If you're job hunting in December, here's what you need to know

Julio Franco

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Staff member

Received wisdom might tell you that looking for a job in late November or early December is a bust. But received wisdom is wrong and while it is true that there are a couple of big peaks in annual hiring around the winter months of January and February as well as the post-summer surge of September and October, writing off looking for a new job right now is a mistake.

Sure, it's a busy time with the holidays approaching and it can be tempting to abandon any plans to job search until the new year. But this is precisely why you can take advantage of a less competitive hiring environment.

Where your peers may focus on festive parties and Secret Santa, assuming that companies are not actively hiring, this can result in fewer job applicants and less competition for desirable roles. This isn't the only reason this is a good time to apply...

Networking opportunities are maximized

This is a time of year when many companies and industries host holiday events, parties, or networking sessions. Your own company probably does the same, and this can afford you facetime with senior leaders who you may not normally get to talk to.

So, attending relevant events can provide opportunities to connect with professionals in your industry – – and learn about potential job openings.

Left over budget has to be spent

If annual budgets aren't spent, they can be clawed back or even reduced in line with the previous year's spend. That's why many companies rush to spend leftover money towards the end of the year – and that can include allocating the budget towards any planned new hires.

Get prepped for a January onboarding

Companies hiring through December are likely to want to finalize their hiring decisions this month, so that new hires are fast out of the starting blocks in January. This gives them an advantage, too, because they can mop up the best talent early – and get ahead of their competition who may only be thinking about hiring as the new year begins.

Ready to get ahead of the competition? Check out the TechSpot Job Board where new software engineering jobs are added every week. Here's three to start with:

Senior ASIC Verification Engineer, Coherent High-Speed Interconnect, Nvidia, Santa Clara

Nvidia is looking for an ASIC Verification Engineer to verify the design and implementation of innovative high speed coherent interconnects for mobile SoCs and GPUs. You'll have the opportunity to have real impact in a multifaceted, technology-focused company impacting product lines ranging from consumer graphics to self-driving cars, and the growing field of artificial intelligence.

Some of the application criteria include a Bachelor's or Master's degree (or equivalent experience), three years of relevant verification experience, and experience in architecting test bench environments for unit level verification. See all requirements now.

Embedded Software Developer, ENSCO, Inc., Hauppauge

ENSCO Avionics is looking for talented Software Engineers to work on safety critical embedded software. Your responsibilities will include defining high-level and low-level software requirements, developing new software, porting legacy software for new hardware configurations, performing software-hardware integration, and supporting system integration.

You will experience a supportive and unique culture, positive work environment, and flexible work schedules to empower you to achieve your maximum potential. A Bachelor of Science degree in computer science, computer engineering, software engineering, or an equivalent degree/experience, at least three years of hands-on experience and safety critical embedded development experience. Find out more here.

Data Architect GEOINT - 1013, Reinventing Geospatial, Inc. (RGi), Dulles

Reinventing Geospatial, Inc is looking for a Data Architect GEOINT to join a team building a data fabric construct connecting user needs to disparate GEOINT data suppliers for an intelligence community customer. This system will incorporate artificial intelligence/machine learning to match data consumers with repositories, and to monitor system usage.

You will be responsible for the initial design, development, deployment, and ongoing support of this system, and will use data modeling tools to design, build, optimize, and maintain conceptual, logical, and physical data models. You will also work closely with product management and systems engineering teams to fit their capabilities into the larger direction of the overall system. Interested? See what you'll need here.

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