The festive season is a time of merriment, family, and winding down for the year. While businesses often use this period to advertise products and services, there’s less chatter about advertising job openings. Is the Christmas season a wise time to promote a vacancy? Let’s unwrap the pros and cons.
The Advantages of Advertising Jobs Over Christmas:
1. Less Competition:
With many companies holding off on recruitment until the New Year, advertising a job during the festive season means fewer competing job ads. This can give your vacancy more visibility.
2. Captive Audience:
While many are on vacation, it’s also a time when people reflect on their careers and life choices. Job-seekers might be more active in searching for new opportunities to start the New Year fresh.
3. Utilising Budgets:
For companies operating on a calendar-year budget, unused recruitment funds might be available at year’s end, making it financially strategic to advertise now.
4. Ready for the New Year:
By advertising in December, the recruitment process can kick off early in January, ensuring roles are filled promptly for a productive start to the year.
5. A Season of Openness:
Christmas is a time when people are generally more receptive and open to change and new opportunities. With the ending year fostering reflection and the upcoming year sparking hope, potential candidates might be in the mindset to consider a new direction in their careers. This readiness for something new makes the holiday season an opportune time to present what your company can offer.
6. Time for a Thoughtful Application:
During the holiday season, potential candidates might have a bit more free time to put together a well-considered application. Away from the rush of usual routines, they can focus on tailoring their application to align with your company’s needs and values, ensuring that you receive applications that are thoughtful and well-prepared.
7. Tapping into the Holiday Spirit:
There’s a general warmth and positivity that permeates the festive season. Tapping into this spirit in your job advertisements can help in attracting potential candidates. Your ads can be crafted to resonate with the season’s joy, showcasing the welcoming and appreciative atmosphere of your company, and making it appealing to job seekers.
8. Utilising Holiday Networking:
The holiday season is often filled with social events, gatherings, and opportunities for people to connect. These settings can be excellent platforms for spreading the word about your job openings. Casual conversations in a festive environment can lead to interest and referrals, adding a personal touch to your recruitment efforts.
The Challenges of Advertising Jobs Over Christmas:
In dealing with these challenges, a strategic, empathetic, and flexible approach to the recruitment process can be crucial. Being understanding of the candidates’ situations and adjusting timelines, communication methods, and expectations to align with the season’s realities can enhance the effectiveness of the recruitment campaign amidst the holiday festivities.
1. Office Downtime:
With many staff on annual leave, there might be delays in processing applications or conducting interviews, potentially frustrating candidates.
2. Missed Opportunities:
Potential candidates might be on holiday and not actively checking job listings, leading to missed opportunities.
3. Shorter Campaign Duration:
Given the holidays, there are fewer working days in December, potentially reducing the exposure time of the job ad.
Maximising the Christmas Job Ad Campaign:
Let’s remember the heart of the season – connection and humanity. When crafting job advertisements during the festive period, try to infuse a sense of warmth and human touch. Speak to the aspirations and hopes of potential candidates, aligning the role’s offerings with their year-end reflections and resolutions. Let them visualise not just a job, but a place where they can grow, contribute, and be valued as the new year unfolds.
Here are some tips for maximising your job ads:
1. Utilise Social Media:
With many people spending more time on social platforms during the holidays, it’s a prime opportunity to boost your job ad’s visibility there.
2. Offer Flexibility:
Acknowledge the holiday season in your ad and be flexible with application deadlines or interview dates.
3. Highlight Perks:
The festive season is all about giving. Highlight any year-end bonuses, holiday packages, or other perks that your company offers.
4. Share stories of employee growth within your company:
Consider sharing success stories of employees who have found growth, mentorship, and opportunities in your organisation. These stories can resonate with job seekers, making them feel a sense of possibility and optimism about applying to your company. It subtly communicates the message that your organisation values its members and their journeys.
5. Holiday Distractions:
The festive season is bustling with activities, gatherings, and preparations, which means potential candidates might be too preoccupied or overwhelmed to give their full attention to job hunting. The noise of the season can make it challenging for your job advertisement to stand out and capture the attention it deserves.
6. Quality of Applications:
Given the season, there’s a possibility that the applicants might be rushing through the application process amidst holiday commitments. This might affect the quality of applications received, making it challenging to identify suitable candidates from the lot.
7. Initial Turnover Risks:
If a candidate is hired during or just before the holiday season, the initial days of their joining might coincide with a slower business phase, fewer team interactions, and limited onboarding activities. This might impact their initial experience and learning, posing a risk to their swift integration and retention.
Conclusion
While there are both advantages and challenges to advertising jobs during the Christmas season, the key is to approach it strategically. Understand the nature of the festive period, tailor your ads accordingly, and be flexible in your recruitment process. With the right tactics, the holiday season might just bring the gift of the perfect candidate into your company!
Featured image by Pavel Danilyuk from Pexels
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