Planning to Hire in January? Start Before Christmas.

If you know you're likely to hire in January, it can be tempting to leave recruitment until the New Year. After all, January feels like the obvious time to start looking. Budgets have been agreed, new projects are getting underway, people are back from Christmas and there are usually plenty of candidates who have decided that this is the year they're going to find a new job.

The problem is that every other employer is thinking the same thing.

For a Production Manager, Operations Manager, Engineering Manager or Managing Director, January is already a busy enough time without adding a recruitment campaign to the list. You're trying to get production moving after the Christmas break, hit targets, deal with customer orders and get new projects underway, so the last thing you need is a vacancy that suddenly becomes urgent because you didn't start looking early enough.

If you already know that you'll need someone, starting the process before Christmas can put you in a much stronger position.

1. Get ahead of the January "new year, new job" rush

January can bring a lot more people into the jobs market, which might initially sound like good news for an employer. More candidates should mean more choice, shouldn't it? In reality, a larger number of applications doesn't necessarily mean a better selection of candidates. January attracts people who are genuinely ready to make a move, but it also attracts plenty of people who are simply curious about what's available. They may have decided after Christmas that they'd like a change, want to see if they can earn more or have made a New Year's resolution to look for something different, but that doesn't necessarily mean they're serious about moving.

For an already busy production or operations team, working through a large number of applications to find the people who genuinely have the right skills, experience and motivation can take a considerable amount of time.

For example, imagine you're looking for a Production Supervisor. In December, you might have a manageable number of relevant candidates to speak to, including people who aren't actively applying but would consider the right opportunity. By January, you could have three or four times as many applications, but still only a handful of genuinely suitable candidates. Your team then has to spend considerably more time working out which applications are worth pursuing. Starting before Christmas gives you the opportunity to get ahead of that rush. Rather than competing with every other business advertising vacancies in January, you can start talking to candidates while the market is quieter and have a much better chance of getting the attention of the people you actually want to hire.

2. Give yourself time to interview properly

One of the biggest advantages of starting early is simply having more time to make a good decision. Recruitment often gets squeezed into an already busy schedule. A Production Manager might have half an hour between meetings, an Engineering Manager is dealing with a breakdown or project deadline, and before you know it you're trying to arrange interviews around shifts, production requirements and everything else that needs your attention.

When a vacancy has been open for several weeks and the pressure is building, it's very easy for the process to become focused on filling the position rather than finding the right person. Starting early gives you more breathing room. You can take the time to properly assess someone's experience, involve the right people in the interview process and, if necessary, have a second conversation before making a decision. You can also take account of notice periods and other practical considerations rather than feeling that you need someone to start immediately.

We've seen this make a real difference with technical and engineering appointments. A business might initially think it needs someone immediately, but once they have time to properly interview candidates, they sometimes realise that the person who looks strongest on paper isn't necessarily the best fit for the team, the working environment or the technical requirements of the role. Having another candidate to compare them with, rather than feeling forced to make an offer, can lead to a much better appointment.

For a key production, engineering or technical position, that extra time can be valuable.

3. The best candidates aren't necessarily looking for a job in January

Another reason not to rely solely on the January rush is that some of the strongest candidates aren't going to be sitting on job boards waiting for January vacancies to appear. They may already have a job and be reasonably happy where they are. They might not be actively looking at all, but they could be open to the right opportunity if it offered better prospects, more money, a shorter commute, a better shift pattern or the chance to take on more responsibility.

These are often the people who are harder to reach through a traditional advert because they aren't actively applying for jobs. They need to be approached and have a conversation about the opportunity before deciding whether it is something worth considering.

Take an experienced Maintenance Engineer as an example. They may have been with the same manufacturer for several years and have no plans to spend their Christmas holidays applying for jobs. However, if someone approaches them with a role that offers a better shift pattern, a shorter commute and progression into a more senior position, they may be interested in having a conversation.

That's a very different candidate from someone who has applied for 15 jobs because they've decided it's time for a change. Having more time means you can identify the type of person you want and give yourself time to find and speak to them. You're not relying entirely on whoever happens to be looking for a job that particular week.

4. You could start January with the problem already solved

Perhaps the biggest benefit is the simplest one. If you start the recruitment process now, there is a good chance you could have someone identified and offered the position before Christmas, depending on their notice period. That means you could come back in January knowing that the vacancy is already dealt with, rather than returning after the Christmas break and immediately having to advertise, review applications, arrange interviews and start the process from scratch.

This can be particularly important if the additional person is needed because of increased production, a new contract, a planned expansion or a project that is due to start early in the year. If you already know the requirement is coming, there is little benefit in waiting until the pressure is on before doing anything about it.

Don't let January dictate your recruitment plans

January is certainly not a bad time to recruit. In fact, there can be plenty of good candidates available. The difference is that you'll also be competing with many other employers who have chosen exactly the same time to start hiring. If you already know that you'll need someone in the New Year, starting the conversation before Christmas gives you more time, potentially less competition and a better opportunity to identify the right person rather than simply the first suitable person who comes along.

You don't necessarily need to have the vacancy filled tomorrow, and you don't have to rush into making a decision. But it is worth starting to think about what you need, what skills and experience the person should have and what the market looks like now.

At Precision People, we recruit across engineering, manufacturing, production, technical and skilled roles. If you're expecting to recruit in January, we'd be happy to have an informal conversation about what you're likely to need and start looking at the market before the New Year rush begins.

If you already know you'll need someone in January, why wait until January to start looking?