The Best Time To Look For A Job, Seek Employment, and Hire
Searching for a job through your own research or through an employment agency can be a frustrating task, but if you have insight on the hiring trends you can save yourself some troubles. Everything in the business and financial world works in quarters—aptly called the 1st Quarter, 2nd Quarter, 3rd Quarter and 4th Quarter. The Q1 covers the months of January through March, the Q2 from April to June, Q3 from July to September, and Q4 from October through to December.
While these Quarters may seem irrelevant in the job search, there’s actually a connection between companies hiring and the current business quarter in the Guelph job market and in job markets across Canada.
What Happens in The First Quarter? (Hint: It has to do with the 4th Quarter!)
The 1st Quarter is highly correlated with what happens in the 4th Quarter of the previous year.
In the 4th Quarter, businesses have a lot of their employees on holidays and many of the budget numbers tend to dwindle down to the bare minimum. The exception to this is specifically in the customer service industry and the supply and goods industry, as there is an increase in temporary positions and hiring to support the busy season between Thanksgiving and New Years. But for the most part, businesses are winding down from the hustle and bustle during the final months of the year.
With the closing of the 4th Quarter in December, it’s like a reset button for many companies. There’s a 1st Quarter to prepare for!
By the end of the 4th Quarter and early into the 1st Quarter, companies are planning their numbers for the next year. This means numbers for budgets and numbers for their sales and business forecast. With these new numbers, companies have a better idea of where they need to hire people for success in the latter portions of the year.
So What Happens In Quarters 2 and 3?
The 2nd Quarter and 3rd Quarter tend to be slower for hiring. From April until September, companies have typically established their needs and have filled them, in the previous months. It’s a tricky period of time to hire employees because many people also take their paid vacations during these months, putting a bottleneck in the hiring process—especially if there is a team involved.
Now, this isn’t to say that you can’t find job employment during Quarters 2, 3 and 4, but you’ll find the most variety during the 1st Quarter.
What To Do During the 1st Quarter To Gain Employment
Right now, we’re still close to the beginning of the 1st Quarter. Companies are just getting back into their workflow, employees are settling into their desks and playing catch up, and employers are making the final decisions about their annual budgets and numbers.
Once plans are made for the business year, hiring managers and hiring teams begin pouring the fresh jobs into job boards and sprinkling postings on company websites. These aren’t all put up at the same time and may be done according to department needs or the immediate needs of the company. That means from January into March, those seeking job employment can prepare themselves for new rounds of job postings that go up throughout the 1st Quarter.
For those seeking employment (and this includes those seeking employment in Guelph), it’s a good idea to put your resume under the microscope and make sure it is strong and effective. If you are applying for new employment positions and are currently employed, it is a good idea to update your resume with your most recent qualifications. For those currently unemployed and are seeking employment, be sure that your resume reflects the best of your talent and is updated as accurately as possible.
If you need some resume writing tips and to discover why soft skills are important to the job search, check out some of our past articles with these topics:
-Why Soft Skills Are Important In The Job Search
-What Needs To Be On Your Resume?
-Knowing Your Skill Set and Refining Job Interests
Once you have polished your resume, take the opportunity to hit up the job boards and a local employment agency, like Task Force Employment Agency in Guelph, to find jobs that suit your skills, experience and interests.
Because of the amount of jobs available in the 1st quarter, you may have a little more leeway in how picky you are. This isn’t to say you shouldn’t apply to every possible job you can, but you can set more filters to land a job you really want, versus a job that would just be “okay”. Allowing your resume to be visible on job boards and platforms like LinkedIn is particularly handy when it comes to being recruited. Each day, there are job recruiters who are scouring the boards on behalf of companies to find the perfect employee for an employer. By keeping your resume in the eyes of the right people, it can lead you to employment or connections to someone who can direct you to the right people.
If you prefer the method of face-to-face networking, an employment agency can help get your resume into the hands of the right people, or they may know of upcoming opportunities. Task Force helps people in Guelph find employment and makes meaningful employment connections across all industries.
A Positive Job Searching Attitude
The beginning of the year is a great time to start fresh with the job search and to look for new employment opportunities. Reaching out to employment agencies and narrowing down your employment goals will help you on the right pathway.
If you require any help, please contact Task Force Employment Agency so we can help you find meaningful employment, whether it be temporary work, part-time work or full time work.