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It has become apparent that it is time to change jobs for better personal and career growth opportunities.
Are companies hiring people at the end of the year during November and December with all the holidays or would I have better selection after the start of the new year?
If i leave my current company and forfeit the Christmas bonus can I expect a bonus at a new company that I will have just started working at?
Your new employer may be willing to provide some sort of sign-on bonus in order to get you to start at a new job quickly and to forgo a coming bonus. This is fairly common around times when bonuses are paid (end of year and early Feb/Mar). When discussing your compensation with a potential new employer, be sure to mention any bonuses that are expected in the relatively near future (< 6 months)
Are companies hiring people at the end of the year during November and December?
November and December can be an interesting time to look for work for a variety of reasons. One reason that some give is that during the holiday season (holidays for many), people may be in a more 'giving' spirit. That is debatable, but anecdotal evidence may seem to lead some to believe that is true. A much more tangible and realistic reason to look for work in those months is due to budgets and headcount.
If a department has a specific budget for any given year and still has money left in that budget towards the end of the year, they may be more inclined to make a hire in order to be sure they will get the same or more budget for the following year. This is the same for a specific headcount. If a manager is budgeted to have say 8 employees on a team, and there are only 6, that manager has an incentive to bring the team to full capacity in order to keep that headcount for the following year.
Companies hire people when they need people. There are these things called "Hiring seasons", but that's only if the company itself goes through "Seasons" (i.e. increased workload during x,y,z months).
One factor that may not swing in your favor is if the end of the fiscal year is coming in those months. Many times, the department budgets are being scrutinized for the following fiscal year, so some departments may put a freeze on hiring new employees.
In any case, it's all situational.
It has been my experience that fewer companies are hiring due to end of the year budget issues and the lack of availablity of decision makers due to using up vacation time.
However, it has also been my experience that fewer people are looking at that time (holidays put a lot of time pressure on many of us and, well, we often are just focused on time off at that point and some companies give end of the year bonuses so leaving could havea a financial impact) and the companies that are hiring often want to hire before the end of the year for budget reasons or because they really urgently need the position filled.
So there may be fewer jobs but less competition for them. All in all if you are willing to forgo any end of the year bonus, it can be an effective time to search for and get a job. But don't expect that the current company will pay out a bonus if you leave. You may try to negotiate with the company doing the hiring to give you a signing bonus since you will miss out on a bonus though. But don't ask for this after you have accepted the offer.
It really depends on location, the job market in your area and of course who you know.
For example, in Seattle the economy is booming at several large companies looking to hire people ASAP.
I don't think applying now to any position will hurt. Even if they are not hiring now, when they are after the holidays, you will be on file.
Making connections now for later can't hurt.
But if you know someone who knows someone for a specific position, you can't time that.
Good luck!
