When are the best and worst times to recruit is a million dollar question, we get asked on the regular! And there isn’t a simple answer, it can depend on your industry, the roles you’re hiring for, and the employment market, but we can give some general seasonal and strategic trends that apply broadly.
January – March (Early Q1)
Let’s take the first quarter of the year, January to March. This is commonly when new budgets are approved so you may get new roles approved, have extra funding to increase your team and candidates can be in the new year new me mindset and looking for a new opportunity so this can be a win-win time of year. However, it can also be a time of year where a lot of companies think like this so competition for the best candidates may be high.
September – October (Post school holidays!)
Another time of year that lends itself to that new beginnings feeling is when the kids have gone back to school! There can be that feeling of wanting to change things up and candidates who slowed down the job search over the summer holidays will be re-engaging with the job market. From a business point of view end of year goals looming may create a sense of urgency and highlight a gap in skills that mean a need to hire.
There is a shorter window of opportunity here before we get into the “winding down’ at the end of the year mentality and people move job hunting onto the next year’s to do list.
Mid-November – December (Holiday Season)
When we get to this time of year we can get into the danger zone of year end, winding up and the small matter of Christmas Holidays! Whilst there is no harm in recruiting now, and being the exception may mean you snap up candidates because other companies aren’t recruiting now, this time of year is very much a hibernating season and we don’t see much activity,
Mid-June – August (Summer)
This is another, longer holiday season (too if you ask any parents!) and can really mess around with trying to get candidates in for interviews. Many candidates pause their job search until they are back to normal!
However it is a good time to hire for academic roles ready to start in the new school year, hospitality roles that need to ramp up for the end of year busy seasonal time and intern/graduate roles for those looking to get into their first job.
So, is there a best and worst time to recruit? The simple answer is no. Here at Slice we think that what is more important is how you recruit rather than when.
If you would like support with your recruitment, we are available any time of year!