For senior marketers, communications leaders, and commercially minded brand professionals, the decision to change roles is rarely casual. Timing influences the quality of opportunities available, your negotiating position, your ability to shape strategy, and often your bonus cycle as well. There is a natural rhythm to the hiring market. Understanding it allows you to plan a move deliberately, rather than reacting to whatever appears on the market.
At Radial, we see similar patterns play out each year across professional services, financial services, asset management, education, and growth businesses. The detail shifts, but the rhythm does not. The 2026 market already reflects this cycle.
Understanding the Hiring Rhythm
Many people begin their search in January and assume that timing alone guarantees momentum. In reality, hiring cycles move in line with budgets, planning cycles, and leadership availability.
What creates traction is understanding when organisations are ready to move, when decision-makers have both the budget and the headspace to prioritise hiring. Candidates who have taken time to clarify what they want for their next role at this point, are better placed to influence conversations and take advantage of new opportunities.
Those who enter the market at the right moment tend to shape discussions, rather than arrive halfway through them.
Hiring Momentum Across the Year
Conventionally, there are periods in the calendar when hiring activity naturally intensifies. Momentum often builds from mid-January through February, once budgets are finalised, plans are agreed, and leadership teams are ready to act. Senior marketing roles at this stage are typically clearly scoped and commercially anchored. In financial and professional services, this period often follows bonus cycles, increasing leadership-level movement.
A second lift commonly appears in September and October, as organisations plan for the year ahead and look to have senior marketers in place ahead of strategic reviews. Roles at this point are frequently focused on shaping future direction rather than maintaining the status quo.
However, in 2026 these traditional patterns matter less than they once did. AI adoption, skills-based hiring, regulatory change, and shifting growth priorities mean roles are increasingly created in response to live business needs rather than fixed annual cycles. Teams are redesigning roles as strategies evolve, not waiting for a specific quarter to act.
For candidates, this means opportunity is no longer confined to Q1 or Q3. Those who understand the hiring rhythm and stay engaged with the market throughout the year are better placed to move when the right role emerges, not simply when the calendar suggests they should.
Navigating the Summer and Winter Lulls
Hiring rarely stops, but it does slow. From June through August, decision-making becomes more fragmented as senior leaders take leave. Processes take longer and urgency often drops. This can still be a valuable period to position yourself, speak with insightful peers, and refine your story without the pressure of being in a live hiring process.
November and December can also feel quiet for permanent opportunities as organisations focus on year-end priorities. However, this is often the most active period for interim and consultancy roles. Businesses still need to deliver, even when permanent headcount is paused, and strong commercial marketing leadership remains in demand.
Sector Nuances Matter
Different sectors peak at different times. Creative and marketing-led environments often align hiring with campaign cycles, creating more movement in the first and third quarters. Corporate and administrative functions tend to hire sharply from January onwards once financial planning concludes. Retail and hospitality recruit heavily ahead of trading peaks.
Understanding your sector’s rhythm helps you judge your moment more effectively.
Prepare Before the Market Peaks
Candidates who perform best are typically those who prepare early. Ideally, your profile, CV, and positioning are ready before the market accelerates. That means being clear on the value you deliver, the environments where you perform best, and the kind of leadership mandate you want next. It also means updating your profile with 2026-relevant language and clear, quantifiable impact.
Working with a specialist headhunter gives earlier visibility of roles, particularly those that are never advertised publicly. Many of the strongest opportunities never reach job boards at all.
Interim and Project Work Still Counts
If your search coincides with a quieter period for permanent hiring, interim or project-based roles can be an effective bridge. They keep you visible, relevant, and commercially active while the permanent market catches up. Many senior interim assignments convert into permanent leadership roles once the interim candidate’s value has been demonstrated.
Final Thought
Success in the 2026 job market is less about frantic activity and more about rhythm. The quieter months are an opportunity to prepare, reflect, and position yourself so that when momentum builds, you are ready to act.
This is also the moment to sense-check your direction with an experienced partner. A conversation with Radial can help you understand how the market is moving, where your experience will have the greatest impact, and how to time your next move with confidence.
The strongest decisions happen when energy, clarity, and market timing intersect. Understanding the hiring cycle, and having the right guidance around it, shortens the distance between where you are now and the role that genuinely fits.
READ MORE:
Career Group Companies. (2025, November 11). The best time of year to look for a new job. Career Advice. https://www.careergroupcompanies.com/blog/the-best-time-of-year-to-look-for-a-new-job
Ec, K. D. S. C. (2025, December 16). A look back on the 2025 job market and how to prepare for 2026. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/karadennison/2025/12/16/a-look-back-on-the-2025-job-market-and-how-to-prepare-for-2026/
Jobylon. (2026, January 12). 6 Trends Shaping hiring and workforce planning in 2026. Jobylon. https://www.jobylon.com/blog/trends-shaping-hiring-and-workforce-planning-in-2026?utm_source=chatgpt.com
Guys, I. (2025, August 11). The Seasonal Hiring Patterns Analysis Report: Best and Worst Times to Job Search Across 20+ Industries with Success Rate Data – The Interview Guys. The Interview Guys. https://blog.theinterviewguys.com/the-seasonal-hiring-patterns-analysis-report
