January has a habit of turning “we’ll need someone next year” into “how quickly can they start?”
The budget gets approved. A project moves forward. Someone hands in their notice. Suddenly, a hire that felt months away becomes urgent, and the team is still debating what the person should actually do.
That is where Q4 can make a real difference.
To prepare for hiring in 2027, employers should agree their priority roles, salary budgets, working arrangements, interview process and realistic start dates before Christmas. You do not need to advertise every vacancy immediately. You do need to resolve the decisions that would otherwise hold up recruitment in January.
For businesses hiring across IT, AI, digital and marketing, this is an opportunity to look closely at what the team needs and how hiring decisions are made.
Start with the work that is not getting done
“Who do we need to hire?” sounds like the obvious starting point. A more useful question is: “What can’t we deliver with the team we have?”
Perhaps a software release keeps slipping because senior developers are handling support tickets. Your marketing manager might be expected to run campaigns, manage the website, produce content and report on every channel. Or a director is spending hours on work that should sit elsewhere.
Those problems need different solutions. Replacing a job title from last year’s organisation chart may leave the underlying issue untouched.
Before approving a vacancy, write down:
- The work this person will take ownership of.
- What should improve within their first six months.
- What will happen if you leave the role unfilled.
- Whether the gap calls for a permanent hire, temporary support or development within the existing team.
This gives you a stronger brief and a clearer reason for spending the money.
Separate urgent hires from expensive problems
The loudest request for headcount is not necessarily the most important.
A vacant role in one team might be inconvenient. A missing specialist in another could delay a customer launch, leave a manager stretched or prevent the business from taking on new work.
For each proposed hire, consider the cost of waiting. Use figures where you have them, such as overtime, contractor spend or delayed delivery. Where you do not, describe the operational impact honestly.
Then agree which roles need attention first.
A useful test is: If we could make only one hire in the first quarter of 2027, which would remove the biggest obstacle?
That conversation can reveal more than a spreadsheet full of requested vacancies.
Agree what “good” looks like before reviewing CVs
A hiring manager wants someone who can do the job. Their director wants somebody who can grow into a leadership role. Another interviewer prioritises experience in a particular industry.
All reasonable views. But unless they are discussed beforehand, candidates can end up being assessed against three different jobs.
Decide which requirements are essential, which can be learned and which are preferences. Then agree what evidence you need to see.
If stakeholder communication matters, ask candidates to explain a difficult technical decision to a non-technical audience. If you need someone to improve campaign performance, discuss how they diagnosed and addressed an underperforming campaign.
“Strong communicator” and “commercially minded” are easy to put in a job description. They become useful only when interviewers know how to assess them.
David Berwick, Director at Adria Solutions:
“I’d encourage employers to spend more time agreeing the brief before they start looking at CVs. If different people have different expectations, a good candidate can be rejected for a requirement that was never properly discussed. Decide what the person needs to deliver, then work back to the experience and skills that matter.”
Check whether your budget matches your brief
A salary budget is not much use if it only attracts candidates who cannot meet the expectations attached to the role.
Before Christmas, sense-check the package against comparable positions and speak to a specialist recruiter about the brief. Include location, office attendance, responsibilities and the level of experience you need.
If the budget and requirements do not align, make a decision now. Could you hire someone with development potential? Reduce the scope? Adjust the working arrangements? Increase the budget?
Advertising the same role repeatedly will not resolve that mismatch.
Also agree who can approve an offer and whether there is any flexibility within the salary range. You should not be working out your maximum budget for the first time when a strong candidate is waiting for an answer.
Make flexible working a decision, not a negotiation
“Hybrid working available” can mean very different things to different people.
Does the person need to attend the office twice a week? Are those fixed days? Will onboarding require more time on site? Can someone living further away apply?
Confirm the arrangement before you advertise it. Candidates should be able to understand what they are committing to, and interviewers should give the same answer.
Look at whether each requirement serves a practical purpose. If office attendance is essential for collaboration, training or customer contact, explain that clearly.
An unclear policy creates avoidable conversations late in the process, especially when a candidate has applied on one understanding and receives an offer on another.
Fix the stage where your recruitment process gets stuck
You may not need a completely new hiring process for 2027. You may need to fix one recurring delay.
Look back at your recent searches. Where did progress stall?
Perhaps CVs waited several days for review. Interview feedback arrived separately, with nobody responsible for pulling it together. Or an extra decision-maker appeared just before the offer.
Choose a specific improvement. Agree a deadline for shortlist feedback, reserve interview slots or nominate one person to coordinate decisions.
Keep assessments proportionate, too. Before asking a candidate to complete a task, be clear about what it will tell you that an interview cannot.
“Before adding another interview, ask what you still need to find out. If you can name the concern, you can design a useful conversation around it. If you can’t, another stage may simply delay a decision without making it a better one.”
Work backwards from the start date
If you need someone contributing in February, starting the search in February is already too late.
Work backwards through onboarding, the candidate’s notice period, offer approval, interviews and sourcing. Notice periods vary, so build the plan around the likely circumstances of the role rather than assuming everyone can start immediately.
For a business-critical vacancy, Q4 may be the right time to begin recruitment. For a later hire, completing the brief and securing approvals before Christmas may be enough.
The aim is to make a deliberate choice about timing.
What should your 2027 hiring plan include?
Keep it short enough that people will actually use it. For each priority role, record:
- Why the hire is needed and what success looks like.
- The essential skills and experience.
- The approved salary range and working arrangements.
- The hiring manager and final decision-maker.
- The interview stages and assessment criteria.
- The target start date and planned recruitment start date.
A useful hiring plan should make it easier to act when January arrives.
Q4 gives you time to challenge an overloaded role, resolve conflicting expectations and remove delays while the vacancy is still a plan rather than an emergency.
At Adria Solutions, we help employers recruit across IT, technology, digital, marketing, AI and data. If you are planning to hire in 2027, a conversation before Christmas can help you sense-check your requirements, package and recruitment timeline.
You do not need every answer about the year ahead. You do need agreement on the decisions that will allow your next hire to move forward.
