Ethics in the field of hiring, staffing and recruitment is based on a combination of things and depends on who is actually involved in the hiring process.

Certainly the job searcher, hiring manager and recruiter are just three possible people involved in a hiring decision.

As a recruiter, I try my best to gauge the truthfulness of comments by both job searchers and hiring managers and they presumably are gauging my truthfulness as well.

Commonly, job searchers often lie about various aspects of their resume ie. their salary, why they left their last job, their job responsibilities, their educational achievements, etc.

Hiring managers might lie about why they are looking to hire a new person ie. they might lie about why the previous person left the job they are trying to fill (if the last person who held the job was fired for something embarrassing like having an office affair or something like that, do you think the hiring manager will tell you the truth about why the person was fired? Me neither). Similarly a hiring manager probably won’t tell you that the previous person quit the job because they were bored or because they thought their manager was a jerk either.

A recruiter needs to find the truth and often needs to read between the lines of comments that are made to them by either the job searcher or the hiring manger.

Similarly some recruiters aren’t always capable of telling the truth 100% of the time either. Recruiters often have a reputation not much better than a used car salesman – no offense to used car salesmen – and sometimes it’s not difficult to see why.

Whether you’re a job searcher looking for a job, a hiring manager looking to fill a job, or a recruiter looking for a job searcher to fill a job, the truth tends to come out one way or the other.

As a recruiter, I have a hard time working with people I can’t trust and I’m usually a pretty good judge of character. I tell the truth when working with job searchers and hiring managers alike and I expect them to do the same.

There are plenty of honest job searchers, hiring managers and recruiters out there and life is just too short to waste time with people who aren’t trustworthy.

One of the biggest myths in job searching is that “no one hires in December” or that hiring comes to a complete halt during certain time of the year ie. summer, Christmas, early new year.

Certainly things can slow down during these times as people are on holiday mode, offices shut down for days at a time, and people might work shorter hours. This doesn’t mean people aren’t hiring though.

Take this time of the year right now: Who tends to have their best sales results during November and December with the holiday season coming up?

Here are a few:

1. Catering companies and restaurants: Think of all the holiday parties and lunches that companies and individuals go to and all of this adds up to a lot of business for caterers and restaurateurs which also means more staff is often required. Some of them might be hiring.

2. Retailers: Could this be more obvious? How many retailers make it or break it during the Christmas season? How many retailers in your area are hiring because they need the staff for the Christmas rush?

3. Entertainment and other related employers: DJs, comedians, photographers, singers and other entertainers often find themselves busier during December, possibly they’re hiring. If you have the skills, you might even find a way to do this work yourself! Short of that, maybe your local mall needs to hire a Santa or an elf?!

Are you looking for a new job, a temporary job or are you just looking to earn some extra money? Think about the types of companies mentioned above and see if any of them might offer you an opportunity to make some more money when these companies tend to be hiring. Your best bet is to get started looking now in October and not wait until the last minute.

And remember that the Christmas season isn’t the only time of year that some companies in other industries hire because their busy season might occur at a different time.

Granted, the economy is still iffy and many companies might be holding off hiring people and you’re probably going to be competing with more people for fewer jobs.

In that case, you might consider a temporary job that doesn’t involve you getting paid:

Not for profit: Soup kitchens and other not for profit organizations often need help at this time of the year especially for those of us who live in the north and who get cold, snowy winters and when being homeless is especially tough. You might not get paid with money but it might help someone else’s life and it might also help you realize that your life is pretty good afterall.