Bonus season can really get the mental gears turning for a lot of people, both on the hiring side, and those in the job roles. But the money itself is rarely why...

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Hi, this is Stephanie Maas partner with Thinking Ahead search firm.

Today I want to talk to you about one of my favorite times of the year.

It's bonus time!

So the majority of my candidates are getting their big annual bonuses in the next 60 to 90 days and it is a major time for folks to decide what they're gonna do.

It's also a time when hiring managers who have been courting candidates Look up and say, okay, I've been talking to that guy for four months.

Is he coming over?

He got it.

He said he was waiting for his bonus.

Is he coming?

If he does, great.

If not, we get a call.

I have hiring managers that say, hey, we can't pay huge sign ons.

So we'll just wait till they get their bonus and then we'll recruit him over.

So I get a lot of calls then, too.

It's a very exciting time.

Over the next couple weeks, we're gonna see the culmination of those activities.

Come to a head at the same time.

Be mindful.

This is also the time of the year where there are a lot of surprises.

Candidates you've been courting that you thought for sure were coming on board, suddenly decide to stay with their current organization, or even worse, go with one of your competitors.

Hiring leaders are always surprised by a resignation they didn't expect or didn't see coming.

But what exactly does it mean for you?

I feel like this time of the year, you're really going to be faced with one of three choices about what to do at bonus time.

First choice, you worked hard.

You hit your goals.

Guys, let's be honest.

If you are in that camp, you need to celebrate.

Go home, get the bottle of bubbly, bring the flowers or the box of chocolate or whatever works for your significant other, and celebrate it.

This is what it's about.

If you're not in that camp, you worked hard, you hit your goals, but for whatever reason, the bonus was a little bit, let's say, a little bit disappointing.

I do get a lot of knee jerk reaction calls during that and they say, gosh, you know, I did this and I did that and they promised me X, but they only delivered Y.

You and I both know people don't make moves solely for money.

And I think if you find yourself in this situation, you really got to take a deeper look at all the other factors around your current career placement to decide, Hey, is this just disappointing and we need to suck our thumb for a couple minutes and then get back at it.

Or, is this really part of a bigger problem, and whatever you decide to do, make sure it's based on principle decision making.

For some of you, you're going to fall into the latter category, and I hope you've already called me.

And that's the category you say, you know what?

This was the straw, I'm the camel, I've had enough, and I'm out of here.

If that's truly you, and this was the final straw, please give me a call, let me know what I can do to help.

If you're not sure which camp to be in, you're not sure what the market bears, what, what is realistic, what's to be expected, call or email.

You know I'm always happy to help.