assessments like your online psychometric tests, sometimes it is done via a quick screen/review)
- some applications are put in a “hold” category and not processed until they understand how many people accept invitations to the next stage/what their acceptance rate is, so it can seem you have been told later than others but you’ve actually been screened at the same time
- just luck - I have known applications to be printed off to be reviewed and someone’s will just be at the bottom of the pile depending on how they are printed
- sometimes firms request references before inviting you to the final interview stage and so they may be waiting on your reference
- sometimes you need a second opinion on an application and so you are waiting to for a second person to review it
