Publication date 28.12.2010 Moscow

The labor market lives by its own laws: there are periods of calm and phases of recovery. Taking these patterns into account when looking for a new job is certainly useful for everyone, but it is also worth dispelling some misconceptions... For example, it is believed that at the end of December the “off season” begins, which lasts until mid-January, when recruiters and personnel officers are busy with just that that decorate office Christmas trees and do not pay attention to incoming mail. We asked representatives of the personnel services of large Moscow companies what their current situation is with personnel selection.

Nadezhda Nenasheva,
HR Manager of the Capital Trading House "Milavitsa"

I think that now we shouldn’t stop looking for a job, but, on the contrary, intensify it. The last days of December and the weeks after the holidays are a good time to get a job: competition in the labor market is significantly reduced, since many people postpone their job search, therefore, the chances of the most active and persistent applicants increase.

We are currently recruiting sales consultants. If previously we had certain requirements for candidates (one of the mandatory ones was having at least a year of experience working with non-food products), then in the last two weeks the number of responses has decreased significantly. Therefore, if a vacancy is “on fire”, then we are ready to lower our requirements for candidates, we consider applicants with less work experience or with experience in related fields, for example, an administrator, a call center operator. On the other hand, applicants with insufficient qualifications and work experience can now qualify for more favorable offers compared to any other period.

It’s not easy for HR workers now, because finding a worthy candidate on the eve of the holidays and until the end of January is a big problem. Therefore, when searching for an employee, it is necessary to cover much more publications and Internet resources (including using additional options on specialized sites: highlighting, auto-raising, placing a banner or company logo on the main page, etc.), using social networks to search for candidates in order to attract as many candidates as possible and increase the number of responses. Of course, the costs become higher and do not always lead to the desired result, but if there is a hot vacancy, this is the only way out. The search for employees for other vacancies may take longer, as candidate activity will increase and the labor market will pick up closer to February.

I would like to note that my job search period always fell on the post-holiday period: I received many interesting offers and the job search always took a fairly short period of time.

Ksenia Pirogova,
Head of HR Department, Agent.ru CJSC

There are many areas of business and areas of activity in which the greatest activity is observed during the holidays and holidays. The leaders in this matter are, of course, trade, customer support, logistics, tourism, etc. Therefore, it is natural that on New Year’s days, when the majority of the population is busy looking for gifts and drawing up annual reports, the personnel officers of the specified organizations solve a different problem - where to find competent and trained personnel for efficient work.

However, it's not just temporary workers that are needed during the New Year. After all, the arrival of a certain date on the calendar does not at all mean the cessation of all work at the enterprise and does not negate the need to search, for example, for a process engineer. Recruitment of personnel is a permanent process; another thing is that before any holidays, the activity of the applicants themselves decreases, because the illusion is created that business activity is at a standstill.

This is certainly not the case in our organization. Closer to the New Year (as well as summer) we are actively attracting applicants for the vacancies “support operator”, “courier”, “driver”. Many of those who came for temporary work after the holidays remain with us on a permanent basis or are transferred to other departments.

I do not think it is advisable to postpone the job search until the next calendar year. On the contrary, a fresh resume will stand out favorably among its non-updated counterparts on personnel portals. In addition, an applicant who gets a job at the end of the year will find it easier to join the team due to the atmosphere accompanying the holiday, easier to adapt to it and start a new life in the new year. The only thing that can be advised to a candidate looking for a job in the pre-New Year bustle is to try to complete all negotiations with the company before the onset of the long holidays, because... Time-spaced meetings in the HR department or with a line manager can interfere with drawing up a holistic picture of you as a professional. I recommend that HR department employees not despair, even if it seems that all the candidates have “sunk underwater.” On the contrary, the most persistent and hardworking ones remained on the surface, and these are the ones we are always trying to find. I wish both fronts to find their working “halves” in the new year: applicants - a favorite office, and HR officers - dedicated employees.

