• Applying right away can boost the chances you'll hear back about a role, LinkedIn data shows.
• Responding quickly to employers can up your chances of getting an interview and a job, Indeed found.
• Career coaches told BI that your speed can signal your interest in a role.

If you're looking for a job, speed is your friend.

That's because, like in business itself, there is often a first-mover advantage for job seekers who respond quickly to open roles and overtures from employers, according to data from job sites.

Applying to a role within the first 10 minutes of getting a relevant job alert can boost your chance of hearing back by as much as four times, LinkedIn found.

Haste can also pay off throughout the process, especially when it comes to responding to those doing the hiring.

In the US, job seekers who reply to a prospective employer's message within 24 hours are 4.1 times as likely to get hired and 6.7 times as likely to get an interview, according to data Indeed shared with Business Insider.

"Speed is not just an edge, it's a signal," said Patrice Lindo, CEO of Career Nomad, a platform that helps professionals navigate career changes. "It says, 'I'm ready. I'm visible. I'm serious. I'm a decision-maker.'"

She recommends that clients apply for jobs within the first four to eight hours of seeing a posting.

"They're far more likely to be seen and even considered," Lindo told BI.

A sign of intent

The difference that speed can make matters because, for many desk workers, the pace of hiring has gone from blazing fast a few years ago to sluggish.

The overall job market remains strong, yet some companies are taking their time to hire as they try to gain insights into factors such as how tariff vacillations could affect the economy and how quickly artificial intelligence could take on certain tasks.

That's why, in this market, moving quickly isn't a sign of desperation, but rather of intent, Lindo said.

Another reason to be speedy is that once an employer has a sufficient number of résumés, they're likely to stop looking at whatever else trickles in, Susan Peppercorn, an executive and career coach, told BI.

She advises clients that, most of the time, it's not worth it to apply for a role when the number of applicants reaches 100.

Peppercorn, like Lindo, said that moving fast can send a positive signal when communicating with a would-be employer.

"Responding within 24 hours anybody can do, but responding within the first hour shows that you're really, really interested," Peppercorn said.

Doing your homework quickly

Moving fast doesn't give you a license to be sloppy, of course. It's still better to tailor your applications to each job and to include a cover letter that, at the very least, mentions the employer's name and the role you're going after.

Customizing an application while also moving fast can be challenging, but it's doable if you're prepared. Lindo likened it to how a pregnant woman might prepare a bag packed with essentials for the hospital. Translation: Have a strong résumé ready to go.

That way, it only needs small adjustments, depending on the opportunity, she said.

Peppercorn recommends limiting what you tweak to create a solid but speedy application. She said job applicants should focus on the top summary section of their résumé and, where possible, leave the other sections alone.

The edits you make to the top should incorporate some of the key words contained in the job posting, Peppercorn said.

While it's a good idea to include a cover letter, she said, the software that many employers use to collate applications often strips off that layer to focus on the résumé itself. So, Peppercorn said, a perfunctory cover letter with some modest customization might often suffice.

In any case, don't take too long. Otherwise, you risk missing out because some employers close openings within five to 10 days, Lindo said.

Even if an employer doesn't take down a listing, if you're still perfecting your résumé on day eight, "you've already missed the window," she said.

Lindo added that some employers are likely to think that applicants who move quickly would also apply that approach to the job.

"It's an indicator of how you will operate if you were to be chosen," she said.

Do you have a story to share about your job search? Contact this reporter at [email protected].

• A Coldplay concert "kiss cam" appeared to show Astonomer CEO Andy Byron and head of people Kristin Cabot embracing.
• The footage has gone viral on social media.
• The company turned off comments on its LinkedIn and X profiles amid the chatter.

A video appearing to show a tech CEO and his head of HR embracing at a Coldplay concert is spreading around social media at the speed of sound.

Meanwhile, the startup at the center of the drama has stayed silent as people online flood the company's social media posts with comments.

The viral clip appears to show Astronomer CEO Andy Byron with his arms wrapped around the company's head of people, Kristin Cabot. It was captured on the concert's "kiss cam" and broadcast to the crowd at Gillette Stadium in Massachusetts.

Given the pair's reaction — mortified looks, a quick untangling, and a camera dodge — Coldplay's front man, Chris Martin, speculated from the stage that either they are "having an affair or they're just very shy."

Neither Byron nor Cabot has commented on the viral clip.

The executives, the company, its board members, and its founders have not responded to requests for comment from Business Insider. Astronomer turned off the ability to comment on its LinkedIn and X posts after they were bombarded with commentary.

The internet has been anything but quiet.

On X and TikTok, there's been a deluge of commentary about the footage, which has been viewed tens of millions of times. Most have joked about the incident: One user called it "Scandoval for people who can't attach a PDF to an email," while another chimed in, "god forbid you want to viva la vida loca."

