Want a New Career: Now is the Time to Look
Forty-one percent of recruiters surveyed for the eighth addition of the Executive Recruiter Index chose the first of the year as the best time for job seekers to look, according to the company’s press release. Spring and fall were relatively good times to job search with 32% and 22% of the votes respectively. Summer and the holiday season were the worst times to search pulling in 3% and 2% of the votes.
Joe Griesedieck, vice chairman of Korn/Ferry International, said in the release, “… employers – many of whom are embarking on a new fiscal year – are generally bullish and may be ready to pursue hiring plans that were put aside during the busy holiday season.”
When ranking forms of networking in order of effectiveness for job seekers, the results were as follows:
- regular social interactions
- membership in business/trade associations
- attendance at conferences and seminars
- alumni organizations
- direct mail
- online networks and communities
- involvement with non-profit organizations
Thirty-six percent of survey respondents said the best way to get a recruiter’s attention is to work for a highly-regarded company. Proactively developing relationships with recruiters in your region/industry (29%) and being the highest performer in your department/function (20%) were other effective recruiter attention-getters.
When asked what gives a job candidate the biggest ‘edge’ against competing applicants, 42% said it is the “cultural fit” of the applicant. Character/personality, work experience, and growth potential were chosen by 32%, 17%, and 8% of recruiters surveyed, while educational background came in dead last with one percent of the votes.
The Executive Recruiter Index is based on a quarterly survey of 198 Korn/Ferry International consultants, who serve the world’s largest corporations and not-for-profit organizations. Korn/Ferry’s Web site is www.kornferry.com .
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