This is an article written by a colleague of mine, Mike Mara which I like to bring out in time for the holidays.
The end of the year isn’t only a great season feast with family or shop for gifts for your loved ones; it’s also a good time to find yourself a new job. Instead of putting off the job search until after the New Year, why not get a leg up on the competition?
Looking for a job during the holidays can be a hard choice
With all of the excitement that goes on around the holiday season, some people may feel that the best approach would be to put their job hunt on the back burner until January. During the last two months of the year, December especially, the number of people applying for jobs is at its lowest point.
Holiday celebrations will ease competition in the job market, keeping hobby job seekers and those less determined busy,î says William Potter, Director of www.betterjobsearch.com, a national employment site.
Your opportunities increase as your competitive field decreases.
While the lack of competition certainly plays a significant role in one’s ability to find a job in December, employers themselves can be an important factor as well. Some experts indicate that employers are well aware of people’s disinterest in searching for employment during the holidays. So if an employer runs a job ad during December, they have a good reason for doing so.
“If a company needs someone to replace a secretary retiring next April, it isn’t going to search in December, when people are more likely to sing carols than read job ads,” says Potter. “The openings in December are all emergency openings, whereas during the rest of the year, it’s hard to judge advertisers’ seriousness by merely reading an ad.”
Just like people, companies spend their budgets in advance
An employer’s budget can also play an important role in the company posting an ad for a position near the end of the year. Some companies whose fiscal year begins January 1st may have worked additional positions into their budgets for the upcoming year, positions they would like to have filled by the end of the current year if possible. So, while applying in December may seem like jumping too far ahead, for the employer it may be just in time.
Job seekers have to keep in mind that it’s not just the holiday season for them but for employers as well. Since many companies begin to wind down nearing the end of the fourth quarter, those looking for employment can use this to their advantage by getting the ball rolling on their search in November.
Start early and you will end up at your destination earlier.
“If you put off your search until after the New Year, the averages suggest that it could easily be anywhere between April and June before you’ve found employment. So, instead of putting ‘finding a job’ on your list of New Year’s Resolutions, why not jump-start your search right after Thanksgiving?
“I like to advise my clients that being first in line is always better than being in the back of the herd,” says Rick Hansen of A Better Resume Service. “Sometimes a December job search can bring the nicest holiday present of all; a new job.”