Is it Year-End Already? Anyone Fancy a Pint?

As 2016 tips slowly into Year End, many job seekers hang up their job searching boots and slip into the festive lull, with expectations that the market will miraculously  rebound in January / February. There is some degree of truth to this, but the year-end can also represent hiring opportunities and here are some tactics to keep your hand in the game during this time:

Drinking

Singapore and Hong Kong are network driven cities – senior business leaders are generally quite accessible and the working masses concentrated in relatively condensed areas. A drink or two around Asia Square / MBFC / Far East Square in Singapore or LKF / Soho in Hong Kong could help to create informal networks or introductions to senior people in the market. People drink A LOT in December – and who knows they might even buy you a pint ! ( Please read to the bottom of the article for some relevant information on this ).

Stick Around Whilst Others Down Tools

As a recruiter, I’ve always tried to keep working during Christmas. When I hear of my competitors “taking December off” I try to use  that to my advantage – meeting candidates and clients, listening to what the trends are and more often than not, picking up hiring opportunities. If I was a job seeker I would apply the same principle – keep plugging away whilst others are not – it could give you the small advantage that you need.

Consider Contracting

Contract hiring has been on the up significantly in 2016 and we often see panic contract hiring at year end. Maybe remnants of a hiring budget, a last minute back out, sudden realization that a deadline is looming. Again this can come down to availability and being accessible but year-end can be a good time to get your foot in the door – even if  it’s  for initially a shorter term career opportunity. All of our contractors this year have been extended or made permanent and it’s becoming an effective way of getting into the larger banks in particular

It’s Not Year-End for Everyone

If you are looking globally for a role, it’s important to remember that December isn’t quiet everywhere. For many Asian and Middle Eastern countries it’s business as usual – whilst you might be on holiday mode, they are not ! Plus many firms don’t close the books and start again in January – many of the Japanese firms, Audit and Consulting Firms and Law Firms have their year end and appraisal cycles in June or July – therefore their hiring cycles often follow a different trend to those of the banks.

The New Year Job Rush Can be Over-Hyped

Try not to expect a sudden change of fortunes in the new year – in Asia there is Chinese New Year typically at the end of January / beginning of February, meaning that there can be a big lull in January. Also with the diminishing significance of bonuses, the mass wave of resignations post the bonus cycle is largely a thing of the past – people just resign throughout the year now !

Assess Priorities and Expectations

Unfortunately 2016 hasn’t been a great year for big promotions either internally or when moving externally and our general view is that 2017 is unlikely to be significantly different. Spend time thinking about what the priorities are with your job search and also how aligned your expectations are in terms of salary etc. Also think about which recruiters you think can really help you or which companies you’d be particularly interested in working for – often a targeted approach can reap much higher success than spreading yourself too thinly over the market.

Summary

The general message is to keep plugging away – the job market in it’s current shape isn’t easy in developed economies and job searching takes patience and commitment. Obviously it’s important to relax and enjoy downtime with loved ones over the festive period, but keep one eye on the market and make sure you’re still in line of sight of companies and recruiters.

Anyway – we will be working up until Christmas and will be organsing a drinks evening for our contacts in December – please watch this space…