December is our favourite time of the year at Harrison Sands. As soon as the month began, we had the Christmas tree up and were at the Christmas markets sampling mulled wine and bratwursts. Whilst getting ourselves Christmas-ready we shared with each other our top tips for ensuring that December isn’t a complete business disaster and we have an incredible January. Here are our top curated tips.
Reflect
Now is the perfect time to reflect on what you’ve achieved for the year, and also what you may need to do to improve your desk next year. If you feel that there’s a skill or technology you need to brush up on, now’s the time to work on it. These days there are plenty of free and low-cost online resources, from the likes of Lynda.com and Udemy, to name a few. It’s a great idea to ask a mentor or someone in the office for some informal training or support while they’re quieter than usual too. Here at Harrison Sands, we’re using the time to implement Sourcebreaker into our daily searches!
Candidate tracking
Keep a candidate tracker for anyone you have spoken to in November or December who has mentioned they’re looking for a move in the New Year. They will appreciate you remembering to catch up with them after the Christmas break and it’s a good time to discuss new opportunities.
Don’t let up
Keep chipping away even though the recruitment market may feel like it’s slowing down; the more you do the more you come back to in January. It’s very easy to fall off the wagon but keep up to date with adverts, keep making approaches and book calls in for January.
Prioritise
It’s sometimes hard to say no but you can’t be everything to everyone. Think about your own personal goals that you want to achieve. At this time of year, you get multiple invites from clients to go out however don’t spread yourself too thinly and remember you can only be in one place at one time. If you can’t make it don’t stress.
Job hunting
If you’re looking for a new role, it’s tempting to shelve activities while you launch yourself into the festivities. But this can be a big mistake. Recruitment never really stops, and applying for roles in December means you’ll typically be up against reduced competition as less well-advised recruiters ignore advice such as this. Hiring managers and recruiters still want to fill roles, so applying for positions in December may mean you’ll be prioritised in any shortlisting that takes place, with the ultimate outcome being securing a new role or an interview in early January.
For further advice
For further Rec2Rec advice please contact the team at Harrison Sands:
- Katie Coates – call 07584 222 580 or email katie.coates@harrisonsands.co.uk
- Shona Wainwright – call 07956 391 508 or email shona.wainwright@harrisonsands.co.uk
- Elle Stephenson – call 07788 363 857 or email elle.stephenson@harrisonsands.co.uk
