Don't Be A 'Wait For January' Lemming...
Posted by on 23/11/2018
Career
Like many, I am lucky enough to have a family and a busy job, both of which come with varying commitments. As I am reminded on a daily basis by my 4-year-old twins, Christmas is fast approaching and not only will there eventually be presents (they hope) there will be many social occasions both at home and at work in the run-up to the big day. There is no doubt that life gets a bit busier this time of year.
Now, along with getting busier, we also seem to adopt psychology around this time of year that allows us to put off the things we don’t really want to do, things that take effort, things that are hard. This goes for anything. The gym membership, the decorating and of course the hunt for the new job.
The psychology (or just a good old fashioned excuse-making) of “leaving it until after Christmas” is something I really want to tackle here, face on.
In line with the Christmas adverts on tv, the window of procrastination/excuse-making seems to be brought forward every year just that little bit more.
I write this on November 20th. We have a full month of genuine business activity - 20-odd working days if I’m correct. If this was December 15th then I would understand, potentially downing tools and slowing down the passion and drive for starting something new, after all, situations that run over Christmas can lose momentum and are seldom positive. But no, we still have 10% of the year still left to run.
The rationale behind my point is not self-serving, either. It benefits anyone looking to move into a new job.
I will use the gym-goer as an analogy. If we think of the gym as representing your job market, and you head there this morning - you will have great choice of equipment. And if you’re new to the place, you will find a great deal waiting for you to sign up. You will have time and space whilst you’re there. You will be in control of your own workout.
Fast forward to January, you will find you have less time and less control. More people who have done the same as you and waited until after Christmas, means more competition for equipment and probably restricting time constraints on the equipment you use. It will be a case of who gets there first. Knowing that customers will be up between 15-30% in the new year, the Gym is spoilt for choice, and that deal for you to join may not be as attractive.
Your workout choices are affected, it’s costing you more and your experience will likely be less enjoyable.
And if all that wasn’t enough, you have wasted over 1 month of your time to put yourself here. All because you want to get a few days of festivities out of the way before you make a change, or start something. If you hadn't waited, you could be 4 weeks ahead of your goals! Wouldn't Christmas be better if you were feeling better about your situation too?
It’s a fact that the candidate market will be busier after Christmas and the job market remains constant for skills in high demand. Therefore, take the chance to buck the trend. Don’t be a lemming and follow everybody else’s pattern and ways of doing things. I promise you, it will positively impact the outcome.
And I also promise you, going into the new year with your brand new, shiny job secured will feel so good! Turn the phone off, relax and genuinely look forward to a new challenge in 2019 knowing exactly what that new challenge is.
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