Blizzard conditions, Rail Strikes, cancelled Christmas parties- has the Christmas wind down been prematurely hoisted upon us? Is it time to put recruitment activities on hold until the new year like we have always done?
Surely organisations should wait until the New Year like always?
Henry Ford once said, “If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got” and it acts as a reminder that sometimes we need to change what we are doing to get a better result. The answer is don’t wait!
In a recent poll conducted by Palmer McCarthy, 92% of candidates said they would attend an online job interview between Christmas and New Year. With only 3% taking the week off completely this suggests that December could be a great time to find that hard to find candidate in still a very tight market.
Despite the general perception that January is when everyone starts looking for new jobs, December can actually be far more rewarding- in this article we examine the reasons why you should continue recruiting and interviewing during December.
Here’s five reasons to recruit now:
- Access a complete candidate talent pool
With fewer employers recruiting this side of Christmas, a strategically timed recruitment push means you have access to a full candidate talent pool. This side of Christmas there is less risk of losing the candidate that fits your organisation or having to make a more costly counter-offer when a good candidate is in demand.
- There’s time
For both recruiter and candidate December usually means there is adequate time for both parties to interview. Its easier to get out of the office + many candidates have ample annual leave to use up for interviewing. As a recruiter, it is likely December is easing up workwise and your company is winding down for the festive period.
If you’re planning to recruit staff it would be logical to think that January is the time to start looking but recruitment has changed over the last 3 years. In fact, it seems a popular time. As our poll suggests only a small percentage of candidates are putting activity on hold.
- Stay ahead of the competition
January is often when new targets are introduced, so it pays to be prepared for new initiatives and KPIs with the human resource that’s needed to help achieve them. As January is often considered to be a miserable month (thanks to the infamous Blue Monday), candidates are likely to be attracted by the thought of training before Christmas and starting the New Year with a new role.
- Your employee can be New Year ready
December is, traditionally, an altogether quieter month. This makes it a great opportunity for recruitment. You will perhaps have a little more available time in which to focus on the recruitment process, and less day-to-day pressure means it’s an ideal time to ease a new starter into the business, train and onboard them in readiness to hit the ground running in January.
- Avoid too many applicants
Yes, there is such a thing as too many applicants! Many people will return to work after a Christmas break and make a New Year’s resolution to find a new challenge, so there’s certainly going to be plenty of available candidates. However, those serious about a new role are the ones that don’t want to wait until 2023. By recruiting now, you can beat the inevitable increase in recruitment activity and in turn, industry competition, that occurs at the beginning of January as everyone returns to work.
So, if you know you need to recruit, do it now while it’s an employer’s market – take advantage of the end of year lull, the ideal candidate may be only a CV and interview away.
Final thoughts…
Despite the general perception that January is when everyone starts looking for new jobs, December can actually be far more rewarding and our poll results certainly demonstrate that with 92% of candidates open to online interviews between Christmas and New year.
Slower growth predictions have raised fears about unemployment but we are seeing a wave of hiring by employers that has spread to all industries and the UK vacancy count remains as a record high. Stop thinking about the office Christmas party that may (or may not) be coming up, as this year, December is prime time for snapping up talented staff.