Fall is often a good time to get a job, but this year it's tricky

• Fall can bring a surge in hiring, but a drop in available jobs could jeopardize big gains.
• Unemployment remains low, but job openings in the US are at their lowest since early 2021.

The September surge might turn out to be a sputter.

In years past, hiring has often picked up in the fall as vacations wind down and some companies look to staff up heading into a busy holiday season.

But for some people hoping to land a job in the final stretch of 2024, it's proving tricky.

John Mullinix, head of growth marketing at the job site Ladders, told Business Insider that in areas like manufacturing, healthcare, and construction, there are fewer openings than some labor market experts had forecast.

"In a lot of those industries, there were predicted gains. They seem to be slowing down, and that's creating fewer job openings," he said.

Already, job openings in the US are hovering at their lowest level since early 2021, and many employers are taking their time bringing on new people. While that sluggish pace of hiring is making the fall feel less robust than in some years, Mullinix said there are steps job seekers can take to stand out.

That's welcome news because a job search can drag on for many months. In fact, the number of job seekers who get their next role within three months is down 14% in 2024 compared with 2022, according to Live Data Technologies, which provides real-time employment figures.

Mullinix noted that some employers are shifting to contract and freelance work to avoid taking on the cost of a full-time worker who would get benefits.

Of course, the overall unemployment rate remains low, and there are still areas where employers can't find the talent they need. Plus, parts of the economy could further heat up, particularly after the Federal Reserve's decision to cut interest rates for the first time in four years following an effort to stamp out high inflation.

Startups could give a boost

Atli Thorkelsson, who helps startups recruit at the venture capital firm Redpoint Ventures, told BI that he expects startup hiring will prove "pretty active" for the second half of 2024.

"I'm hearing a lot from recruiting firms that they're super busy," he said, adding, "I'm seeing an uptick in search requests coming from our founders as well."

Thorkelsson said hiring at startups began to pick up last September and that for many small companies, growth was cautious but notable in terms of demand for people.

Yet, in other corners of the economy, employers' wariness is winning out — for now. That's causing some to list fewer job openings.

"Companies are being more cautious," Mullinix said.

One challenge is that with fewer openings, the number of applicants per role can stack up, he said. That can make it harder for job seekers, of course, and for recruiters who have to sift through a pile of applications. Big companies, in particular, tend to use software to sort résumés. A high number of applicants can lead to some tough decisions, Mullinix said.

Recruiters are "screening a little bit harder so they don't have to go through 1,000 applications," he said, adding, "Realistically, they wouldn't be able to do that in a day."

And though the unemployment rate is low, that doesn't mean that only those without work are thumbing through job listings.

"Even the people that are currently in jobs are not happy with the jobs that they have," Mullinix said. He said inflation has left some workers upset that their wages haven't always kept up with expenses.

Now, as people are staying in jobs longer than only a couple of years ago during the so-called Great Resignation, some of them are getting antsy, he said.

"The problem is you have job seekers that are both employed and then unemployed, searching at the same time in a market where the supply is down and the demand is up," Mullinix said.

That's especially true with high-paying jobs, he said.

Don't shotgun it, but don't hold back too much

Mullinix said it's possible to both apply to too many jobs — and not enough. He said the bulk approach of going for every job where applying is a single click often isn't as effective because so many people end up vying for the same role.

Instead, he said, it's wise to be more deliberate and choose the ones you might be best qualified for. Also, do the tedious work of filling out applications that aren't one click, Mullinix said. That often means wading through clunky software interfaces.

"That's the same process everybody else has to go through," he said. "That's going to cut out some candidates right there, and that's going to be a less competitive job."

And just because the job title in a posting might be different from one you've had before, it's often still a good idea to apply if you have the right skills and qualifications, Mullinix said.

"Companies name things 100 different ways," he said.

Mullinix said that given how unpleasant the search process can be, it's understandable that job seekers would gravitate toward the easiest method for applying.

"Online job seeking is just not the most fun activity," he said, noting that it tends to rank poorly in surveys. "It's pretty much next to being divorced on a scale of enjoyability."