MIDDLE EAST MOLE: Now is the perfect time to start looking for a new job

Now that you've placed the Christmas jumpers back in the wardrobe for another year, it's time to look at your targets for 2011. No problem, right? You have a great plan in place, solid clients and 12 months to achieve them.

Except...over here in the GCC, now we're well into January, the reality is that you really only have six months left to get things done!

In the West, the ever-grinding financial services machine (except for August and December) means it's perfectly feasible for the budget to only be half achieved by June, and still hit your targets by year-end.

Over here, though, as temperatures creep over 45 degrees during the summer months, bankers hop on a plane to more clement climes from June to August. Then there's the holy month of Ramadan, where the shutters close once again - but this year it looks like coinciding with August, therefore avoiding spilling over into September as it has previously.

Throw in Eid al-Fitr, Eid al-Adha and a sleuth of national days, and you pretty much have no material continuous period of work before hitting December, when the region starts shutting down again.

Seasoned bankers massage the budget and play with the pipeline to ensure they are off to a good start in January (things are slightly different for PE/AM guys). New blood arriving into the region typically has a nasty shock when they realise that H2 tends to be very tough and that if they are not 75% there by June, they've effectively blown their chances of a large bonus.

There is of course a silver lining: recruitment. Compounded by the traditional post Q1 bonus pay-outs, the game of musical chairs can get quite frantic over here, as most employers, candidates and recruiters know that 75% of hiring action will be done by June.

Right now is when you have the best chance of landing the most lucrative jobs out there, but you need to be prepared.

By now, seasoned bankers (+12 years of experience) are working their network hard, sniffing out which institutions are rolling out new strategies or products; entering new markets or replacing critical defections. Junior guys, meanwhile, should be in close contact with recruiters (something they should do throughout the year as a matter of course anyway).

In either case, have an action plan. Most jobs will be up for grabs in H1, but there are still far more people chasing opportunities than are available. Decide what area and institutions you want to focus on, figure out what positions there are available, what kind of individuals they're looking for and who you know there.

It pays to invest time in growing and strengthening your network (always, not just when you want a job) and doing your homework ahead of a job search. A handful of well-targeted approaches are likely to be considerably more successful than mass CV spamming in landing that great opportunity, rather than just another parking spot until next year... but more on this soon.

Jamal Bahir (a pseudonym) is seasoned senior private equity and investment management industry veteran based in the Middle East and Europe. He is an advisor to several ruling and trading families from the Middle East, as well as select European governments and private equity funds, advising on their investment, financial and regional political strategy. The author may be reached on jamal.bahir@gmail.com.