The December Mistake Costing Job Seekers Time and Money...

ILENE REIN | Executive Recruiter & Job Search Strategist | Pounding Pavement 101

The Myth Everyone Believes

I hear it every single year.

"I'm going to take a break and start fresh in January."

It sounds reasonable. The holidays are busy. People are distracted. Nobody is hiring anyway.

Except that's not true. And believing it could cost you months.

I have spent over a decade as an Executive Recruiter & Job Search Strategist. December was never a dead month. Different, yes. But dead? Not even close. Some of my fastest placements happened between Thanksgiving and New Year's. Just this week I had a job seeker in Pounding Pavement 101 receive 2 job offers.

The job seekers who understood this had a massive advantage. The ones who believed the myth showed up in January along with everyone else, competing for the same roles in a flooded market.

What's Actually Happening Right Now

Let me pull back the curtain on what Recruiters and hiring managers are doing in December.

Budgets are getting finalized.
Many companies operate on a calendar year fiscal cycle. That means hiring budgets for next year are being locked in right now. Managers who have headcount approved want to get those roles filled before the new year so they can hit the ground running in January.

Recruiters are building pipelines.
Even if a company isn't ready to make a hire this week, Recruiters are actively sourcing candidates for January starts. They're reviewing resumes, reaching out to prospects, and scheduling calls for early January. If you're invisible right now, you're not in that pipeline.

There's less competition.
This is the big one. Because so many job seekers buy into the December myth, the applicant pool shrinks dramatically. Fewer people applying means your resume gets more attention. Your outreach gets more responses. Your chances go up simply because you showed up when others didn't.

End of year pressure is real. Hiring managers with open roles feel the weight of unfilled positions as the year closes out. Some have "use it or lose it" budget situations. Others are tired of their team being short-staffed. That urgency works in your favor if you're actively in the mix.

The Numbers Tell the Story

Over 1.1 million layoffs have been announced in 2025. That's the highest number since the pandemic in 2020. Hiring announcements are down 35% from last year. That's the lowest level since 2010.

Competition for open roles is fierce. More job seekers are chasing fewer positions. Anything you can do to separate yourself from the pack matters more than ever.

Pausing for six weeks while everyone else supposedly takes a break sounds smart. But a percentage of job seekers will ignore the myth and keep pushing. Those people are building relationships with Recruiters right now. They're getting their resumes in front of hiring managers right now. They're positioning themselves for January starts right now.

When you show up in January ready to "start fresh," they're already three steps ahead.

The January Rush Is Real

I've seen it happen every single year.

January hits and suddenly everyone is back. Job boards get flooded with applications. Recruiters get buried in resumes. Hiring managers who were reachable in December are now overwhelmed with candidates.

Your resume that might have gotten a careful look in December? Now it's one of 300 sitting in an inbox. That LinkedIn message that might have gotten a response in December? Now it's buried under dozens of others.

The math is simple. Same number of open roles. Way more people are competing for them. Your odds drop just because of timing.

And here's what makes it worse. Many January hires were actually sourced in December. The Recruiter found them, screened them, and had them ready to present the moment the hiring manager came back from vacation. By the time you're submitting your application in January, the shortlist might already be set.

What December Job Searching Actually Looks Like

I'm not saying you need to spend the holidays glued to your laptop. That's not realistic, and it's not healthy.

But there's a middle ground between going dark for six weeks and burning yourself out.

December job searching is less about volume and more about strategy.

Focus on networking over applications.
Holiday parties and end of year gatherings create natural opportunities to connect with people. The vibe is more relaxed. People are more open to conversation. Use this time to build relationships that can turn into referrals in January.

Update your materials now.
If your resume needs work or your LinkedIn profile is outdated, December is the perfect time to fix it. Get everything polished so you're ready to move fast when opportunities pop up.

Reach out to Recruiters.
Many Recruiters are in the office during December, even when other departments slow down. They're planning for January and looking for strong candidates to have ready. A well-timed outreach could put you at the top of their list.

Apply to roles that are posted now.
If a company is posting jobs in December, they're serious about filling them. These aren't placeholder listings. These are real opportunities with real urgency behind them.

Follow up on old conversations.
That hiring manager who said "reach out in a few months" back in September? December is a great time to reconnect. A quick note wishing them well for the holidays keeps you on their radar without being pushy.

A Quick Checklist Before You Check Out

Before you decide to pause until January, run through these questions.

• Is my resume updated and ready to send at a moment's notice?

• Does my LinkedIn profile have the right keywords so Recruiters can find me?

• Have I reached out to anyone in my network this month?

• Am I checking job boards at least a few times a week?

• Do I have a plan for the first week of January or am I just hoping to figure it out then?

If you answered no to any of these, you have work to do before the year ends.

The Real Cost of Waiting

The average job search takes several months. Some studies put it at 10 months or longer in this market. (Job seekers enrolled in Pounding Pavement 101, the average is 2 months.) Every week you're not actively searching is a week added to that timeline.

If you pause from mid-December through early January, that's roughly three to four weeks of lost momentum. Three to four weeks of not being in front of Recruiters. Three to four weeks of not building relationships. Three to four weeks where someone else is doing the work you're putting off.

And momentum is hard to build and easy to lose. When you take a break, you don't just pause your progress. You often have to restart from scratch. The energy and rhythm you had going? Gone. The connections you were building? Cold. The confidence you were developing? Shaky.

Starting over in January means climbing back up a hill you already climbed once.

What To Do Next

I get it. The holidays are busy. You're tired. You want a break. And you deserve one.

But a break doesn't have to mean disappearing completely. It can mean being strategic. Doing a little bit consistently instead of doing nothing at all.

The job seekers I work with understand this. They know the best time to job search is when everyone else isn't. They know that showing up in December puts them ahead in January. And they know that small, consistent actions beat sporadic bursts of effort every time.

My clients are landing jobs in 3 to 8 weeks instead of 9 to 12 months. A big part of that is understanding how timing and strategy work together. December isn't a month to hide. It's a month to gain ground while your competition sleeps.

If you want to learn exactly how to make the most of this time, let's talk.

Schedule a time on my calendar and we'll figure out the best path forward for your job search.

About Ilene Rein

Ilene Rein is on a mission to get people hired... and in record time! As an Executive Recruiter and Managing Partner at Marketing & Sales Resources, and Founder and Job Search Strategist at Pounding Pavement 101, Ilene has spent years on the inside of the hiring process, watching what actually gets candidates noticed and job offers.

After hearing countless stories of job seekers struggling for 9-12 months with endless applications and radio silence, Ilene created Pounding Pavement 101 – her Foolproof, Job-Getting, Career-Building System that teaches job seekers exactly how to market themselves with laser precision using insider recruiting secrets.

The Pounding Pavement 101 program results are incredible: Ilene's clients are getting hired 6x FASTER than job searching alone – landing dream jobs in just 3-8 weeks instead of months of frustration and saving thousands of dollars of lost income! Check out the detailed statistics.

Ilene is a sought-after speaker partnering with companies, educational institutions and organizations worldwide to provide this premium job searching expert guidance.

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