Hide loop if no posts exist - php

Question

I simply have a single loop that's pulling through a CPT, but I would like to hide the whole container div of the loop, if it has no posts...
I'm trying various iterations of this if statement surrounding the container:
<?php if( have_posts() ): ?>
<?php endif; ?>
But I can't seem to get it to work properly... The full code blog is here:
<?php if( have_posts() ): ?>
<div class="container default-strip-section">
<h2><?php the_field('vacancies_title'); ?></h2>
<div class="row justify-content-center">
<?php
$args = array(
'post_type' => 'vacancies',
'posts_per_page' => 9999
// 'orderby' => 'title',
// 'order' => 'ASC'
);
$the_query = new WP_Query( $args );
?>
<?php if ( $the_query->have_posts() ) : while ( $the_query->have_posts() ) : $the_query->the_post(); ?>
<div class="col-md-12">
<a href="<?php the_permalink(); ?>">
<p><?php the_title() ?></p>
</a>
</div>
<?php endwhile; wp_reset_postdata(); endif; ?>
</div>
</div>
<?php endif; ?>
Can anyone point out what I'm doing wrong? I'm sure I'm missing something simple! Thanks for looking!! :)

Answer 1

#rank's answer is nearly correct -- it needs the object instance before the_post() again:
<?php
$args = array(
'post_type' => 'vacancies',
'posts_per_page' => 9999, // If you're wanting to show all posts, use -1 here.
);
$the_query = new WP_Query( $args );
if ( $the_query->have_posts() ) :
?>
<div class="container default-strip-section">
<h2><?php the_field('vacancies_title'); ?></h2>
<div class="row justify-content-center">
<?php
while ( $the_query->have_posts() ) :
$the_query->the_post();
?>
<div class="col-md-12">
<p><?php the_title(); ?></p>
</div>
<?php
endwhile;
?>
</div>
</div>
<?php
endif;
wp_reset_postdata();
?>

Answer 2

You need to put the html of the container after the if have_posts(), where you check if there are any posts. This way the whole container is not displayed when the if is not true.
But you are using a ACF field of the post where you are showing this list of vacancies. So we save the id into a variable to be able to view the value inside of your custom query called the_query (this is not a self-explanatory / good name). Why not call it vacancies_query to have a more readable code. Putting it together it should look like this:
<?php
$current_post = get_the_ID();
$args = array(
'post_type' => 'vacancies',
'posts_per_page' => 9999
);
$vacancies_query = new WP_Query( $args );
if ( $vacancies_query->have_posts() ) : ?>
<div class="container default-strip-section">
<h2><?php the_field('vacancies_title', $current_post); ?></h2>
<div class="row justify-content-center">
<?php while ( $vacancies_query->have_posts() ) : the_post(); ?>
<div class="col-md-12">
<a href="<?php the_permalink(); ?>">
<p><?php the_title() ?></p>
</a>
</div>
<?php endwhile; ?>
</div> <!-- row -->
</div> <!-- container -->
<?php else :
/* nothing to see here */
endif;
wp_reset_postdata();
?>