Why Christmas is secretly the best time to interview

Christmas hiring feels a bit counterintuitive, doesn’t it. Everything is winding down, people are thinking about what they are cooking for dinner rather than what they are doing for work, and it can feel easier to just park hiring until January.

The funny thing is, that quieter stretch before Christmas, and the calm little window between Christmas and New Year, is often the best time to talk to people. Not because anyone is desperate to rush a decision through, but because the noise drops and real conversations get a chance to happen.

Here is what I mean.

You beat the January madness

January is when the market properly wakes up. People come back with fresh goals, recruiters go from zero to one hundred overnight, and job boards fill up fast.

If you interview in December, you get ahead of that curve. You are not competing with every other role that lands in the first two weeks of the year. Your vacancy gets more breathing room, and good candidates are not spread thin across ten different processes.

It is a quieter lane to do something properly.

People are calmer and can actually give you proper time

Work tends to soften in December. Projects slow, clients disappear, internal deadlines shift, and people have a bit more oxygen.

That doesn’t mean they are not busy. It just means they are not in the same constant sprint. They are less likely to be squeezing you into a stressed out lunch break with one eye on Teams. When someone joins an interview from a calmer place, you get a clearer version of them. They are more present, the chat is less rushed, and you both get a better feel for whether it clicks.

Having holiday makes interviewing so much easier

One of the biggest practical wins is simple. People have annual leave to use.

So instead of that awkward dance of trying to hide a midweek interview behind a dentist appointment, they can just book time when they are off or when work is quieter. No stress, no guilt, no rushed video call from a car park.

It makes interviewing feel normal, which is exactly what you want.

You catch people in reflection mode

Christmas does something useful to people. It forces a bit of pause.

Most of us end up reflecting on the year without even realising it. What went well, what didn’t, what we want next, and whether we are still growing where we are.

So when you are interviewing someone in December, they are often coming to the conversation with more clarity. Not a spur of the moment decision, but a properly thought through one.

That usually leads to better fits on both sides.

You look decisive and start the new year ahead

There is something quietly reassuring about a company that keeps moving in December. Not in a frantic way, just in a confident, intentional way.

Candidates notice when a business is clear on what it needs and can run a sensible, human process without dragging things out. It builds momentum and trust. It also means you hit January ready, with the hard part already done, while other companies are still working out what they want to hire for.

The bottom line

Interviewing around Christmas is one of those quietly smart moves.

You avoid the January scramble.
You get candidates who can give you proper time.
You have more thoughtful conversations.
You start the new year already ahead.

So if you are hiring and tempted to hit pause until January, it might be worth doing the opposite. Keep the door open. Keep talking. The right people are often more available than you expect right now.

Right, I’m off for Celebrations for breakfast and a Baileys coffee. Festive and productive.