Svetlana Kadyrova,
Recruitment Manager at Mobil Element

Traditionally, before the New Year, it is more difficult for an HR manager to find people for open vacancies, since there is a decrease in the number of people willing to get a job. At this time, we begin to place more advertising in the media, on the Internet and connect additional search methods. The managers of our numerous communication shops support new employees in every possible way, helping them get used to their new place of work. Unfortunately, on the eve of the holidays, job seekers often have the following mood: I’d rather rest now and go get a job after the New Year. But sales managers are in demand before the New Year just as at any other time. In addition, the New Year's consumer rush is a great way to make money on sales. A sales consultant works for results, that is, he receives a percentage of the cost of goods sold. Since sales increase at the end of December, salespeople's salaries double accordingly. Yes, the pre-New Year race will be followed by a slight decline in sales, but by mid-January demand will recover, since cellular communications are always in demand.

Any employee, when starting a new job, faces a number of difficulties: a new company, a new team, for many even a new field of activity. The adaptation period is present in any field of activity, and the tasks of the HR manager include helping the new employee so that he gets used to the new team, understands the numerous assortment of salon products and increases the level of sales.

Thus, it’s time for sales managers to get hired before the New Year and make big profits. Purposeful people who do not lose hope of finding a good job for themselves, regardless of what day it is on the calendar, easily find the vacancies they need. These are exactly the kind of applicants we want to see: result-oriented, not lazy, positive applicants for interviews and then for sales positions.

Material prepared by Olga Lebedeva

Drawing a line, making a wish list, promising yourself to lose a couple of kilograms - all these are traditional must-dos at the end of the year. But what to do if you have a desire to radically change your life right here and now, and you decide to start with work ─ explains Natalya Koroleva, senior consultant in the Lux & Media department of the recruiting company Hays.

On the one hand, changing jobs at the end of the year seems like a very logical decision: this is a good reason to draw a line in your career development and calculate your “final points.” In addition, the principle of “starting a new life on Monday” works here. But there is one important point that should not be overlooked. By the end of the year, we become tired, including from our current place of work. This is completely normal. Believe me, most of your colleagues go through similar experiences. If this is the case, I would not advise you to immediately think about changing jobs - in the normal course of events, your apathetic mood will pass by the beginning of February. But if this desire has been brewing for several months, you can start looking for options and considering offers.

Postpone until February

If you are serious about changing companies, it is better to think about looking for a new job in advance - in August-September. The selection stages are not a quick process, especially if we are talking about leadership positions. A series of tests and interviews with different levels of management and headquarters (if we are talking about an international company) can take several months. No one will give you exact dates, but you shouldn’t rely on the fact that everything will be decided in a couple of weeks. Especially in January.

If we talk about the vibrancy of the market at the end of the year, it strongly depends on the economic situation and the results of companies. Of course, the number of offers during the holiday period itself decreases, since top management often takes vacations, and Western colleagues go on holidays even earlier than us. Therefore, if the goal is to watch the market, it is better to configure yourself that the new active period will begin in February. But nothing prevents you from monitoring the situation and keeping your finger on the pulse. If suddenly the “dream company” starts searching in December, you will have the opportunity to be the first to know about it.

Don't miss out on the annual bonus

With the transition to a new place at the end of December - beginning of January, not everything is so simple; you can stumble upon pitfalls that you might not have thought about when you were in a hurry to enter the next year with new career opportunities. Many large companies pay a fairly large annual bonus at the end of the year based on merit, which you may miss out on. If, despite this, you are not eager to stay at work and are in a hurry to move, this may become a wake-up call for a new potential employer: perhaps everything is not very good at your current place or you have not met the necessary indicators to receive a bonus. If, when accepting the offer, you already realized, “What about my bonus?”, do not despair and talk to the potential employer. Receiving companies, as a rule, are sympathetic to the desire to receive a well-deserved bonus and start a new job in January.

Or should I still decide?

