Thinking about taking the holidays off from your job search?
According to the experts, it might be a huge mistake.
Contrary to the myth that hiring is dead during the holiday season, many employers are actually scrambling to fill positions before the year winds down.
In fact, last year more people were hired in December than in January. As Susan Joyce, co-author of New Year, New Job! 101 Top Tips for Your Holiday Job Search, points outs, thirty thousand more people were hired in December of 2011 than in January of 2012 (4,188,000 people vs 4,158,000).
According to the Wall Street Journal, many company departments are eager to use their recruitment dollars before the year ends. For them it’s either “use it or lose it.”
“We’ve had facilities [such as hospitals] call us and say, ‘We have $100,000 to spend for recruitment and if we don’t use it this year, we don’t get it next year,'” explained Sean Milius, CEO of a Colorado recruiter firm.
Other companies are eager to hire workers in order to staff large projects that begin in early 2013. Their desire to hit the new year running means they need new hires in place before January rolls around.
And with fewer people searching during the holiday season, the time is ripe for ambitious job-seekers. “Because so many job seekers slack off during the end of the year, for the holidays or just because they have more to do in their personal lives, fewer job seekers go after every job. Which means less competition for most jobs,” explains Susan Joyce.
Not only is there less competition, but the real decision makers may also have more time to dedicate toward hiring as other aspects of the business slow down for the holidays.
“Throughout my career, both in corporate America and at my own firm, during several stretches of low national employment levels, I had openings during the holidays. And because regular business activity took a slight breather, managers like me had more time to devote to personnel matters, including hiring,” explains Lynn Taylor, and workplace expert and Business Week contributer.
So instead of taking a break, use the holiday season to get the jump on the competition. And as always, holiday parties and get-togethers offer the perfect networking opportunity to meet contacts and potential employers. That conversation started over holiday eggnog may be just the thing that leads to a new job in 2013.