This is my second Christmas recruiting for content marketing roles at RedCat. Admittedly, the first year I hadn’t recruited in this area previously for very long so was building my desk, but this year has been completely different for me due to building up my network and portfolio of clients that I work with.
What is it like to work in recruitment at Christmas Time?
Looking for a new job role?
If you’re at home thinking all I want for Christmas is a new job, making new hires for businesses doesn’t stop at this time of year. With businesses putting off recruitment for the most wonderful time of the year with a, “well as long as we get someone in by the new year mentality”, as soon as it hits mid-November urgency sets in and all those times that they’ve decided they can find great candidates themselves, time is of the essence and they decide to reach out to specialists otherwise it’ll be lonely this Christmas.
Coming from a temp recruitment background, I’ve always been very busy over the Christmas period with people needing staff last minute, even on Christmas day. I’m lucky enough that when I drive home for Christmas now I get a break over those few days at the end of December, but my colleague runs a large freelance desk of editorial staff for major businesses, and he is constantly working throughout the Christmas break and even though all he wants is a silent night, he might be slightly frosty when he answers, but he’s on call for any last minute changes to rotas (please feel free to give him a call at 6am on Boxing Day if you’ve had a particularly late one on Christmas Day).
Looking to hire great candidates?
There is sometimes a common opinion that great candidates are not looking for a new position this side of Christmas. This is not something I’ve ever found to be true. I do speak with candidates who said they’re “going to be open to looking in the New Year,” but if the right role comes along for them in November or on a cold December night why wouldn’t they explore that opportunity? I think it’s my job to present them with the right position at the right company. Why would someone not want to work somewhere at the start of December and then come 1st of January it’s the right opportunity for them? Interview processes can sometimes take a period of time and with people sometimes having to give a 3-month notice, then this processes will easily go into the New Year anyway.
Where does that leave me in the New Year?
This will be my first new year working in content marketing recruitment with an established desk and I anticipate it to be very busy, which is generally not always the consensus in recruitment. This is due to businesses ‘taking it easy’ after being so manic for the Christmas rush in December and the proceeding months due to seasonal content being offered and ramped up for obvious promotional reasons. With this happening there’s sometimes less time to interview a good pool of candidates with trying to keep up with the seasonal workload. Businesses might have all the intention in the world to make new hires before Christmas, but time can be so scarce that they physically don’t have time to be able to follow through with this until the New Year.
In short – there’s always great positions and candidates out there no matter what time of year. I recruit for some of the biggest content marketing businesses in London, working across a huge variety of sectors. So if you’re either a business looking to make new hires, or a candidate open to new opportunities, please feel free to get in touch and you can have yourself a merry little Christmas time!
Written by Tom Crawford, Consultant – Content and Editorial
LinkedIn: Tom Crawford / RedCat Digital
Twitter: @Tom_RedCat / @RedCat_Digital
Facebook: RedCat Digital
Google+: RedCat Digital
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