Why a global development job hunt shouldn't wait until January

With every new year comes the opportunity to reassess many things, including what might come next with regard to one’s career. The desire to better one's circumstances may be enough to push some toward pursuing new job opportunities come January, but there are practical reasons for global development professionals to consider as well. While some organizations have fiscal years that start at different times of the year, many development organizations receive new budget allocations on Jan. 1. This can lead to some positions being advertised before the end of the year. “The months leading up to [a new fiscal year] is when all the budget planning is happening. Once you've got the new fiscal year, you got the green light, your budget's good to go,” said Stephanie Mansueto, a principal recruiter with Abt Associates. “For companies whose fiscal year starts January 1st, that means they're advertising jobs now.” While organizations are busy planning for the next year now, many job seekers do not realize that the end of the year also presents them with a strategic window to position themselves for upcoming opportunities, as well as positions that organizations are eager to fill before the current year ends. Devex spoke to Mansueto about how being proactive during the final weeks of the year can help give development job seekers a competitive edge heading into 2024. Job opportunities, new and old As organizations plan for the next fiscal year, which includes identifying organizational goals and potential staffing needs, some positions for the new year are likely to be posted in December. Since many will put off prioritizing a job hunt until January or even later, according to Mansueto, setting time aside ahead of time for this can offer several advantages, as job seekers are likely to face less competition for new roles. “People are just tired. They don't want to apply, and they're not putting together a job strategy,” Mansueto said of the weeks leading up to the end of the year. In addition to new roles that may be advertised before the new year, there are also existing positions that recruiters are trying to fill as some organizations “may have a little bit of budget left to get that one position that they wanted in before the end of the fiscal year,” Mansueto said. To illustrate this, Mansueto, who is also a career coach, spoke of a client she is currently working with who is “getting a lot of traction because he's not facing a lot of competition, and teams are trying to hire these [existing] positions,” she said. “When I say hire [I mean] they extend the offer [and] you accept in December, but they understand you're not going to start until after the new year. So getting that offer accepted in December, that can be a big deal for both the candidate and the employer,” Mansueto added. Getting a jump on January Beyond applying for specific roles, the end of the year provides job seekers a prime opportunity to develop their job strategy, including updating CVs and digital candidate profiles on platforms like Devex and creating a networking plan before most other candidates do the same. “If you can at least put together a job strategy in December so that by January 1st, you're hitting the ground running, you're actually going to beat a lot of people in those few weeks to a month [of the new year],” Mansueto said. In her experience, most job seekers actually do not begin to focus on their own efforts until mid-January or even February, which makes getting an early start even more advantageous. “People think that everyone hits the ground running on January 1st or January 2nd for jobs, Mansueto said. But in her experience, many professionals will experience what she called “the holiday hangover,” and “they don't feel like working [and] job searching is really arduous,” she added. Regarding what to focus on in December, “get your emails drafted,” Mansueto suggested. “If you got a spreadsheet and you're like, ‘I know I want to reach out to these four or five people from this company,’ get it going so that you're ready to hit the send button, after maybe a week after the New Year. You're going to be ahead of the game.” Are you actively looking for a job? Or are you just passively open to new opportunities? Either way, don’t forget to update your Devex profile now — hundreds of recruiters are searching for talent on a daily basis in our database of over 1 million global development professionals.