It’s always good to look for jobs in a booming economy when there are more jobs available, but I do say that with a pinch of salt because I actually think that a recession can be the best time to think about your career.
During a recession you see companies thinking about reshuffling and reorganising, which often creates work and opens up new positions. During a bull economy it’s very easy to keep doing the same thing – you don’t necessarily stop and think about what you want to do and where you would like to go.
There are two ways of looking at the year as a whole. There are good times to reflect and good times to take action. Summer time, especially August and Christmas time are notoriously quiet for recruitment but you don’t have to look at those times as redundant. These quieter times present an opportunity to reflect and plan. If you take those quiet times to assess your situation and really map out where you would like to see yourself going, you can maximise the down time.
The New Year is a fantastic time to take action. People come back from the holidays with a renewed energy and new perspectives. That said, if you are looking for a new job, you don’t have to concentrate all of your efforts on January.
The longer run up to Christmas is good; in October and November you tend to see things ramping up with a flurry of activity before the December slow-down. Recruitment shoots out of the gates in January, then slows towards the end of winter before gathering momentum again in May.
We are talking about permanent roles here though; it’s a different game when we talk about temporary roles. December is a good time to take on this kind of work and if you are looking to try out something new and build your portfolio, this can be a great way of doing it. You can dip your toe in the water of many different roles and come out with a clearer picture of what you want to do.
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