Expert tip: How to survive the summer hiring slump
Cayla Dengate
Senior Editor and RAP Champion at LinkedIn. I’m also studying Disaster and Emergency Management.
Being a job hunter in summer isn’t as great as it sounds.
Sure, for the unemployed, there is the prospect of a midweek swim, but the warmer months also lead to a quiet time for hiring over Christmas and the New Year.
To complicate the upcoming season, mainstay summer jobs like seasonal Christmas retail or hospitality are in doubt as coronavirus restrictions continue in varying degrees, depending where you live. And school’s out, meaning students are also vying for a casual position.
So we’ve called in the recruitment experts to provide you with the tips you need to make your own summer job seeking strategy.
The biggest tip? Don’t presume there are no jobs going, as recruitment director John Rudd tells LinkedIn: “One thing that has surprised me a little during Covid is the lack of job applicants. We have actually struggled to find staff at times.”
Don’t discount all of December and January
Gillian Kelly says: “Every year I hear people start saying late October ‘there are no jobs at Christmas so I’m putting my search on hold until January’. It’s true there is a period between December 24 and January 1 when most Christmas season hiring is already done, and corporate hiring gets put on hold while people take leave. This is a good time for jobseekers to catch their breath and recharge.
"The rest of the time, keep going! Not only are there still jobs going but there are less people usually applying in the holiday season.”
Caron Marshall says: "While the most general job seeker thinks this is a quiet time, it's actually the best time to be one step ahead of your competition."
Planning pays off
Andrew Bath says: "Given the year we’ve had, predicting the job market for December and January is very difficult."
"My advice is have a plan, don’t stop looking, each time you apply to something, tailor your response, keep networking and stay positive."
"The key is have a targeted strategy and review what you’ve done at the end of each week. At very least you will feel more in control of your search."
Seek out companies that rely on temporary foreign workers
Tobias Taylor says: "One of the issues for the hospitality industry is the fact that so many visa workers that the industry so heavily relies on aren't here in the numbers they used to be pre-Covid. Finding workers quickly as demand increases is going to be key."
Look for work in industries that are busy
Lois Freeke says: "In the non-profit sector, many organisations have Covid-funding and we are seeing a definite uptake in recruitment.
"Non-profit sectors with higher than usual hiring demands include mental health, domestic violence, digital fundraising and emergency and humanitarian relief related roles. Outside of non-profit, sectors with obvious growth are currently procurement, supply chain and logistics, food, medical and pharmaceuticals."
Samantha Lodge says: "Summer is busy busy here, particularly warehouses, food manufacturers, the building industry and truck drivers are needed to make deliveries."
"Road maintenance work and projects are another area that we see work increase during the warmer months. The work has already started and we are seeking many types of employees in these roles currently."
Leah Eley says: "We are always on the lookout for trades and industrial candidates."
Joanna Calder says: "In the health sector, there's rarely a quiet time and as we all know 2020 has been extraordinary. We anticipate ongoing casual shift opportunities over summer."
Dene Gambotto says: "In the advertising and marketing space, we're generally busy with freelance roles up until mid December."
Retailers will still need Christmas staff, they may just be drivers not cashiers
Alastair Pennie says: "The retailers are suggesting, perhaps in their own self interest, that this will be the biggest Christmas ever with an estimated two million more people staying at home compared to last year so there will be a spike like we saw in March for extra drivers and warehouse staff to support grocery and e-commerce channels."
Covid isn't all bad news
John Rudd says: "Our clients are suggesting they will work through the Christmas period instead of closing, which will offer more employment opportunities."
New year, new role
Renae Peattie says: "Traditionally, hiring does go quiet over the festive season but this year has been a stark contrast to others. With many businesses furloughing staff and reducing operations over lockdown in Melbourne especially, companies are now ramping up again and revisiting their staffing requirements."
Alexander Lofts says:
"The new year is a fantastic time to have a look around and start getting your contacts (and platforms) working for you as you have a bit more time to work them."
