Is July a good hiring month?

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Permalink Reply by Chris Russell on June 30, 2008 at 3:19pm

for summer jobs perhaps it is, but for full -time stuff I'd say its not as good as September. People are just starting to take vacations, August will also be slow...

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Permalink Reply by Miriam Salpeter on June 30, 2008 at 10:58pm

I believe that months typically considered "slow" (the winter holiday season, for example) and the summer months can be great times to be engaged in a job hunt. The fact that the fiscal year starts in July is a factor in favor of actually getting hired in the summer.

Staying engaged in the search is the most important thing. Fact is, there may be fewer people applying for jobs during the dog days of summer and less competition can't hurt!

Miriam Salpeter
Keppie Careers
www.keppiecareers.wordpress.com

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Permalink Reply by Mark Swartz on July 7, 2008 at 1:42pm

Well, in deference to my dear Canadian colleague, Colleen Clarke (author of the above-cited article), I will say that her advice in the piece she wrote is excellent. Networking in the summer is a movable feast of opportunities.

However, when she declares that "...July, yes July, is the second busiest hiring month of the year," I take it to mean she is referring in particular to camp counselors, amusement park workers, fast food employees, provincial park rangers, pool cleaners, lawn maintainers, and other such seasonal employment.

The problem when it comes to higher paying salaried jobs in the summer is that enough people are on vacation to easily slow down the hiring process. This is especially true now that companies are becoming more cautious again and may be adding more levels to the interviewing process. If the decision makers are out partaking of the "sunshine, the Vitamin D, the BBQs and tall cool ones," as Colleen suggests (she is indeed a colourful writer), then who's left to sign the job offer over to a candidate?

Now Lisa, your challenge to reply did prompt me to dust off my own "job hunting in summer" article that I've updated for this week's viewing on your nemesis' website. Here's my earlier version. So thank you for the prompt. And I hope that you were able to attend the Montreal Jazz Festival. :-)

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Permalink Reply by Mo on July 29, 2008 at 2:12pm

I would have to agree with the postings that July is a good hiring month but for "camp counselors, amusement park workers, fast food employees, provincial park rangers, pool cleaners, lawn maintainers, and other such seasonal employment." as poster Mark Swartz has suggested. I believe that there are a lot of professional employers looking to hire in the month of July but at the same time I think they are in no hurry and are taking their time to interview and make a hiring decision. I'm a paralegal and was currently laid off and looking for another paralegal position. I have found that there seems to be a lot of professional positions posted and at the same time the employers looking to hire are not in a hurry and are taking their time to interview and make a decision. I believe that employers really start to hire in Mid to late August and of course September when colleges and teachers go back to school. I also agree that July is a vacation time for a lot of employers and seems like employers start to get back into the groove and start looking to hire in Mid /late August and all of September. I think it can be frustrating for people wanting to get hired for professional full time positions this time of year particularly (July) with employers hiring because the employers seem to not reply as fast, on vacation and wait for like a month to start interviewing and hiring.

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