In the commercial and industrial sectors, Christmas is the biggest time of year, and having a quality pool of temporary employees is invaluable for helping a business to succeed during these high-pressure periods It may seem strange to start thinking of hiring Christmas casuals long before the holiday, but there are actually many great reasons why you should consider finding your casual employees sooner rather than later.
Here’s why you should start your casual talent recruitment drive now.
Stay Competitive
In the past, many businesses have left their recruitment drives until closer to the holiday. However, recent years have seen a large uptick in companies advertising temporary roles as early as August, with most opportunities being posted around October and the start of November. This means that businesses are hiring early and filling vacancies long before December.
Don’t get left out in the cold; finding the sweet spot to start advertising is essential. August may be a bit too early for many businesses, while any earlier will definitely mean missing out on job seekers who are looking to make a change as the year draws to a close. Too late, and there is a chance that all the best talent will have already been snapped up. Between October and early November seems to be the happy medium, so you can ride the wave of market activity and find candidates while they’re actually looking.
Be There When Candidates Start Searching
As we’ve touched on above, candidates will mostly start searching for Christmas casual roles a few months before the holiday. Although the roles are temporary in nature, they will be expecting to have enough time to plan ahead and be fully considered for any job.
Businesses seem to be tuned in to the same wavelength as job seekers, with most talent searches being conducted around October/early November. While you may find some great workers earlier than this or perhaps even a bit closer to Christmas, the majority will be on the market during that peak time, so you have a better chance of nabbing top talent while they’re still available.
Attracting the Best Talent
Once you determine the right time to begin your search, you need to consider strategies to reel those candidates in. When recruiting Christmas casuals, there are a few extra steps to keep in mind to help your business stand out during this competitive season.
To begin with, even around the holidays there will be advertisements for other types of roles – mostly those starting in the new year – so it’s vital that the job ad is transparent about this being a casual role. The truth is, the majority of candidates will only spend seconds to find out if a role is interesting to them, so be clear and aim to place the most important information in the first couple of sentences.
It’s also crucial to stand out from the crowd by promoting the unique benefits that you have on offer and the company culture that applicants can expect. At the end of the day, even if they’re only with you for a short period, they may apply again next year, and the next, so having a great workplace culture will help them to build their relationship with the business.
Once the ad is out there in the world, don’t forget to promote it across your social media platforms and website, as not everyone will find your ad on a job board. Many job seekers also want to find more information before applying for a role, so redirecting applicants to your website and linking to other opportunities you have open will keep them wanting more.
Summary
Hiring Christmas casuals is unlike any other type of recruitment; with such a narrow timeframe to find the best people for the job, having a solid plan and getting your job ad out there during the job-searching peak is key.
If you’re working with a recruiter, we can take the pressure off during these busy times by promoting the role to our database of trusted temporary employees and our own established platforms – expanding the reach of your role and saving time while you focus your efforts on the Christmas rush.
If you’re ready to start your commercial and industrial recruitment journey for this holiday period, come and talk to our team at Southside Staffing. We can’t wait to hear from you.