LinkedIn has launched free access to learning paths for in-demand jobs. Here’s the learning path to master in-demand professional soft skills, including this course on embracing unexpected change.
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Women have previously been disproportionately affected by pandemic job losses, but that may be shifting. New Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows that while women are more impacted by job losses than men in Victoria, the tables have turned in NSW and Queenaland, with experts telling The SMH, “lockdowns affect women more than men but the downturns that follow will probably affect men more than women”.
Should workers be paid the same regardless of where they live, or should location be taken into account when salaries are set? Check out the discussion here.
Have you taken a small step that’s led to something big? Perhaps you told your network you’d been made redundant and a former colleague got in touch with a job offer. Or you shared a post that got noticed by someone who became a mentor. Whatever the story, I’d love to hear it for net week's edition of #GetHiredAustralia. Send me, Cayla Dengate, an InMail or post it as a comment under this story.
Executive Coach | Career Coach | Career Strategy Expert | Career Transition Specialist | Leadership Coach
4 年Great advice here Cayla. I agree with all of those who have said it will be busy. This is always the busiest quarter for recruitment every year and this year seems no different. I have just closed the highest number of Outplacement clients ever in a month in October - all of whom secured new roles. Everyone else is telling me how many jobs are being advertised now. Things are moving in Melbourne. It's great to see.
Recruiting great talent across regional NSW | Science, Technology, Engineering, Agriculture, Manufacturing
4 年I work for a leading recruitment company in the #centralwest #orana areas in #regionalnsw. For the past 2-3 months, have been finding it very challenging to source suitable candidates to fill various roles across a range of industries - both blue and white collar at varying levels, both labour hire and permanent positions. The latest ABS labour force regional data for our region (from July) has our unemployment sitting at 1.7%. There are employers out here who are desperate for people for good positions in great locations. I appreciate that there is high unemployment in many areas but the opposite problem is just as challenging for businesses in the #regions Hopefully programmes like the #regionalactivatorsalliance at Regional Australia Institute will start to raise some awareness.
Career Coach for Experienced Professionals & Executives | Host of The Job Hunting Podcast | Private & Group Coaching | Career Consultations | LinkedIn Profile Audit | Online Career Courses | HR Consulting & Outplacement
4 年For the past 2 summers, Melbourne has not experienced a big fall in demand for senior executive and middle-management roles. In fact, just before COVID-19 hit, the discussions were around how to service the needs of organizations keen to advertise and recruit over the traditional holiday season. This year's forecast is for the demand to remain equal or for there to be a slight increase. I also have clients actively applying for service roles overseas, roles that they can perform remotely from Australia. As the Northern Hemisphere remains very busy during December/January, this may also provide opportunities for those who have skills and opportunities they can leverage from remote work. Remember, in many countries, it's actually EOFY in December, so there may be remaining budgets to spend or new budgets to activate in January. Remain actively in tune with the job market if you are job hunting, follow my podcast, The Job Hunting Podcast, and follow me here on LinkedIn :)
Great article Cayla. I did like that last bit you mentioned about learning and would like to share my own thoughts as a former jobseeker: I think one skillset that jobseekers definitely need to master is gaining an open minded approach to learning new skills that could be useful to a potential new role... A lot of online learning material has opened up to jobseekers during this rough patch and it can be a great gateway into a potential new career path for many people - if they find the right learning tools of course :) At the same time, I am still wary that employers may still try to go for those with x period of experience/relevant work on their CV rather than take a chance on those who have degrees or other qualifications but no jobs under their belt. But of course given the number of applicants for roles may be more slim, things might be different, who knows?
Senior Project Manager
4 年Can I have a bet both ways please? Over the last few years the Christmas hiring freeze has defrosted slightly. The first contract I ever started commenced on the 15th of December. At the start of the Pandemic some economic commentators suggested December could boom if we where over the worst of the pandemic. I’ve been on the bench, hate the work unemployed, for 14 months and need December to boom. I’m hoping traditional trends don’t apply at the end of the year we have all had. Good luck to us all..