This is the #1 week for not giving a sh*t about hiring, according to Google.

Sorry, no one here who cares about that. Credit: Phil Gyford

It’s been quiet at Drafted this week. Too quiet. You see, we make a referral app that turns hiring into a team sport, but this week nobody is home to hear about it.

Site traffic is down, email clicks are non-existent, and I’m convinced we’re sending tweets into an echo-chamber.

Rather than send more unopened emails or write another post about why you should keep hiring in December, I decided to face the facts: Or at least go look for them. What I found out was awesome.

It turns out that, across the board, this is the #1 week to not give a sh*t about hiring, according to Google Trends.

All those green arrows below are this week (a.k.a. the week before Christmas) over the past 4 years. When it comes to thinking (and searching) about human resources, no one is spending any time on it this week.

Here’s the search: https://goo.gl/SFEqVW

And Google Trends shows us that no one is searching about talent acquisition or people operations this week, either.

Here’s the search: https://goo.gl/a42tdP

Ok, so maybe HR & talent leaders aren’t googling themselves over the holidays. But surely, they must be planning ahead for the New Year this week? Google says no.

Here’s the search: https://goo.gl/VZM3ow

Ok, maybe they’re looking for qualified candidates to fill the pipeline? No again. No one’s even thinking about LinkedIn this week.

Here’s the search: https://goo.gl/iYBONr

After seeing this tremendous drop in search volume for HR and talent related topics; I decided to make sure that the entire internet didn’t suffer from search doldrums before the holidays, so I checked a popular search: Google.

Here’s the search: https://goo.gl/58Q36I

It turns out that people are still enjoying the internet this week, even a bit more than usual! So where are recruiters, talent leaders, and hiring managers hanging out online this week?

Here’s one possibility (and I don’t blame them, that’s where a lot of us are): Facebook.

Here’s the search: https://goo.gl/XrQFBA

Like many of us, this week is likely a time full of packing, memories, vacation, travel, family, friends (and perhaps a bit of panic) for HR and talent leaders. And that’s not a bad thing.

Two Takeaways…

For HR & Talent Leaders

Sure it’s fun to see the ebbs and flows of hiring trends, but what do any of these trends mean for hiring leaders? The biggest takeaway is probably that it’s time to join your colleagues and relax a bit.

Or, this week could be a great time to start your 2017 planning.

Since I was surprised to see such a drop in the search terms that fuel the hiring industry, I wanted to see when volume picked back up.

It was no surprise that the term hiring has it’s most significant annual uptick in the first week of January, when HR and talent leaders are back in the office and ready to tackle the New Year.

Here’s the search: https://goo.gl/RTe0KX

But recruiting (the art of actually hiring those people) takes the cake: Search trends for recruiting spike to their apex in the first week of February, like clockwork. This is when talent leaders and hiring managers need to get down to brass tacks, and figure out how to actually hire more teammates.

Here’s the search: https://goo.gl/GBVfyI

One useful way to get ahead of the competition this holiday season, is to get ahead of the trends.

Speed and knowledge are your competitive advantage:

• Set goals for your “first onsite interview” day after the New Year.
• Make sure your hiring teams are prepared to interview new candidates.
• Know what sourcing and recruiting tools you will you use next year to help you hire.

For companies who serve HR & Talent Leaders

As a member of the HR Tech community, and a marketer, these trends offer me a great reminder:

The best teams market and sell with their customers, not against them.

After all, you are in business to make customers successful and happy, not to push your agenda every chance you get. During the high-season, be your customer’s biggest supporters. Create content and products that make them incredible at their job. During low-season, like this week, reflect and plan. Learn from your successes and mistakes — and take a pledge to be more valuable every New Year, than you were the last.

And if you’re still in the office, dreaming about tools that will help you hire better in 2017, get in touch with Drafted. Our calendar’s open.

This post was also posted on the Drafted blog, with fewer expletives.