If your company doesn’t have annual bonuses, it’s better to agree to go to work at the end of the year - in the December hurricane it will be easier to get into the swing of things, get to know the team, make plans for the next year, understand the logic of decision-making in the company, and even New Year’s A corporate event can be a great step towards getting closer to future colleagues and immersing yourself in the corporate culture.

Usually, companies conduct a review at this time - sum up the results, discuss opportunities, and plan the budget. The receiving company understands that the candidate can use the offer as an opportunity to discuss with the current employer their opportunities in the current company. Remember that a potential employer is also weighing the risks and may be cautious about making an offer during this period.

A few important steps from Natalia Koroleva

Step 1. Honestly answer yourself the question of why you want to change jobs.

If you don't understand the reasons, you may find yourself in a situation where you receive an offer and suddenly wonder, “Or maybe it's just a series of bad days?” In my experience, the impulse that motivates you to look for a new job does not just happen, it is always the result of lack of motivation, dissatisfaction, career ceiling in the current company, etc. And if now it seems to you that you are just tired, in a conditional six months this desire will most likely arise again.

Step 2. Decide what you need.

This applies to the field, career development, salary expectations, ─ everything. The more clearly you define all your goals, the higher the likelihood that you will finally land your dream job in the new year.

Step 3: Develop a search strategy.

The search itself is a methodical process. HH.ru is one of the most widespread resources. If you have little experience, your position is mid-level or entry-level, then be sure to update your resume. This will help to collect more information about different markets and offers, you will be found faster and interaction will be more effective.

If you hold a leadership position, it is worth contacting a familiar consultant from a recruiting company, this way your request will be correctly understood, and hundreds of phone calls will not follow with offers that are unlikely to interest you. In our age of digitalization, searching for and communicating with candidates often takes place through Facebook; this is a very fast way of communication. Therefore, I recommend indicating your current position on your profile page. This will increase the chances that you will be found and offered something worthwhile. LinkedIn was also popular until recently, but now there are restrictions on its use. But it's better to create a page there.

It is better to end the relationship with your current employer on a positive note - you never know what might happen tomorrow. If you realize that you will let your colleagues down by leaving, talk to the host company. Most likely, they will meet you halfway, and this step will characterize you as a responsible employee, and will only once again convince the new employer of the correctness of their decision.

As you know, a real careerist begins to “look” for a new job almost immediately after he completes his probationary period at his current job. Even if everything is going well at the moment, who knows whether circumstances will change. And it’s a sin for a specialist to forget about new prospects and expanding his own skills.

Personnel officers are of the same opinion: they do not respect “flyers,” but they also treat an employee who has stayed in one place for more than three years as someone who has “stayed too long” and is somewhat behind in professional development. The moral of this story for lovers of stability is disappointing - you need to change jobs every three years, even if everything is OK now and your boss promises a salary increase. Therefore, it turns out that at a time when all normal people are preparing a program for a corporate party and figuring out the menu for the family New Year's table, some workers stubbornly post their resumes on job-oriented sites and go for interviews. At first glance, their ardor is wasted - really, the bosses have nothing better to do than recruit staff just before the New Year. In addition, holidays are paid, so it is appropriate to sit them out at your old job, receiving your rightful money. When the country emerges from the series of New Year's parties and feasts that last almost a month, then it's worth moving. According to a number of studies, more than 10% of workers decide to leave their jobs just before the New Year, but no more than 0.03% undertake to implement it. In fact, those who argue this way make a big mistake.

HR specialists have been noticing one very interesting trend for several years now. Despite the fact that on the eve of the New Year the general high festive mood does not seem to contribute to the renewal of personnel, by December employers become unusually active. According to most Internet services on the relevant topic, in the last working week, 25-40 percent more vacancies were posted on sites than usual. And in the first two working weeks of 2008 - the same amount less than the average for the year. On the contrary, the number of people who want to hit the ground running by entering the New Year with a new job is small - according to statistics from the same Internet resources, the number of resumes posted in the weeks leading up to the New Year tends to a minimum. But after the old New Year, when the entire working population of Russia comes to their senses and remembers their work responsibilities, the number of people wanting changes on the career front increases sharply. For example, on the SuperJob.ru website alone, 8,723 resumes were posted during the week from January 9 to 16. While usually their number does not exceed 4-5 thousand.

