When to look (and apply) for a new job always involves guesswork. While iOS developer jobs will always be available, we can determine which times of year are best suited for finding your next new iOS-related job. The data in our chart below was pulled directly from the Dice database of jobs. While there’s a significant dip in the chart in Q4 2017, the actual number of jobs available didn’t drop dramatically. Overall, there’s a delta of a few hundred jobs between the lowest and highest points on our chart. But total job availability doesn’t tell the entire story. We see total job postings for job titles fluctuate on a routine basis. This data only represents the job title “iOS Developer.” Other job titles, such as “iOS Architect,” are less popular, but do add to the overall number of iOS jobs posted on Dice. Per the chart above, we see movement at key times in the iOS development cycle. The first and third quarters of each year tend to see more iOS developer jobs posted, which we can directly correlate to Apple events. June is when Apple typically holds its annual WWDC developer conference; Q3 is when jobs start picking up for iOS developers, which tells us companies are following up on Apple’s annual developer conference with job postings. The first and last quarters of each of the past three years has also been a high point for iOS developer job postings, which we can relate to Apple’s annual release of new hardware. While 2016 was no ‘down’ year for Apple hardware, it was muted by expectations of the iPhone X launch in 2017. It’s important to note the transition from Q4 2016 to Q1 2017 saw job postings dip slightly, whereas the Q4 2017 to Q1 2018 change saw iOS developer job postings rise. We’d like to find a ‘bad’ time for iOS developer job postings, but that’s a bit more difficult than it seems. The second quarter of 2016 and 2017 saw declines, but 2018 has seen a resurgence of iOS developer job postings. We’ve only completed analysis of data for the first two quarters of 2018, but the spike of jobs posted for iOS devs is notable; the second quarter of 2018 is the only one on this chart that shows an increase in postings versus Q1 of the same year. There’s good reason for iOS developer job postings to surge this year. Swift is maturing, SwiftNIO is impressive, and machine learning is making itself at home on iOS with Create ML and CoreML. There’s also augmented reality (AR), and Apple’s ARKit is one of the best mobile frameworks for AR. Siri is also leapfrogging a ton of growing pains with Shortcuts, which will help it ramp up really quickly. The iOS developer community has the same heartbeat when it comes to jobs. Companies hire when excitement around new iOS developer tools is at its peak: after WWDC, and following Apple’s annual Fall event. It’s never a bad time to find a job in this category, though; when you’re ready for your next iOS developer jobs, they'll be waiting for you.