Job Search Timeline

Rating your networking a 6 instead of a 5 removes a week; rating it a 10 changes nothing more

The networking input is not a scale, it is a switch. Score 5 or below and the estimate is untouched; score 6 or above and it is cut by 20%. Everything between 6 and 10 gives an identical answer, so the single most consequential thing you can do with this slider is cross the boundary — and nothing beyond it matters.

How it works

• Starts from a market difficulty rating and turns it into a baseline in weeks.
• Shortens that baseline with experience, at 5% per point, down to a floor.
• Applies a flat 20% reduction if networking is rated above 5.

base weeks = market difficulty × 2
experience factor = max(0.5, 1 − experience × 0.05)
networking factor = 0.8 if networking > 5, otherwise 1
weeks = round(base weeks × experience factor × networking factor)

Worked example

Market difficulty 3, experience 5, networking 8.

1. base weeks = 3 × 2 = 6
2. experience factor = 1 − 5 × 0.05 = 0.75
3. networking factor = 0.8, since 8 is above 5
4. weeks = round(6 × 0.75 × 0.8) = round(3.6) = 4
5. with networking at 5 instead the answer is 5 weeks; at 10 it is still 4

Four weeks. Moving networking from 5 to 6 saved a week, and moving it from 6 to 10 saved nothing at all.

Reading the result

• The experience factor stops at 0.5, which is reached at a rating of 10. Beyond that point extra experience cannot shorten the estimate further, so the model quietly assumes there is a minimum search duration nobody beats.
• A step change at a single threshold is a modelling shortcut, not a claim about how networking works. In reality the benefit is gradual and depends far more on who you know than on how you would score yourself.
• Job searches are famously right-skewed: most finish near the median, a minority take several times longer. A single number cannot express that, so treat this as the middle of a wide distribution rather than a forecast for you.
• Nothing here knows about notice periods, hiring freezes, seasonal slowdowns or how long an offer takes to arrive after a final interview — all of which routinely add weeks after the search itself is over.

Common questions

Why does networking above 5 make no further difference?

Because the model applies a fixed 0.8 multiplier once you pass the threshold rather than scaling with the rating. A 6 and a 10 produce the same factor, which is a simplification worth knowing about before you fine-tune that input.

Can the estimate go below half the baseline?

Only through networking. The experience factor is floored at 0.5, so the shortest possible result is the baseline times 0.5 times 0.8, which is 40% of the starting figure.