Ask-A-Career Coach: When Is The Best Time To Start A Job Search

Contributed by Caroline Ceniza-Levine of SixFigureStart.

I am securely employed at a premier management consulting firm. I know that I want to relocate sometime next year but I can take my time. Now that the market is picking up, is it better to start now, or do I wait in January? When does most hiring take place?

Congratulations to this person for recognizing that she can take her time with the job search. Too often people jump into it and settle for the first thing that comes. Even if you have more time urgency, you still want to launch a thoughtful search, and you certainly don’t want to show any time urgency to prospective employers. So a take-my-time attitude is good.

However, this person also seems too influenced by market forces, preoccupied by questions like “When does hiring take place?” and “Is the market robust enough now?” Keep in mind that the perfect time to look is always. For certain actions, a job search is 24/7. You should be networking 24/7, not just when you are in search mode. You might not attend as many mixers or reach out to people with the same message, but you should always be expanding and maintaining your network. Similarly, you should know your industry and sector of interest. You might not post your résumé with competitors, but it makes you a higher value contributor to your own employer if you know your market.

So the best time to make your job search active (keeping in mind that you should always be doing some job search actions) is when you have determined that you are ready to move. It doesn’t matter when employers typically hire – I’ve hired people in the week before New Year’s Day and during August, two supposedly “dead months.” It doesn’t matter what the employment numbers are. The employment rate is 0% or 100% for you. If 100%, the follow-up question is: Are you happy in your current job and with your career prospects? If the answer is no, then now is the time to go active. Follow your internal radar, not the market’s.

A word of caution to the unemployed: get moving now on that next job. Don’t be fooled by recent media news that shows that the economy is improving. The toughest competition will come in 2010, when employed people jump back into the market because they feel it is safe to make a move again. Even if there are more jobs available, the addition of employed people to the candidate pool will make the job market even more competitive in 2010.

Caroline Ceniza-Levine is a career coach, writer, speaker, Gen Y expert and co-founder of SixFigureStart, a career coaching firm comprised of former Fortune 500 recruiters. Caroline is also an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Professional Development at Columbia University, School of International and Public Affairs and a life coach.