Holiday peak for CVs

Employers need to brace themselves as 19.2 million employees are planning to use downtime over the festive period to update their CV.

According to new research from specialist talent solutions provider Robert Half (www.roberthalf.co.uk), three in five (59%) employees are planning to update their CV over the holidays in preparation for a fresh job search in January.
 
An additional study reveals that one in five (21%) employees are getting ready to apply for new roles in the first three months of 2022, suggesting that ‘New Year, New You’ will include ‘New Job’ for a lot of people.
 
Analysis of Robert Half’s own internal data reveals that job applications usually surge in Q1.  While normal candidate behaviour was disrupted last year due to the pandemic, there was an 80% increase in job applications from December 2019 and January 2020 – a trend that has held for many years.
 
Although the persistent Covid-19 virus interrupted the trend last year, experts are predicting that the New Year rush could be even bigger than usual in 2022.
 
“Holidays are typically a time for people to take stock and assess their priorities in the year ahead – it’s why we usually see a jump in activity in Q1, and after the summer holiday period in Q3,” explains Matt Weston, UK Managing Director, Robert Half.
 
“With the uncertainty of the pandemic, many employees were holding fast until the situation was a little more secure.  Even with the rumours of a fresh lockdown approaching, many are now tired of waiting and keen to take the next step in the careers.
 
“For those thinking for taking the leap, there couldn’t be a better time to look for a new role.  Companies have been hiring to back-fill roles and take advantage of the economic rebound, which left 1.2 million vacancies across the UK without the candidates to fill them.  As a result, the best talent will be able to command healthy salary packages from potential employers.”
 
To help people on their way to success, experts at Robert Half have offered a range of buzzwords to avoid (www.roberthalf.co.uk/blog/cv-and-cover-letters/updating-your-cv-here-are-buzzwords-avoid)