T’is the season to be jolly…
January is new years resolution time – we all know that and most of us make an attempt to set one or two for ourselves…we take out new gym memberships, cut out alcohol, decide to eat healthily… some of us are better at sticking to the new goals than others. I’m a big believer in goal setting - but this isn’t about me!!
My area of expertise is recruitment, careers and connecting great talent. I have been doing this since 1997 and would therefore urge you to be on the front foot with your career this Christmas by updating your CV.
The first working day in January this year is Jan 3rd. I fully expect it to be the same as every other year here at Macs – and that means twice as many visitors to our website, twice as many applications for jobs and the phones ringing off the hook with people wanting to understand their market worth and what roles are potentially available. In January of this year, we took on 1786 new jobs and made 503 placements, it will be busy again - I am certain of that.
Why?
Because we spend more time chatting to friends and family during the festive beak than at any other time of year. After a port or two, we tend to be more open in our communication style and that means that the conversation regularly turns to work and our ambitions for the future. It means that we re-assess our career and start to dip our toe into the job market.
The downside of all of the extra activity means more competition… There are more candidates than at any other time of the year.
Given that we have experienced one of our busiest December’s on record, I would personally urge you to update your CV in the lead up to Christmas (definitely before the new year chimes) in order to steal a march on the incredibly competitive nature of the new year job market.
As I write this on 19th December, here at Macs we are working with an unseasonably high percentage of clients who are still planning to interview in the week between Christmas and new year, hoping to conclude their processes in early January in order to secure their preferred candidate and have them on board in February.
So if you’re already thinking ahead and know that you’re likely to be starting your job search in January… my advice is this…
…pour yourself a nice glass of your favourite festive tipple, put your proverbial pen to paper and then get in touch with your dedicated (personal) Macildowie Consultant who you can also access. If you are more interested in gaining a sense of what you should be paid i.e your market rate, please feel free to ask us.
Finally, if you’re too busy building lego machines, entertaining or staying at your in-laws this Christmas please feel free to let us know about your dream job and we can advise if/when that type of opportunity becomes available.
If you found this blog helpful, check out our other blogs for a good read.