When is the Best Time to Land a Better Job?

You might have heard that January is the best time to start looking for a new position. It’s not a bad time, but I’m going to tell you that the very best time is RIGHT NOW! After almost 20 years of recruiting within the plastics and packaging industries, September is when all the stars align for professionals. There are two major reasons.

First, most professionals will go through 2-3 rounds of interviewing, and will need to interview with some managers and senior leadership folks. Many of those people have school-age children and the summer is by far the best time to take a week-long vacation, or even two weeks. If you need to meet with two or three people in this category, imagine the difficulty lining up schedules during June, July, and August. Now, suddenly, everyone is back in the office and that is not an issue. That means the interview process can move faster, and that is crucial in today’s candidate-driven market.

The second reason September is a hot month for hiring is the pressure starting to be felt around open positions. Vacancies that remain unfilled from the spring are now showing up on status reports for HR managers, and there is increased pressure from hiring managers. They are not only feeling the heat from being understaffed, but also starting to fear what could happen if those slots aren’t filled soon. The fear is that the holidays are sneaking up on everyone. Someone will point out that there are only 15 weeks until Christmas, and the stores will start putting trees on display. Executives may even ask questions like ‘if it’s been open six months do you really need someone? You seem to be doing fine.’