If there is one thing that I have heard over and over again during my thirty years of recruiting it is that “NO ONE HIRES OVER THE HOLIDAYS”. If you are one of the people who subscribes to that tenet then you might be surprised to learn that year in and year out my best placement month normally in the month of December.
To understand how this happens you might want to consider the hiring process. One of the most difficult things to do is to get people together to interview candidates and for the candidates to get away from work to be interviewed. With most companies keeping their staffs close to home around the holidays and with employees having the option of taking a little extra time off, the logistics of setting up interviews all of a sudden becomes much easier and convenient.
Another important piece to consider is that the year is coming to an end and there will always need to be some reckoning on how things have gone for a company over the past twelve months. Performance and profits may not be what was expected and changes in the management team must be made. Many companies decide that these changes will be made quickly after the first of the year and they begin the search process during the holidays.
On the candidate side, many individuals make the decision to make a move but don’t want to do so until they have received their end of the year and Christmas bonuses. They are unwilling to potentially lose out on what they have worked so hard to earn over the course of the year. Once they have those checks safely in their pockets they can move on to a better opportunity.
These three factors, among others, make the holidays the perfect time to search for a new job and to find top employees. If you are a company anticipating making a change after the first of the year don’t wait until the New Year kicks back into its hectic schedule and risk losing out on some quality candidates who are ready to make a move. And if you are a candidate with a desire to find a better opportunity and the leisure of doing so over the holidays be advised that there are indeed companies out there looking for you with some great positions that may not still be open after the holidays have passed.
My personal record was fourteen placements during the end of the year with every single individual starting their new positions in the first or second weeks of January. Don’t let the urban myth of a holiday job downturn cause you to miss out on a great employee or opportunity.
