Hiring During the Holidays

Holiday Hiring

Ultimate Checklist for Hiring During the Holidays

Wouldn’t it be great if we had absolute control over our company’s turnover rate? I know more than a few companies who’d love to flat out ban all resignations after November 15th. So, what happens when you lose a great employee just as your busiest time of year rolls around and you have no choice but to replace them during the holidays?

Well for starters, do everything on this list to reduce the headache of holiday recruiting.


  1. Create a Timeline

This is a non-negotiable if you are hiring during the holidays. One of the biggest causes of a failed recruiting campaign is letting it drag out and if you don’t create a timeline this can easily happen.  You’ll want to create a timeline for the entire process, so you can work around the major holidays, rather than be delayed by them.


  1. Check your onboarding staff’s holiday schedule

If you are going to onboard a new employee during the holidays, you really should double check your onboarding staff’s vacation schedule.  You can find yourself in a real mess if you don’t have the right people on hand to review benefits, create security badges, and provide other onboarding support.  If the new hire requires “follow” or “mentor” time, be sure you have someone available during the relevant dates as well.


  1. Ask employees for referrals

In the spirit of giving, reach out to your team and ask them to give you a good referral for an open position.  A referral from a great employee is much more reliable than hiring a stranger off the street.  It will also eliminate the many steps involved in updated job postings on multiple online forums and sifting through hundreds of resumes and applications.


  1. Enlist a Recruiter or Staffing Agency

Sometimes, it’s just easier to go straight to the source when hiring during the holidays.  Rather than searching for qualified candidates, you can quickly utilize one of these resources to vet the myriad of applicants and just bring you a few, highly qualified options. With all you have to do at year end, having a staffing company help makes plenty of sense. Maybe even it makes sense to hire someone temporary to get past the new year, then start a search for a permanent person.

For more information see our other Blog posts!

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