Early applications catch the recruiter's eye

When is the best time of year to look for a new job? The banks' busiest hiring period is always January-April, so logic might suggest job-seekers should wait until just before then.

But that may be too late. Both investment banks and headhunters say that with the summer lull over, September and October are the right time for job seekers to send out their CVs if they want to move in the New Year.

Tim Sheffield, chief executive of the headhunter Sheffield Haworth, said: 'Now is the time to put your CV around. Budgets are being looked at for next year and employers are preparing to interview people, in the knowledge that the selection process could take three of four months to complete.'

John Jessen, of the search firm Smith and Jessen in Frankfurt, says September is the ideal month for candidates to approach potential employers: 'Make yourself known now, and plant seeds for interviews in November and December.' Some of the most important conversations about hiring take place inside banks in September, he says.

After a dead summer hiring season, cynics could argue headhunters are merely out to garner extra CVs to revive their own fortunes. But banks confirm that early applications make sense.

The hiring cycle is determined by the timing of annual bonus payouts. Large US banks typically pay bonuses in December, with other banks following in the months to March.

As a result, staff typically stay put until bonuses have been paid. At that stage other banks are willing to hire them as they will not have to 'buy out' part of a year's bonus, which they may have to do if they hire in the autumn.

Frank Varela, managing director of the headhunter Longbridge, said about 65% of the firm's financial services revenues are earned in the first quarter of every year. 'Banks tend to hire in the first quarter for financial reasons. It means they don't have to buy out bonuses.'

A recruiter at a European bank said: 'Right now, we will not be buying out a senior fixed income guy with a bonus of 300,000 which will be paid in December. But we are looking to see CVs, conduct interviews, and get contracts in place so that he can move as soon as that bonus is in his pocket.'

Back office staff on smaller packages may also benefit from ratcheting up their job search over the coming weeks. The recruiter said: 'For lower level staff, this is the time when we are reviewing our headcount for next year. Now is a good time to appear on our radar screen.'

Job seekers also seem to believe there is an advantage in early applications. Sean Springer, chief executive of the search firm Napier Scott, said he received 140 applications in one day for 10 new job advertisements at the start of September. 'This was more than we got in the whole of August put together.'