Ry Walker, who served as Astronomer CEO from 2015 to 2022, according to his LinkedIn profile, publicly distanced himself from the incident in a cheeky post on X, writing that "for those asking," he is "no longer involved" with the company.

"Yes I was co-founder and early CEO - not on the team or board since 2022, and have no information on ColdplayGate," Walker wrote on X.

Walker did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

Flexport's founder, Ryan Petersen, said the board should give Byron a raise for the publicity it generated for the company.

Others have gone further, digging up the pair's LinkedIn pages and YouTube videos featuring Byron to leave comments referencing the viral clip.

Byron's name was the top trending Google search term over the past 24 hours; he was Googled over 2 million times.

There's even money on the line: On Polymarket, more than $35,000 has been committed to predict Byron's chances of remaining CEO, while a separate market about his marital status has a pool of $30,000.

It's unclear whether Astronomer has any policies around office relationships, as some companies do.

Still, "a hard launch of a workplace romantic relationship at a Coldplay concert is not the best way to go about it," Kate Walker, a human resources consultant and executive coach, told BI.

Astronomer, which builds various data management and optimization products, completed a Series D funding round in May that valued the company at $775 million, according to PitchBook.

Byron has been its CEO since July 2023. He previously held C-suite roles at several other software and tech firms.

Last year, he hired Cabot as the company's head of people.

"Kristin's exceptional leadership and deep expertise in talent management, employee engagement, and scaling people strategies will be critical as we continue our rapid trajectory," Byron said in a press release about her hiring last year.

The LinkedIn version of the announcement? It's been taken down.

• Keeping an open mind and being flexible is key to finding a job right now.
• Work is changing fast as artificial intelligence spreads into more aspects of jobs.
• Exploring a range of industries and skill-building opportunities can help you stay competitive.

If you're trying to find a job, it's time to get scrappy.

While the job market hasn't fallen off a cliff and layoffs remain low, stiffer competition for roles, surging use of artificial intelligence, and some employers' hesitation to hire are scrambling some job searches.

That means some job seekers might have to pivot — potentially to an entirely new industry — or find other ways to stand out if they're set on a certain field.

In some cases, you might have to adjust your goals.

"Maybe put aside for the moment that dream to work for Amazon and Google, and maybe think about a different company that's more mid-cap," Angie Kamath, dean of the School of Professional Studies at New York University, told Business Insider.

Kamath said the need to stay open to various options if you're looking for a role reflects the rapid change in many industries, especially as employers and employees alike try to understand what AI will mean for many aspects of work.

"That's here to stay," she said, referring to the need for job seekers to understand how technology might remake jobs.

To keep up, Kamath said, you should find ways to build your skills. That doesn't only mean getting a degree in a field, she said. Kamath said you might look to freebie or low-cost classes, for example, on AI from Amazon, Google, or online learning platforms like Udemy.

"That's my No. 1 advice. Try something out. See if you like it. See if you hate it. See if you're energized by it," she said.

Finding ways to stand out

If you don't want to shift to a different field or job type, you might simply have to work harder to stand out.

Ryan McManus, a vice president at the tech-focused recruitment firm Selby Jennings, told BI that some employers have become more selective in who they hire.

"It might just be a bit more competitive in the sense that we're looking to check more boxes," he said, referring to finding candidates for the company's employer clients.

For those who don't necessarily have every part of a job description nailed down, intangibles like being personable and a strong communicator can make a difference, McManus said.

While finding ways to be flexible and try to stand out in a job search can help, it doesn't necessarily mean it will be easy to land a role. Some employers are slow-walking hiring, and some workers' confidence about business prospects is slipping.

In the Glassdoor Employee Confidence Index released Tuesday, the share of employees who expect a positive six-month business outlook fell to 44.1% in May from 45.8% in April. The May reading was the lowest since 2016, when Glassdoor began collecting predictions from tens of thousands of US workers.

Test your ideas

To navigate an uncertain landscape, NYU's Kamath said job seekers might think of themselves as entrepreneurs who generate more than one idea for a business.

"That's what we should do as we're looking for jobs. We should come up with a couple of versions of success, or what's interesting," she said.

To know which option might be best, Kamath said it can help to ask friends what they think. She said that might mean having a conversation with a connection on LinkedIn who's in the line of work you're considering. Or it could involve visiting an employer that has public events or conferences.

That manner of thinking, Kamath said, helps you avoid putting much pressure on yourself to land a certain role, and the thinking that "anything other than being successful in that one path equals failure."

"It widens out what you might do and where you might do it," she said.

Ultimately, Kamath said, job seekers often benefit when they step back and consider alternatives.

"That's been very eye-opening for our students and our alumni to say there's more out there than the singular path to success," she said.

Do you have a story to share about your job hunt? Contact this reporter at [email protected].