# Holiday downtime peak for CV updates ahead of January rush
Published: 2021-12-30
Category: Business
Category URL: https://luxuryadviser.com/category/business/
Meta Title: New Year Job Rush: 21% of Employees Preparing for Job...
Meta Description: Research forecasts a job surge in Q1 of 2022, with 21% of employees planning to find new roles. Holidays are the perfect time to refresh your CV and prepare...
URL: https://luxuryadviser.com/holiday-downtime-peak-for-cv-updates-ahead-of-january-rush/

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- 21% of employees are planning to look for a new role in the first three months of 2022
- Three in five (59%) intend to update their CV over the festive period
- Experts predict a boost of job surges in January and beyond, based on historic data

Up to 19.2 million employees \[1\]  are planning to use downtime over the festive period to

update their CV, despite pandemic resurgence.

According to new research from specialist talent solutions provider Robert Half, three in

five (59%) employees are planning to update their CV over the holidays in preparation

for a fresh job search in January.

Employers should brace themselves, as an additional study reveals that one in five

(21%) employees are getting ready to apply for new roles in the first three months of

2022 \[2\] , starting from January – suggesting that ‘New Year, New You’ will include ‘New

Job’ for a lot of people.

Analysis of Robert Half’s own internal data reveals that job applications usually surge in

Q1. While normal candidate behaviour was disrupted last year due to the pandemic,

there was an 80 per cent increase in job applications from December 2019 and January

2020 – a trend that has held for many years.

Although the persistent Covid-19 virus interrupted the trend last year, experts are

predicting that the New Year rush could be even bigger than usual in 2022.

Matt Weston, UK Managing Director at Robert Half, explains, “Holidays are typically

a time for people to take stock and assess their priorities in the year ahead – it’s why we

usually see a jump in activity in Q1, and after the summer holiday period in Q3.

“With the uncertainty of the pandemic, many employees were holding fast until the

situation was a little more secure. Even with the rumours of a fresh lockdown

approaching, many are now tired of waiting and keen to take the next step in the

careers.

“For those thinking for taking the leap, there couldn’t be a better time to look for a new

role. Companies have been hiring to back-fill roles and take advantage of the economic

rebound, which left 1.2 million vacancies across the UK without the candidates to fill

them. As a result, the best talent will be able to command healthy salary packages from

potential employers.”

To help people on their way to success, experts at Robert Half have offered five top tips

for CV-writing, including things to avoid and how to set yourself apart from the crowd:

1\. Be authentic. People often over-polish their CVs, but in the wake of the pandemic, employers

are looking for candidates who are authentic. Try reading everything you have written back to

yourself – if it doesn’t sound like you, it needs a re-write.

2\. Demonstrate your best traits. Instead of labelling yourself a problem solver, think about how

you can demonstrate those traits. By adding an achievements section to your CV you can

showcase your skills and demonstrate a history of delivering excellence

3\. Avoid jargon. Employers look for reasons not to interview candidates, so your CV needs to be

easy to read. If you include too many abbreviations or jargon from your current company, you

run the risk of losing them.

4\. Keep it short. For junior roles, a CV should be no longer than two sides of A4 (but for a more

experienced candidate it could run to three). Bullet points are a great way to do this and

remember to hold some things back for the interview.

5\. Be kind. Rewind. Start with your most recent (and most relevant) experience and work

backwards, including any gaps. A chronological CV puts you at risk of being overlooked by

employers.

For more, check out Robert Half’s  CV buzzwords to avoid  or find out the going rate for

more than 200 professional services roles with the  2022 Salary Guide .

\[1\] According to a LinkedIn poll amongst 933 employees across the UK, 59% of people are planning to

update their CVs over the festive period. ONS data reveals that are currently 32.5 million workers in the

UK, therefore 19.2 million people are planning to update their CV.
\[2\] Additional data from a Robert Half-commissioned survey of 1,000 full-time and part-time employees

across the UK, conducted by Opinium between 17-20 December 2021


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