In my experience, November, December and January have always been the worst of the worst as far as number of candidates in my funnel. But I take heart in the fact that very soon all of the year-end bonuses will be paid out and relocation weather will be here (in the Midwest).

What do you do in January that helps you get through the last of the annual dry spell? How do you attract qualified candidates this time of year? I make a checklist of things that really help build credibility and the candidate funnel.

1. Clean up your existing database of candidates. Remember that Holiday Greeting you sent out in December? Use the information garnered from that exercise to update your notes, email addresses, phone numbers in your database so they are current when you really need them.
2. Establish or update your personal metrics. Old saying I tend to live by: “If you want to improve it, track it!” Whether it be exercise logs, food diaries, expense tracking, or candidates hired, tracking progress in those areas that are key to your success are very important.
3. Sharpen the Saw. Stephen Covey is one of my favorite time-management evangelists and every January I take a look at my personal mission statement and planner and tweak it to reflect my current situation and roles.
4. Reconnect with your network. The holidays are over and its time to get back on the social media circuit. Remember that key contact you met at a holiday 401(k) mixer? Enter her information in your contact database and see if she is on any of your social networking sites– its now or never.
5. Clean out your desk. Check the record-keeping policies at your company and dump the old stuff. Plus, how many salt packets and straws do you need anyway?

This is just a list of the big rocks that I hit every January. If you have any key tasks that help you gear up for the year ahead, I’d love to hear about them.