Q4 Hiring- Why Wait?

As we are all prepping our stomachs and wallets for the holiday season, many hiring managers believe that Q4 would not be an ideal time to look for new talent. Between the layovers to meet with your in laws and trying to learn how to wrap odd shaped presents, why would you take time away to interview candidates?

Three words: Budgets. Competition. Integration.

1. Budgets

With many companies' fiscal year ending with the calendar year, budgets come into play for the next year. Many hiring managers are asked to reevaluate their budgets at this time to see if the company can reallocate funds that weren't used this year. This means your headcount approval could be taken away if you weren't using it this year. Do you really want less money for your team next year?

2. Competition

Candidates take advantage of the holidays as a great time to use their PTO and lighter workload to focus on interview and looking for new roles.

With a sudden influx of candidates during the year's end, many smart companies will nab up the talent. Why should you wait and pick at the left overs?

3. Integration

Many people think that the holidays means slowing processes due to time off and office socials but often it's forgotten that Q4 is the best time to bring new hires on-board and fully integrate them before the new year. In the perfect world, you can start a new guy on Jan 2nd and have him completely up and running by the next day but that realistically is never the case.

Hiring/on-boarding can take time, and before you know it, New Guy Bob isn't ready to take off until mid February or March.

Now imagine if you hire and on-board in December, get the new hire integrated in the company (professionally and socially), by January, he is ready to hit the ground running. Wouldn't that be ideal?

Of course there could be other roadblocks preventing you from growing your team. Lack of budget? Lack of training available? Lack of headcount? Lack of eggnog?

Good thing for you, ConSol Partners specializes in recruitment strategies that can help you figure out what is the best way for you to acquire the best talent to make sure your new year takes off.

Send me an email at alice.tsang@consolpartners.com if you'd like to chat or learn how I can help you meet your Q4 hiring needs!