Companies are Still Hiring During the Holidays

You’ll hear career experts advise you to keep job searching during the holidays, contrary to the myths that companies aren’t hiring, no openings are available, or even that everyone is on vacation.

In a recent LinkedIn post, Virginia Franco, Executive Career Storyteller addresses these myths when she posted:

“It’s natural to think now is the ideal time to hit ‘pause’ on a job search—however it’s based on misinformation stemming from two career myths.

Here’s why a plan to resume your search in January may hurt you.

MYTH #1: No One Hires During the Holidays

REALITY: The doors of a business don’t close. Companies still conduct layoffs, people still quit, retire, and move on. THERE ARE ALWAYS JOBS.

MYTH #2: The Coffers are Empty for Hiring.

REALITY: Not all decisions are put on hold till after Jan 1. Many budgeted funds are ‘use it or lose it’ which means a vacancy must be filled ASAP.”

I agree with what she said and I would also add to that another dimension which we haven’t seen in more than a decade: the job market is fired up, there are an abundance of openings, needs, and growth happening every single day. Companies are not going to stop growing over Christmas and New Year’s. They’re not going to stop having needs to fill, and open positions.

This is the first time in more than a decade that we’ve been in a candidate-driven job market and I can speak to the truth of the growth and expansion that is so rapidly happening. Speaking from personal experience, my business has expanded rapidly this past year—we are inundated with new clients and are having to schedule consultations one to two weeks in advance to keep up. The demand is amazing and while I’ve added several new executive resume writers to my team this year, I still need at least three more experienced and credentialed resume writers to keep up with the incoming clients. I’m not going to stop searching for help over the holidays—I’m going to keep looking for the right people and the right fit for my team.

I can assure you other companies are doing the same. They’re not going to ignore their urgent need for the right person.

I’ve seen at least 20 recruiters who are connections of mine on LinkedIn post about the large volume of positions they’re currently trying to fill and they’re not going to quit working on those, either.

I am a firm believer in investing quality time with your family and friends, especially during the Christmas season, and I encourage you to do so! Please don’t take the advice to job search as one that means you need to devote your time to that and not to taking the needed time away to rest, refresh, and connect with those you love. I will say though, that if you are job searching or contemplating entering the job market to see what’s available but hesitant because you’ve heard “no one’s hiring,” rest assured there are plenty of opportunities available.