It’s Not Too Early To Start Sourcing Candidates

According to usa.gov the top five New Year’s Resolutions are:

1.    Lose weight

2.    Volunteer to help others

3.    Quit smoking

4.    Learn more

5.    Get a better job

For hiring managers looking to make a hire, the best time to start recruiting efforts can be the beginning of the year.  January is the best month to reach passive candidates capitalizing on their New Year’s resolutions. Often, these newly resigned job seekers will begin searching for new positions that first week in January even before they have their resumes prepared.

Whether or not there is an immediate need, identifying superstars when they are emotionally committed to change jobs and courting them until there is spot for them is a strategy that will give a long-term competitive edge.  Many have learned the hard way that waiting until there is an opening is too late to begin searching for just the right person.  Granted, there is some effort required to keep the candidate engaged as the year progresses, but that’s nothing like the effort required to find someone out of thin air once an opening occurs.

The holidays provide lots of gatherings with people looking for safe topics of conversation.  Hiring manager can use the time wisely by preparing a little pitch that can be used to describe the culture of the organization and the pros of working there.  When people begin to search for positions, they’ll start by thinking about the type of place they’d like to work — let one of those places that come to mind be the leaders.

Empowered hiring managers plant seeds of candidate sourcing early so they can reap the benefits when they need to make a successful hire.