The John Lewis ad is out, the lights have been turned on and it’s starting to look like a home straight to that turkey & trimmings.
As we get closer and closer to the Christmas break, many of us are scrambling to get tasks ticked off the to-do list so it would be tempting to believe recruitment is off everyone’s priority list until January.
I think it’s safe to say that not many businesses are going to want to start new team members later than the first week in December. But many have this idea of people starting fresh-faced on the first day back in January.
Equally, candidates are already dreaming of a “new year, new job”.
If that’s your aim then now is your time to strike. In fact, you’re already behind schedule...
A recruitment process takes a few weeks. We need time to build a short list and you will have to navigate a two-stage interview process into your hectic diaries. From starting a process to a job offer can be 2-5 weeks. Then most candidates will face a minimum of a month’s notice. When you add it up, a recruitment process started late November, is likely to translate into an end of Jan start date.
So if your aim is to start 2019 with a fresh challenge or a bigger & better team, then waiting until January (when we’re all just as hectic winding up as we are winding down now), you could be waiting until March to see the results.
We are seeing a rise in jobs and a rise in savvy talented candidates looking to line up their 2019 to get the New Year off to a strong site. So, immerse yourself in the Christmas spirit but don’t get too complacent if hiring for a new job is high up on your new year’s resolution. Now is the time to strike and we expect to be flat out until the week before Xmas.
Then we can all lock up and enjoy a well-deserved break without worrying about recruitment…until the 2nd January anyway.
