Why You Should Start Your Job Search Today

If you’ve been sitting on the sidelines, thinking about searching for a new job, now is the time to act. The specific season plays an outsized factor in hiring. From springtime to around the Fourth of July holiday, there is a window of opportunity opened to finding a new job. After that, it starts closing until around mid-September.

Why You Need to Act Now

Timing is everything. During the springtime, there is a ramp-up in hiring. Partly, this happens because the weather is nicer and people’s moods improve with the change in the air. After a long cold winter, people are ready and excited for a change. The white-collar office worker received their annual review, raise and bonus and is free to pursue new opportunities. If the yearly review and salary increase was disappointing, it turns the disgruntled employee toward joining the Great Resignation movement.

From a practical matter, human resources professionals, recruiters and hiring managers know from experience that as soon as the summer rolls around, hiring significantly slows down. People are focused on taking vacations and there is a collective, unspoken agreement that August is the time for recuperating. Taking a vacation takes precedence over being in the office, and this year, it’s anticipated that there will be a lot of revenge travel. Taking personal days off to go to the beach with the family or enjoying three-day weekends to refresh and recuperate is commonplace.

Consequently, this mindset shift leads to a challenging time for everyone involved with the interview process. The HR person isn’t in the office, but when they return, the hiring manager leaves for vacation. Then, the candidate is off to Disney World. This cycle continues throughout July and August. The hiring process stays sluggish until around mid-September, when employees realize that they’re back to the grind, remember that they hate their jobs and start searching again.

Clarity With Company Work Styles

Companies, by now, have mostly formulated their return-to-office plans, so there is greater clarity on how you will work. A recent Harvard Business Review survey reported that about 30% of people who quit their jobs for what they thought would be a better opportunity were disappointed and regretted their decision. Within only three months at the new job, respondents said that they resigned due to “organizational culture and the mismanagement of workplace expectations.”

The regret, in part, could be attributed to a misunderstanding of the company’s work style. It may not have been made clear that they’d have to go into the office five days a week or, perhaps, they found out that working remotely—when others aren’t—left them feeling left out and unhappy. With greater clarity on how you will work, it will help you make a more informed decision.

Switching Jobs To Hedge Inflation

With inflation raging and no immediate end in sight, your salary isn’t keeping up with the costs. Traditionally, companies offer only a small-percentage salary increase. With inflation hovering at around almost 8%, the nominal raise won’t cut it anymore.

It’s customary when you make a move, the new company will offer a substantial premium, usually in the range of 10% to 20% above their current salary, to entice the job seeker to leave their current employer and take the chance on the new opportunity. The extra money earned with the new job will help you keep up with and stay ahead of inflation and the higher costs of goods and services. Switching jobs and gaining an increase in salary is a smart career strategy.

Future Uncertainty

The job market isn’t constant. It’s always in flux. If the economy is solid and growing, businesses are more apt to hire, as they are confident in the future. Conversely, if the future looks dire, executives pull back on hiring and contemplate laying off workers—just in case things take a turn for the worse.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has the potential for a black swan event, in which other countries, including the United States, are pulled into the conflict. If this happens, the odds are high, based on previous geopolitical events, companies will quickly enact hiring freezes and initiate layoffs. During the aftermath of the dot-com bubble, Sept. 11, the financial crisis and early months of the pandemic, businesses quickly took action to protect their bottom lines by enacting mass firings and furloughs of employees. This makes the case for job hunting when things are still generally positive.

Here’s How To Start The Search

Before you start interviewing, take a fresh new look at your résumé and LinkedIn profile. If you are not sure of what the latest fashion is for the résumé and LinkedIn, get in touch with a résumé writer and career coach. There are hundreds of these professionals who charge reasonable rates to help you stand out and get noticed.

Contact recruiters that specialize in your space. Start by asking colleagues in your field, who found a great job, which recruiter they used. Search the internet for recruiter directories. Check out job boards to find recruiters that post jobs that resonate with you. When communicating with a recruiter, it’s important to ensure that they are knowledgeable about your field and possess the right connections to hook you up with the job you desire.

Network in real life and on LinkedIn. One of the best ways to find a new job is to isolate target companies, then seek out people in your network—friends, family, college alumni, current and former co-workers, members of your church, mosque or temple and neighbors in your community—to see if they know anyone working at your desired companies. If you can find an internal employee, politely ask the person if they could directly share your résumé with the appropriate people responsible for hiring for the job you want. You can also ask them to provide a glowing recommendation. HR and hiring managers value an internal referral over an unsolicited résumé.

Prepare and practice an elevator pitch. This is a thirty-second to a one-minute tight, concise description of your responsibilities and talents, detailing why you are the best person for the job. Check out the company, its culture and its reputation before you set up a meeting with them.

Now is the time to actively hunt for a job, while the economy is still doing well, the stock market—though sliding recently—is still relatively strong, pandemic-era mandates are easing and the U.S. is averting getting dragged into a third World War. It’s more prudent to move when there’s more certainty and clarity, compared to what may happen months later.