Why not wait until the New Year to apply for a new job? Because everyone else is…

Why not wait until the New Year to apply for a new job? Because everyone else is…by David Thomas at IntaPeople

It is statistically proven that the first working week back after Christmas is the busiest for the various online job boards and the overall number of online applications. I guess people must realise that they don’t actually like their job as much as they thought they did or maybe they are dealing with ‘post work Christmas party crisis management’? From the middle of November, it seems that the entire country starts to wind down to Christmas. This includes both candidates and employers alike, although this means that you are both missing out.

If you are waiting until the New Year to recruit, or apply for a job, then you can be sure that so is everybody else in the country, therefore, increasing your competition. You have got a much better chance of winning a race if you are only competing against five other people rather than thirty. In this article I am going to outline the benefits of not ‘waiting until the new year’ for the people on both sides of the recruitment table, candidates and employers alike.

Employers

What continues to baffle me is that companies constantly wait until the New Year to recruit for roles that they have a requirement for now. I’ve known companies put roles on hold up to two months prior to the Christmas break. A lot of companies state that it’s for budgetary reasons, that’s if they get their new budgets based on the calendar year rather than the fiscal year of course. But even so, candidates could be on a three month notice period, meaning if you wait till the New Year, once you get interviews out of the way and make an offer, that candidate may not start until April or May – almost half a year away from now. Alternatively, you could quite easily go through the motions as normal, clearly outlining when you want the chosen candidate to start and they could then hand in their notice accordingly to coincide with your requirements.

As a potential employer you are also limiting your candidate pool by waiting. Yes, there are fewer people actively looking leading up to Christmas, but they are still open to conversations with recruiters for instance. The candidate conversation level doesn’t really drop as dramatically as the job market does.

Candidates

Would you rather apply for a role now and have less competition or apply in a month’s time and have your competition exponentially increased? We both know the answer. Of course, there are fewer roles being advertised but that still doesn’t stop you being proactive. If the market is tight in your area then directly contact companies or speak with recruiters. If thinking about coming back to work in the New Year terrifies you then it may be a good idea to start looking for a new role now.

If you are applying for jobs then try to get an understanding of when the interviews will be and when they will make a decision, whether it’s this side of Christmas or not to ensure you have clear expectations.

My point is that normally, with anything in this world, if you’re thinking of doing it, so is everybody else. I understand that we all have a lot of things to think about at Christmas time, gifts, Christmas dinner, the decorations,  if you’re a man probably consulting with the Logistics Manager, trying to work out the most logistically sound route for your last minute Christmas shop. But it will pay off if you put in the time this side of Christmas.

Finally, I hope you all have a lovely Christmas and New Year and, as always, I wish you the best of luck in your search.

Feel free to contact me at d.thomas@intapeople.com if you have any questions.