Last year saw an enormous 74% upswing in candidates searching for new opportunities during January. Hospitality, Sales and Administration roles in particular were in high demand.

The result: the January Job Boom. If your business requires new staff, this is the month to advertise.

But think about the competition

Savvy employees are well aware of the January Job Boom, with many businesses opting to suspend recruitment efforts throughout December so that they can take advantage of this month’s massive talent pool.

However, this also means that competition for candidates is higher than at any other time of year. If your advert doesn’t stand out, or your shortlisting, interviewing and onboarding process is not up to scratch, you risk losing the best talent to rival businesses.

So what can you do to make sure you get the best of the Boom?

Make sure you stand out.

Writing an effective job advert is an art all of its own – in any average search result you will see many job adverts that miss out vital information like salary, location and benefits – sometimes even the day-to day responsibilities! Worse, bad grammar and spelling mistakes are rife.

This is bad news at any time of year, but when you’re competing for attention during the January Job Boom such errors will kill your recruitment drive before it’s even started. 

Think about what’s motivating applicants

More than any other time of year, you’re going to be dealing with people who are not just looking for the next step in their career, but significant life changes.

A positive result of this is that you may be able to attract highly talented individuals who wouldn’t usually be on the market – and may even be prepared to consider a reduction in salary in exchange for the opportunity to learn new skills.

Bearing this in mind – be prepared for applicants from varied backgrounds – and be open minded. The 70% rule is a handy metric used by recruiters that says that, if an applicant meets 70% of your requirements, it will often be better value to train them in the remaining 30% rather than to spend further time and money looking for the elusive ‘perfect candidate’.

Be prepared for a lot of screening work

On the other hand, inevitably you must be prepared for a higher than average amount of ‘fodder,’ with lots of people (quite fairly) taking chances on applications for completely unsuitable jobs, or applying idly with no intention of following through on their applications.

This means that, particularly if you are a small business, it’s absolutely imperative that you have a robust shortlisting and interview process in place. Think about this seriously – do you genuinely have the time and resources to sift through hundreds of CVs of varied quality, and then keep the most promising applicants warm as other recruiters compete for their attention?

If the answer is no, don’t despair. Professional recruitment support is available at a reasonable cost. 

Your onboarding is as important as your advertising

One of the most common slip-ups by new businesses at any time of year is neglecting to properly onboard new recruits. A structured process of introducing your new starter to the team, your company culture and their new responsibilities is absolutely integral during January, because if you fail to keep your new staff member engaged, there are hundreds of jobs – and recruitment agents – happy to steal them from you! 

Embrace the Boom!

January is the perfect month to hire. You stand the best opportunity of attracting talented candidates who might not even be available at any other time of the year.

The level of competition means you have to bring your A-game to attract and keep hold of your top applicants, but if you have the time and resources, and follow the above advice, you can look forward to starting 2024 with a team enhanced with top class new talent.

And if it all seems rather daunting, Flat Fee Recruiter can help! From advert writing to interviewing, we provide complete recruitment support that’s both cost effective and high quality.

Want to find out more? Call us today on 0113 322 7243 for a no obligation discussion on everything we can do to ensure your January recruitment goes without a hitch.