All I want for Christmas.......

I know it is a little early to be talking about the holidays, but was reminded of this popular song yesterday afternoon when my son lost his two front teeth wrestling with his cousins.  He took a face plant on the floor and came up holding one tooth and the other was hanging by a thread.  In fairness to my nephews, both were already quite loose and my wife had promised to pull them by Wednesday of this week before school pictures.

Here is the question of the week -- as a prospective employer or active candidate, what are you hoping to get before Christmas?  With the fourth quarter nearly upon us, I am quickly finding out who is serious about making moves before the end of the year and who might just be fishing around in the market. 

Some of my clients are already making plans for fourth quarter hires and interviewing candidates as we speak.  I even have a few that have been actively interviewing for openings for the past 2-3 weeks and becoming quite anxious to fill the positions before October 1.  This strategy will give a new employee plenty of time to get acclimated before the year-end rush, along with getting them ahead of the curve for planning for 2013.  Although there is nothing inherently wrong with hiring someone in November or December, there is a lot of advantage to making a move now if you know it is going to happen in the fourth quarter at some point.

On the candidate side of the equation, I am beginning to see passive candidates turn active, active candidates put their foot on the gas pedal even more than previously, and in general more candidates simply wanting to know what options are available.  As a candidate you must always balance between making a move for the sake of making a move vs. really finding your next long term role.  But now is certainly a key time to at least begin discussions if making a job move is a goal by the end of the year.

Just as I am hoping that my son's teeth are filled in by Christmas, it is also my desire to help clients and candidates alike make their dreams come true before the end of the year.  The question is, are you going to take action and make something happen or wait until it is possibly too late?