BOSTON - BostonChron -- "It is the tail end of spring, and for most people, summer is one of the best times of the year. There is an unspoken collective agreement that from June to the first couple of weeks in September, it's socially acceptable to downshift and take it easy", says Lynn Bentley, President of Knobull.

For job hunters, the summer isn't the most opportune time to seek new employment, as it becomes challenging to interview. After a while, there is a consensus to slow-walk hiring and focus only on high-priority recruitment.

There May Be Some Turbulence

The weekly jobless claims, reported by the Department of Labor on Thursday, reflect a noticeable uptick in unemployment benefits.

The number of Americans filing initial unemployment claims jumped to a 1 1/2-year high, signifying a cooling job market. New claims for state unemployment benefits surged 22,000 to 264,000 for the week ended May 6, the highest reported since October 2021.

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Economists aren't sure if this week's initial claims data involved some sort of fluke or not, but they think they're the highest since October 2021. If they stay here, continuing claims will go up further.

Take Action Now

Since time is of the essence, put aside any distractions. You can make up for the missed engagements in August when hiring slows to a crawl.

Start by listing the companies you'd like to work for. Ask around if anyone knows someone who works at the company and can give you a robust recommendation. Update your résumé, tighten your LinkedIn profile using JobStars or brush up a key skill with an edX course, that can accessed at the Knobull homepage, and clean up your social media footprint.

Put together an elevator pitch, practice role-playing interview questions and clean your best clothes for in-person and video interviews.  Go to job boards that cater to your field, online career sites of companies you want to apply to and make yourself seen on LinkedIn.

Bentley concluded, "Attend industry-specific meetups, conferences and events. Now is not the time to be shy. Reach out and introduce yourself to people in the hopes that they can turn you on to a job lead because internal hiring remains the top preference for employers"