Some people’s New Year’s resolutions are their dreams for themselves: get fit, learn another language, date someone amazing. However, other people dare to dream a little bigger. They want to launch into the career of a lifetime, and this is the year to make it happen. Keep in mind that the job market naturally shifts throughout the year. What do you need to know about job hunting trends?
The Data
Joblift, a popular job search platform, analyzed the numbers for job hunters in 2017. For each month of the year, they compared the numbers of job seekers versus listings available.
January
January was the toughest month of 2017 for job-seekers. Why is this? Retailers cut back on seasonal employees, the winter sales booms are over, and everyone is vying for the same positions. This is also the time of the year when businesses tend to slide from the black back into the red, making them hesitate to take a chance on a new employee.
February – March
February and March are also sluggish, although as the temperatures start to sneak upwards, the hibernating industry starts to wake up. Your odds of landing a job rise just in time for tax season.
April
April, unfortunately, is the third worst month of the year with a noticeable slump in the number of job listings posted.
May
Things start to turn around with the approaching summer months. May marks the first time in 2017 that there were more listings than job seekers on the Joblift site.
June
Everything changes in June, which was the best month in 2017 to look for a new job. Here, vacancies outnumbered the job seekers by the highest amount, or 1.57%. Much of this won’t be seasonal work. If you’re looking for a new, long-term job, June is your best bet because there will be less competition.
July-August
Overall, the summer months are a good time to look for a job. They aren’t quite the boom of June but still offer a respectable advantage for job seekers. Here, forward-thinking businesses start planning for the winter sales season. Some employers like schools also start heavily recruiting for the coming academic year.
September-October
The job market is somewhat saturated and the tide turns against a job hunter’s favor. However, your employment outlook isn’t quite as grim as in January.
November
November marks the start of a number of holidays and sales such as Black Friday, so seasonal work is available. If you’re looking for short-term employment that will last longer than a few weeks, think about something like Fed-Ex; they’ll be busy and strapped for employees for the whole season.
December
December is the second-best month of the year to get a job, although much of it is seasonal work. Stores may realize they’re getting more demand than ever, businesses may want social media experts to construct killer ad campaigns, and lots of companies may need temp work when key people are knocked out by the flu.
What Do These Numbers Mean?
Even though the numbers shift, they don’t paint the whole picture. That’s why it can help to have an employment staffing agency on you side. They’ll link you with the jobs you’re best suited for, no matter the time of the year. Ad-VANCE Talent Solutions is one of the Gulf’s leading employment agencies. Contact us any month of the year to see what full- or part-time positions are available.