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Breaking down what the heck is going on?
Can we be real for a second?
The job market is bonkers, but I am going to make an unpopular statement here by saying..... *drum roll*. It's pretty much the same every year.
The trends that I see now are not that far off from Q4, 2021, or any other Q4 in the past 235423481284 years? I know, I know… that’s pushing it, but you get my point.
As a seasoned recruiter, we don’t only push resumes and set meetings for candidates. Say what?
To be good at what we do, we have to be market experts and listen enough to notice patterns, trends, and all that jazz. We are under-glorified project managers, data analysts and sales executives but usually our grandparents just call us headhunters. Sure.
So here is what I have seen over the past 6+ years. Every single year. (This is based on a fiscal year, so don’t come at me if your Oracle year is different, LOL).
Q1 January - YAY! We just got new budgets for our departments. Let’s go spend it impulsively and hire more people than we need before the well runs out.
Q2 April - Wow! We just hired lots of people. We don’t have enough people to train them because we didn’t have an onboarding plan ready to go, or a retention strategy. Oopsie! Let’s pull back on hiring until we see the ROI on these new hires from Q1.
Q3 July - We Rock! Our sales team has more demand than supply, and our pipeline projections for EOY are strong! Let’s hire more people even though we still don't have a plan to onboard or train them properly and our current new hires are not fully bought in.
Q4 October - Sh!t ! How did this happen? Customers are pulling back and conserving their moneys because they also spent more than budgeted for, with optimistic and unrealistic forecasts. Our sales team is only 30% to quota and we have to take a more conservative approach to our hiring. Pause all hiring until next year. Employees get burnt out and leave so attrition increases, and bandwidth shortens. The well is dry and layoffs start to happen.
Q1 January - YAY, again! We still don’t have a gameplan but let’s do the same exact thing we did last year and expect different results. Let’s hire tons of people and cross our little fingers.
I know this is highly sarcastic and has some underlying *angst-y* vibes. Good. It’s supposed to be. I've seen this movie every year with clients for YEARS.
This goes to show you that life moves in seasons, and so does hiring. Don’t lose faith in the process, and keep showing up. Keep applying to those jobs, and keep going after what you want.
Just remember that it’s not YOU. YOU aren’t the problem. YOU are great. YOU will find something soon.
Enjoy the holidays and remember that what is meant for you - will always work out for you.
Your favorite *real* recruiter,
Maddie
Founder, Advanced Scope LLC
We are the best providers of providers!
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