You can make assumptions about what this is connected with. On the one hand, many employers are preparing to launch new projects in the new year, and the team for such projects must be completed in advance. Starting from the new year, orders are usually signed to expand the staff, which again presupposes the presence, if not of a ready-made candidate, then at least of applicants for the position. After all, the end and the very beginning of the year, with its relatively relaxed working environment, is a good time to give a new employee time to fit into the team, to enter into a circle of responsibilities without fuss and hassle, and finally to try it out in an informal setting. “Imagine, I just went to work and immediately had a corporate party,” a friend complains. “But I have no idea at all: who, with whom, against whom, and how to behave, I have no idea.” Indeed, it is not difficult for anyone who has not yet become familiar with office intrigues and behind-the-scenes struggles to get into trouble. It’s not even clear how to dress for such a holiday in a new office. Either ballroom dancing is expected, or just a disco, where crinolines will look out of place.

On the other hand, workers after a long holiday are usually overwhelmed by a thirst for change. Having rested and relaxed, you begin to see your usual work “in a new light” and understand that there is nothing to catch here. The entire Internet is full of guides on “how to survive at work after the holidays,” but that doesn’t make it any easier. Realizing that they need to move on, and the current place is simply disgusting, employees throw applications on the boss’s desk and begin actively distributing resumes to websites and recruitment agencies. This gives HR officers and HR managers more work.

The above is also true for people in working professions. Loaders, for example, leave en masse before the New Year: in the second half of December they have less work, and, unable to withstand this relaxation, they go to great lengths, or even skip altogether. You have to write statements of your own free will. But bartenders and waiters, as a rule, do not rush to work before the holidays - at this time their tips are significantly higher than usual. The same applies to sellers who “make” a month’s revenue during the New Year holidays.

But especially valuable qualified employees, as a rule, top managers of middle and senior management, receive bonuses at the end of the year. The size of such bonuses can exceed several monthly salaries. And until they are received, such personnel will not budge, no matter how tempting offers their new employers seduce them. There are cases when companies, in order to outbid particularly promising employees they needed, even partially compensated them for the payment of annual bonuses. As a rule, such bonuses are usually paid in the spring, at the end of the financial year. In this way, employers insure themselves against the possibility that an employee, on whom a key area of ​​work depends, suddenly leaves for competitors. True, employees, on whom the fate of the company does not depend, can go on a search in January completely freely. What if luck smiles: you will end up in the place where you planned to hire a more highly qualified specialist. Just because a obviously more successful competitor stayed at his old job to wait for his bonus. What happens next, as it should be, will depend only on you.

However, it is naive to be deceived: the real “job fair”, where you can sell yourself at a higher price or find a truly valuable employee for reasonable money, will not begin until February. Just at this time of year, the start of major projects is scheduled, and the main activity on the labor market will not begin until spring. Another thing is that by this time the “castling” of personnel should already have been made, so it makes sense to make a fuss.

At the same time, looking for a new job at the beginning of the year is not beneficial for everyone. Personnel officers give advice: for people in some specialties, rushing in search of new work happiness in January is not only useless, but also harmful. For example, before summing up the results of the financial year, accountants should not lose their temper: few employers will agree to hire even a very good specialist who has failed the previous company at such a crucial moment. It is also difficult to carry out a post-New Year job search for those whose activities are related to planning for the next year. The situation here is the same - first describe the activities of your department for the reporting period, then welcome to the new place. But for those whose project was completed by the end of the year or its next stage ended, it’s time to enter the job market.

