The best/worst times to look for a job
Are you searching for a job? It can feel like a never-ending process sometimes. You may not have control over the time of year you need to find a job, but certain seasons can be better than others. Here are the best times of the year to apply, as well as the worst:
- January and February – a great time for getting hired. It’s probably the best time to look for jobs in most businesses. January usually starts slowly as people come back from holidays, but by the second week of the month, things are running smoothly again. Once that happens, hiring picks up pretty fast.
- March, April, and May – still very good times to apply, the rise in hiring in January and February usually keeps some momentum until summer arrives. As you get closer to the summer, companies feel more pressure to finish the interview process and hire somebody. So, March, April and May are still great times to try to line up a few interviews and land a new job!
- June, July, and August – tough times because the summer months are usually slower, and normally aren’t one of the best times to apply for jobs. Managers take more holidays during the summer and it’s harder to get a team together to perform a face-to-face interview or make hiring decisions.
- September and October – It’s almost as good but for most businesses is a bit of a mix. These are one of the best times to apply for jobs because hiring happens in waves. Summer is slow, so the early autumn speeds up, especially as hiring managers return from holiday.
- November and December –usually slow times, as hiring managers and HR departments begin to put aside their hiring goals and save things for the start of next year. They get new hiring costs in the new year and less people are on holiday so it’s easier for them to wait.
Even though December isn’t a good time to look for jobs, you can still submit job applications so that you’re ahead of the competition when everybody returns in January!
