The following may sound like a cringy, late-night infomercial that you would see on television at 2 a.m. It’s now the end of September and you only have two-and-a-half months to act quickly before the window of opportunity to get a new job closes shut. Act now and interview rapidly while you still have a little time left!
The interviewing process starts decelerating around Thanksgivings weekend. Once we get into the second week of December, the slowdown starts quickening. Preoccupation with holiday plans, parties, buying gifts, flying out to see family and going on vacations takes precedence over hiring.
You can use this time to your advantage. Here is what you need to know about the next two months and how to make it work for you.
A vast majority of potential job seekers pull themselves out of the running between now and the holiday season. They will say that they want to wait until they receive a bonus, possible promotion or potential raise. Procrastination reigns supreme as it is so easy to put off interviewing until next year (along with losing weight, going to the gym, putting down the phone, talking to your family, eating healthy and all the other promises you won’t keep).
If you truly desire a new job, it is a great time, as there will be significantly less competition. This will enable you to stand out in a smaller crowd. Since companies are aware of this trend, they will be less critical and more liberal- minded with respect to their requirements. Once everyone returns to the job market post New Years, the barriers to entry for jobs rise once again.
Be prepared. There are some challenges attendant with this time period as well. Here is what you have to keep in mind and watch out for.
Companies may be much more frugal in their hiring approach. Their budgets have most been spent. If they pay a lot for a new person, it will eat into the raises and bonuses that would ordinarily be paid out to internal employees.
Make sure to ask for a higher-than-average increase to your salary to offset any potential loss of a yearly raise that you are walking away from. Ensure that the company takes into account any bonus monies that you may leave behind. This holds true for stock, options and other benefits that you would be forced to leave behind. If they can’t buyout your bonus, ask if you can wait for it and then start after it is received (plus the usual notice period).
Companies tend to deliberately keep things vague. Try the best as you can without driving the hiring manager and human resource professionals crazy to be more transparent and concrete with respect to compensation, benefits, vacation days, title and other forms of remuneration. They will offer a non-guaranteed bonus and “targets,” but try to get something in writing that protects you.
You may lose out to a cheaper candidate that they could hire right away as the firm may not want buy out your bonus and compensate for other inducements to stay at your current firm.
Companies may ask you to come back multiple times and meet with 6-10 people, only to move an internal candidate into the job to save money. Usually, companies won’t increase the salary of an internal employee as much as they would pay an external candidate.
Sometimes, due to too many people being on vacation, preoccupation with the holidays and desperately trying to meet end-of-the-year deadlines, they may ultimately place the job you’re interviewing for on hold until the new year.
Since savvy hiring managers recognize that it becomes exceedingly difficult to hire once we are in the last weeks of December, they will most likely extend a counter offer to entice you to remain at the company. Be careful, as this may be a band-aid solution to make the life of the hiring manager and their bosses easier. Once time goes on, they will become resentful of you. The odds are great that you will be made to feel so uncomfortable that you will take the first offer that comes along just to get away. Usually, those offers are not so great and you will find yourself looking again in six months.
Source: Forbes