And, of course, it is important to comply with accepted ethical principles. Each company has its own, but there are still a few common ones. You need to give management time to find a worthy replacement for you, if possible, bring your successor up to date, and complete previously started projects. You need to notify your business partners about your job change: most likely, these connections will be useful to you in the future. There are, of course, dramatic collisions. After announcing their resignation, the employee may be given a maximum amount of work, and the last salary may not be paid, or only the official part of it will be paid. At the same time, colleagues will hiss in the back for the remaining time, denouncing the “traitor” who was chasing a long ruble.

Should you start looking for a job before the New Year?

This question will seem strange to many: isn’t it better at this time to worry about gifts and where to send the children for the winter holidays? Most people who have decided to change their lives in the new year really prefer to quietly finish December in their usual team, and only from the second half of January begin to think about “changing places.”

• low competition of applicants in the labor market;

• some employers are interested in starting the year with a fully staffed workforce (this is especially true if a new project is planned from January;

• By starting a job in December, you will be able to attend the company's final annual meetings, which will give you the opportunity to learn a lot about the company and its plans for the next year;

• New Year's corporate events will allow you to informally meet colleagues and get an idea of ​​the corporate culture;

• After not working even a month, you will receive a week's paid leave in January.

The success of the pre-New Year job search depends on where the applicant applies, what working conditions he agrees to and, of course, on the vacancies for which he applies. You will be welcomed with open arms:

• in the hotel, restaurant, tourism and service industries;

• in recruitment agencies that recruit temporary personnel in the manufacturing sector with a continuous work cycle. It depends only on you whether the temporary job becomes permanent;

• in small private companies, which are often hectic at the end of the year;

• in reputable companies that have been operating on the market for a long time and that steadily recruit staff throughout the year.

By the way, if you are hired in December, it is quite possible that you will only have to start your duties in January! And you will meet the New Year and Christmas days in a good mood and confidence in your future.

Larisa Kupriyanchik

New Year holidays are just around the corner. Does it make sense to continue actively looking for a job now or is it better to postpone it until “after the holidays”? “Work for You” asked HR managers of well-known companies about this.

Marina Lashtabega, HR manager at the manufacturer of PROPLEX window systems:
It's always worth looking for a job. It is a myth that during the New Year the demand for personnel decreases greatly. But because of this misconception, most HR specialists face a serious shortage of applicants before the holidays. Therefore, candidates should take advantage of the current situation in the labor market and the opportunity to find themselves in a more advantageous position. In addition, your willingness to come for an interview on the eve of holidays characterizes you as a purposeful and responsible person. So don't miss the chance to get your desired position.

Ekaterina Tikhvinskaya, HR Director of Uponor Rus CJSC:
They say on New Year's Eve
Whatever you want -
Everything will always happen
Everything always comes true...
But seriously, it all depends on how urgently the work is needed. In principle, December and January are considered “dead” months for employment or searching for new employees. Therefore, it is hardly worth making serious plans. But if, due to circumstances, you find yourself without a livelihood, then look for a new place and look actively.
If you are thinking of changing jobs in February-March next year, you need to start now: create a competent resume, look at relevant vacancies, and decide on your desires. If you have such a responsible approach to business, you will then spend much less time to achieve the final result - successful employment.

Anna Koshkina, Head of Personnel Recruitment, Adaptation and Assessment, JSC Delicate Relocation:
There is a widespread opinion that it is not worth looking for a job on New Year’s Eve or, for example, in the summer, since there are few offers on the market, and in this regard, many job seekers suspend active work. But from my personal experience I can say that the need for new employees before the winter holidays is exactly the same as in normal times, and often even greater. After all, many companies often launch new projects at the beginning of the first quarter, and they are already recruiting a team for them. Again, a relaxed pre-New Year atmosphere helps the new employee fit into the team more easily and quickly. Continue active searches, because competition in the labor market during the holiday and holiday seasons decreases, therefore the chances of those who remain active increase several times.

Read the answers of other HR managers in “Working for You” (No. 101 dated 12/23/13). All newspaper issues are available