When is the best time to look for a New Job
Did you know there are certain times of the year that are far better than others to look for Jobs?
January/February is one of the best times to apply for Jobs
The beginning of the year, New year, new career and fresh start are new year’s resolutions for many.
This is a key time to change jobs. People return from holiday and decision makes are back ready to schedule interviews.
Budgets have been set and the first quarter is prime time as decision makers are keen to get any backlog of jobs filled.
Annual bonuses have been paid out in December too, so people will wait until January to hand in their notice. Hence a great time to start looking.
March, April, And May
These 3 months are another good time to apply. Companies are approaching the end of the first quarter and the start of the new tax year in April.
The surge in hiring in January and February usually keeps some momentum until summer arrives so March, April and May are still great times to try to land a new job.
As you get closer to Summer, companies feel more pressure to finish the interview process and hire somebody. So that can help you out too! This is because they know people in the company will go on holiday in the summer and it’ll be harder to finish up the hiring process.
Applying for Jobs in June, July And August
The summer months are not one of the best times to apply for jobs. These months tend to see a drop off in hiring and interviewing. Managers take more vacations and it’s harder to get a team together to conduct a face-to-face interview.
Companies also fill many of their open positions during the hiring push at the beginning of the year in January to May, so there’s less of a need by the time the summer months come around.
That doesn’t mean there aren’t any jobs to be had; you just have to search a little bit harder. You might be able to stand out since there are less applicants during the summer months. Because of this, it’s still worthwhile to do some job hunting in the summertime.
You just need a bit more patience to put up with people being on holiday and other delays. Don’t expect to finish the interview process and get hired in one week.
Looking for Jobs in September And October
September and October are one of the best times to apply for jobs (along with January and February mentioned earlier). Why?
Hiring happens in waves. Summer was slow, so the early Autumn speeds up especially as Hiring Managers return from holiday.
More interviews happen and there’s less downtime and waiting. The hiring process is smoother overall, and you can get from start to finish faster.
September and October are great times to job hunt so take advantage.
Applying in November And December
November and December are typically slow times if you are hoping to get a lot of interviews and job offers.
November rolls around, Hiring Managers and HR departments start to put aside their hiring goals and save things for the beginning of next year. They get new hiring budgets in the New Year and less people are on holiday so it’s easier for them to wait.
People tend to put things off to the New Year and once December approaches everything slows down in terms of Hiring.
Also, late November and December are popular times for holidays, so the Hiring Manager might not even be in the office.
However, if they need new staff for January or a member of staff leaves then this could be the opposite.
The End of December can still be a good time to apply for Jobs
Even though I just gave you a few reasons why December isn’t a great time to look for jobs, you can still submit job applications so that you’re ahead of the competition when everyone returns to the office in January!
At any given time, at least someone from HR will be in the office. Just don’t expect to receive a whole lot of interviews right away, aside from the initial phone call maybe.
