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December can be a relatively quiet month for recruitment, partly because employers don’t think it’s worth it to take on a new hire just before the Christmas break.

But this doesn’t mean that all recruitment work should slow right down. In fact, there are actually a number of crucial things you should be doing before Christmas to get ready for the new year.

Here are four of the most essential.

1. Get Hiring!

Take advantage of lower levels of competition among recruiters and employers in December (except those looking for seasonal staff) and snap up those eager job hunters before Christmas hits.

Even if there’s no time to actually get people in post before Christmas, there’s still plenty of pre-employment work you can do. For example, advertising the role, sifting applications, pre-screening applicants, interviewing and lots of paperwork. Get it all done and dusted in December and your new hire can hit the ground running in January.

For any Christmas recruitment strategies to work efficiently, they need to be backed by a strong process. This is where AvA-V can help, developing a bespoke strategy just for you – one that produces real results at any time of the year, even in December.

2. Prepare for the January Rush

The jobs market picks up considerably in January, driven by candidates wanting a career change as part of New Year’s resolutions. But while it’s a great time of year for job hunters, it can be incredibly competitive for employers.

You need to make efficient use of the time you have before Christmas to prepare for the January rush.

You can do it by:

· Planning your Christmas recruitment strategies and looking at the year ahead, and do it in-detail so you have month-by-month plans and targets

· Identifying vacancies and skills gaps in advance

· Writing up job descriptions and adverts so they’re ready to go.

3. Get Automation in Place for Office Closures

Christmas inevitably causes disruption to normal processes, especially recruitment. But the candidate experience shouldn’t suffer just because the office is closed for a few days, as this can be very harmful for your brand reputation.

You should aim to have automated processes in place to manage candidates’ expectations. For example, an automated acknowledgement of a received application and a date when they’ll hear back.

Pre-Christmas Recruitment Strategies

4. Capture Applications over Christmas

We all have much more time on our hands over Christmas, as we’re off work and relaxing. People with a career change in mind tend to escape to a quiet corner with their laptop and check the latest job vacancies.

You can take advantage of this, but you’ll need to prepare now. You’ll need to plan a campaign that can run with minimal resources (as the office may be shut) and be as automated as possible. You can schedule some targeted advertising, make sure there’s plenty of info on the job ad – as there won’t be anyone around to provide further details – and have processes in place to receive applications.

If it all feels like a rush at this time of year, AvA-V can work with you to hone and streamline your recruitment strategy and processes. With our help, you’ll have a bespoke plan in place for the whole of the year. One that delivers the talent you need without that last-minute scramble.