Who says the summer is the doldrums for job hunting?
Not Charles Jamieson. Two weeks ago, he was hired as chief human resources officer for the Canadian Egg Marketing Agency in Ottawa.
And his first task as he moved in to the job last week was to post six other management and professional vacancies in the agency that have to be filled by the end of August.
"We're not stopping hiring just because it's summer," he says. "Anyone who isn't looking now will be missing out on very interesting opportunities."
Career experts agree. Job seekers who think these are the dog days of summer so there's no point in looking for work while everyone in a position to hire is taking a break ought to think again.
"August might have been a down time for hiring in the past but not any more," says Terry Lende, managing consultant for the Calgary office of the international career-transition firm DBM. "With the economy heating up, they are definitely going to be at work and interested in taking your call."
"It's a frenzy out there," agrees Don Prior, managing partner for the Vancouver office of executive search firm Caldwell Partners.
"Get out a list of companies that are in the top 10 in any category anywhere in the country and I can guarantee they are actively searching for candidates and hiring right now."
In his province, for example, he says his firm has seen a surge in company searches this summer for executives and managers in finance, engineering, sales and marketing and human resources, and a large number of postings in the federal and provincial civil services.
And across the country, industries that are facing brutal competition, such as technology and the media, are desperate to hire people who can help them find innovative ways to get an edge, Mr. Prior adds.
The seasonality of hiring is disappearing not only because of the demand for candidates but the increasingly global nature of business, which is less limited by seasons, adds Philip Blackford, vice-president of executive career services for Toronto-based Right Management Consultants. For instance, it's mid-winter in Australia and, in Asia, "it's go-go all the time."
If you don't keep yourself on the radar screens of companies looking for talent, you'll be missing out on many openings, the pros say.
"It is definitely the time for job seekers to be out there on the hunt if they expect to be hired to start in the fall," Mr. Blackford says.
"Not keeping up the search in the summer means you lose momentum. Tentative leads fade and you will have to backtrack to restart the search in the fall."
In Canada, there have traditionally been peak seasons for hiring, with a big spike in March through May and another in September and October, Mr. Blackford says.
"That means you want to have the process under way in summer to land in a new job in September."
That is important because "companies can tend to panic when they see the final quarter coming up. They may need to rush out to fill out the team in September and you will be in the best position if you already have a foot in the door and are fresh on their minds."
Maureen Kennedy knows how important it can be to put yourself out there while others may be taking time off from the job chase. The specialist in international finance was on the hunt last summer and, at the end of July last year, found herself in the right place at the right time when a big break came up.
"My predecessor was being promoted to a position in the United States and they needed to move very quickly," says Ms. Kennedy, who was hired as director of finance with the Phillips medical systems division of Phillips Electronics NV in Markham, Ont.
