how to interview at years-end

press the gas or wait until next year?

Cameron Murray
December 12, 2025

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before i kick off this weeks candidate/role highlights + recruiting thought, i wanted to invite my audience here to check out this post on my linkedin. if you’re able to, i’d love it if you gave $25 to this project i’m working on to get 200+ jackets to folks currently living on the streets in my immediate community.

Donate to Warm Jackets for Our Homeless Neighbors, organized by Cameron Murray

What's up LinkedIn fam - I'd like your help buying jackets for roughly 200 folk… Cameron Murray needs your support for Warm Jackets for Our Homeless Neighbors

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OK! BACK TO IT

open role: strategic account executive

series b, $50m in funding, $30m in revenue
25 employees companywide, 8 in sales
selling to eng. leaders at majors & up

interested? email me

active candidate: head of demand gen

managing $90m in pipeline commit, $20m+ in annual revenue
prefers technical buyers and complex products
scaled teams from series a to series c, 3x

want to chat with them? email me

my 2 cents: how to interview at years-end

the dos and don'ts of hiring & interviewing during the holidays

every year i see the same pattern with both clients and candidates… november rolls around and it all screeches to a halt.

you needed a job yesterday, but you’re unavailable for 7 days because of dry turkey.

you needed to hire in q2 but you won’t treat it like a priority in q4.

we want it all now but we’re unwilling to make it happen until 2026. so what do we do?

hiring managers:

i get you’re busy. you’re at max capacity and taking another 45 minute call with a possible dud just doesn’t feel worth it. so you punt it. but it’s not a great week for them so you punt it again.

or let’s say you wrap a killer interview this afternoon and you want to move them forward. instead of waiting until monday to message your coordinator to message the candidate to ask about availability… why not just email the candidate within the hour and suggest a time for monday? rather than allowing a week+ to move the ball forward, step on it. if you can move with a steady pace and slight urgency, you’ll beat your competition not by days, but by weeks.

if a candidate is active and serious about their search, they’re not just sitting around waiting for your interview process. they’re talking to multiple companies.

“but we’re special” ha - ok

you have to be honest with yourself. your product might be great. your team might be top tier. you might be a great lead. but at the end of the day, you’re not the only one. there are others. you need to assume candidates are talking to them and act accordingly.

i know the holidays are a lot both personally and professionally. q4 is always a full plate but what you need to understand is that if you have someone in process today and they’re still in process on christmas day, you’re moving way too slow and losing candidates because of it.

take your search seriously.

take action and move with haste.

set expectations, set fast timelines, and stick to them.

it should never take you more than 3 weeks to move someone from start to finish in your loop. i get that life happens and q4 and christmas are both full, but you have the time and if your opp is worth pursuing, candidates will find the time as well.

remember, your competition wants to beat you to the punch. don’t let them.

candidates:

same rule applies. you might be great. you may even be top tier. but there’s always another candidate that’s better, available sooner, and a bit cheaper. it’s not about comparison and it’s certainly not about shorting yourself. it’s about realizing the job and the hiring manager aren’t waiting around for your convenience. act accordingly.

if you want to be the top candidate, act like it. and part of acting like it, is scheduling like one. if you get asked for your availability on a tuesday, why are you offering times for the next week? if you’re able and willing to accept an offer by end of year, let them know (help set expectations).

“i’d really love to have an offer in hand before i go offline for the holidays. is that a timeline you’re able to operate in?”

“i’m actively interviewing with a few other orgs and i’m hoping to have a decision before christmas”

“i know it’s the holidays and things are a bit crazy, so what timeline are you thinking for a decision on this?”

be proactive with setting expectations and be willing/able to act accordingly. if you’re in process right now, you have to be intentional about ensuring any roadblocks that come up in scheduling have nothing to do with you. make the time. move things around. be willing to take calls a bit earlier or later than you normally would.

should you rush into things? no

should you drag your feet? hell no

it’s all a balancing act and i wish i had the perfect formula but at the end of the day it’s not that hard. you just have to be willing to be slightly inconvenienced for your own benefit.

TLDR:

we’re all busy, but sometimes we need an “oh shoot” moment to kick us into gear so we can stay in the running.

if you’d rather take a relaxed approach to interviewing and hiring for the remainder of the year, be my guest. but don’t be surprised when that job or candidate are gone come january first. the last 3 christmases i’ve closed deals between the 25th and 30th, all of which had competing offers. a large part of why they won was timing.

chop chop.

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