Around this time of year, I start hearing the same sentence from employers: “Let’s leave it until the new year.”
It sounds sensible. The calendar is full, budgets are being finalised, people are starting to think about the break, and it feels like nobody wants to change jobs in December.
Sometimes waiting is the right call. But often, “we’ll start in February” quietly turns into “our new person starts in May”. It’s worth doing the maths before you decide.
Do the maths first
A good search for a senior or specialist role usually takes six to eight weeks from brief to accepted offer. Then there’s the notice period. Four weeks is common, and for senior people it’s often longer.
Here’s how that plays out:
- Start the search in early November: interviews run through November, an offer is accepted in December, and their notice runs over the break. Your new person starts in January, ready for the year ahead.
- Wait and start the search in February: the search runs through February and March, the offer is accepted in late March, and after notice your new person starts in late April or May.
That’s three months or more with the gap still open, or with someone covering it on top of their own job. The cost of that rarely shows up as a line in the budget, but the business feels it. I wrote about this in The Hidden Cost of DIY Hiring: the real cost of a vacancy is often the months it sits empty.
Why the pre-Christmas window can work in your favour
There’s less competition. Plenty of employers press pause in November and December. If you keep going, you’re competing with fewer businesses for the same good people.
People think about their careers at the end of the year. The run-up to the break is a natural time to take stock. Many good candidates would rather resign before Christmas and start somewhere new in the new year than go back in January to a job they’ve already outgrown.
You start the year ready. When your new person starts in January, they arrive while the year is being planned, not halfway through it. They get to be part of the plan instead of catching up on it.
When waiting really is the right call
I’m not going to tell you to hire before Christmas no matter what. Waiting makes sense when:
- the role isn’t clearly defined yet. A rushed brief is one of the fastest routes to a mis-hire, which I wrote about in Why “Taking a Brief” is the shortcut to a mis-hire
- the budget hasn’t been signed off, or a restructure is still being worked through
- the people who need to interview won’t be available for the next six weeks
- it’s your busiest season, and nobody will have time to properly welcome and train someone new
Even then, the next few weeks don’t have to be wasted. Use them to get the role right: what success looks like at six and twelve months, what the market is paying (salary benchmarking helps here), and who needs to be involved in the decision. Then you’re ready to move as soon as the new year starts, instead of starting from scratch in February.
If you hire before Christmas, make it work
A pre-Christmas hire needs a little more planning than one at any other time of year. A few things make the difference:
- Lock in interview dates early. Diaries fill up quickly in December and people take leave. Agree dates with everyone on your interview panel before the search starts.
- Keep the process tight. Long gaps between stages lose good candidates at any time of year, and even more so in December. Here’s how long a good recruitment process should take.
- Agree a realistic start date. If your business closes over the break, a start in mid to late January often suits everyone best.
- Stay in touch over the break. A few weeks between an accepted offer and the first day is a long time. A quick call or message keeps the connection warm, and it matters even more if their current employer makes a counter-offer. I covered that in my recent article, Your Preferred Candidate Just Got a Counter-Offer.
- Plan their first week before you go on holiday. Equipment, inductions, and who they’ll meet on day one. Coming back from the break to a new starter with nothing organised isn’t the welcome you want. Our onboarding guide has a simple checklist.
Final thought
The real question isn’t “before Christmas or after?” It’s “when do I need this person in the seat?”
If the answer is the start of next year, the search needs to start now. If it’s later than that, use the time to get the role right so you’re ready to go.
If you’d like a sounding board on timing, salary, or how to approach a role before the break, I’m always happy to talk it through. You can get in touch with me here.
