WASHINGTON — If you’re looking for a job, don’t make the same mistake a lot of job-hunters do this time of year.
“People say ‘I’m going to take the holidays to update my resume, take a list of my accomplishments for the year.’ They get their resume updated and they make a New Year’s resolution,” Carolyn Thompson at career consulting firm Merito Group in Vienna, Virginia, tells WTOP.
“People place an emphasis on the change in the new year — last year, this year, new year, new job,” she said.
Thompson, who helps connect talent with employers, says the holidays are actually one of the best times of year to step up your job search. Companies are still hiring — many with jobs that need to be filled by the end of the year. And there is a lot less competition.
“We see people getting faster turnarounds when they send their resumes in. If there is somebody a company wants to interview, they get a faster response a lot of times,” said Thompson, who leads an executive search and executive coaching team at Merito.
“We have a lot people getting offers even on Dec. 24 or Dec. 31.”
If you wait until after the first of the year, you’ll be jumping into a crowded field of candidates.
Based on data Merito Group gathered over the last six years from job sites such as CareerBuilder and Indeed, the number of people looking for a new job jumps by 30 to 33 percent in January, while the number of job openings posted stays steady.
More than 90 percent of employers say candidates should begin or continue their job searches throughout the holidays, according to a survey of hiring managers conducted by Wakefield.
