Strategies to Prepare for Every Phase of the September Surge

Get a Jump on Year-End and New Year Hiring Needs

Summer is past, September is in full swing, and many businesses are prepping for a fourth-quarter hiring spree.

New talent can help businesses meet year-end goals, offer support during the busy holiday season or enable companies to get a jump on next year’s initiatives. This annual escalation in hiring, which peaks in September and October, is known as the September hiring surge.

Three Hiring Surge Phases

For HR teams and hiring decision-makers wondering how to prepare for the September surge, this is not a two-month endeavor. There are three phrases to the process, and to find success teams must prepare for each. The following are steps to consider along the way.

Pre-Surge: Understanding Organisational Priorities

Hiring decision-makers should begin by determining their immediate September surge hiring needs.

Companies can do this by reviewing organisational structures to identify open and immediate position gaps that need to be prioritised through the September surge hiring efforts. Planning ahead will provide decision-makers and HR teams the peace of mind and confidence to take full advantage of the hiring season.

For companies requiring talent with niche skills, advance planning will allow sufficient time to source hard-to-find candidates or reach out to a staffing partner to expand their reach.

In the rush to fill open positions, hiring decision-makers can also sometimes overlook important details within their recruitment process. Prior to September surge hiring activity, hiring decision-makers should review and enhance their hiring process to ensure it is efficient and that sought-after candidates are moved through the process quickly to minimise the risk of losing them to a competitor with a tighter process.

This may involve updating job descriptions, confirming benefits and salaries are competitive in the current market, and verifying next steps after a candidate has been offered a position (such as conducting background checks or calling references).

Companies can also consider working with a talent solutions partner to streamline the process from recruitment and hiring through employee productivity. A clean and efficient process, fortified by a strong internal support network, will enable new hires to get up to speed more quickly and become productive contributors faster, which will improve long-term retention.

Mid-Surge: Refining the Recruitment Process

Hiring decision-makers should make sure the candidates they are considering are the best fit for the company’s culture and goals.

One way to do this is to emphasise the company’s employer value proposition (EVP) to all candidates. This makes it easier to touch on topics that are important to candidates, including company culture, employee testimonials and organizational efforts pertaining to diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging. A strong EVP will attract candidates who embrace similar values, which in turn will support retention efforts.

During this phase, hiring decision-makers should also consider the full scope of the candidate’s experience. Too often, employers place an outsized emphasis on hard skills, which can cause them to pass on candidates who may be a great fit.

Instead, consider a candidate’s soft and transferable skills for a better picture of how they may adapt and perform. One survey found that 94% of employers believe that effective skills evaluation is a better predictor of employee success than resumes. Being open to workers with strong soft skills or transferable skill sets can prevent hiring decision-makers from overlooking qualified candidates.

Post-Surge: Planning for the Year Ahead

Once the hiring surge has ended and open positions have been filled, hiring decision-makers should review and assess the season’s hiring activity and plan for next year. Determine what was and was not effective in recruitment efforts and plan to make changes where necessary.

Evaluating the learnings from 2024 will support 2025 September surge hiring effects and strategies. It will provide hiring decision-makers even more time to identify tentative lead time and time-to-hire for highly specialized or niche skillsets. A staffing or talent solutions partner can support you in charting a path forward for planning future contingent workforce needs.

September Surge Support from a Trusted Partner

As hiring decision-makers begin their post-surge analysis, they should consider bringing in a talent solutions partner like Aston Carter.

Aston Carter can help hiring decision-makers think strategically about their hiring goals in the upcoming year, ensuring that hiring efforts support business objectives. Additionally, Aston Carter’s national network of candidates can help employers source specialised talent in accounting and finance and corporate functions, often with a quicker time to hire.

Aston Carter can also support the entire recruitment process through new-hire onboarding. This enables hiring decision-makers to capitalise on the September hiring surge without disturbing day-to-day operations.

Aston Carter is a cost-effective alternative to large consulting firms, and we offer access to the same, if not better, talent to help solve our customers’ business challenges. By building and delivering talent solutions customised to our clients’ unique needs, we help facilitate the successful completion of our clients’ most important projects and initiatives on time and within budget.

Contact us today to learn how we can help find the talent you need during the September surge.