Hurry to Recruit...Then Freeze!

You needed this candidate yesterday! The promise of a new hire will take extra work off your plate, complete your team and just might bring new innovation to your projects. Ahh, the dream...

Happy Holidays and welcome to the seasonal Hiring Freeze!

Candidates are put on hold - no offer letters or starts until the freeze is over. Not only does this scare current employees, but potential employees now feel that your company is unstable. Granted, corporations have ulterior motives:

• Saving money (no new expense or hire costs this year)

• Interview schedules will be difficult to coordinate during the holidays

• Organizational changes scheduled for January may not include new roles in the next year

How do you handle this holiday conundrum? Be honest, let your candidate know that this is quite typical during the holidays and company still has interest in interviewing/hiring. Keep in touch with this candidate as a hiring manager or recruiter and this holiday snag may prove fruitful (current role end of year bonus; stable healthcare; etc...).