Holidays shouldn’t freeze your job search
Thanksgiving is next week. Thursday, so
It’s time for my annual warning to job seekers: Don’t halt your job search during the holidays. You might miss out on something good.
This advice is especially important for those who are unemployed. If your job search efforts stall, you could miss out on a job lead or a job offer. In addition, your lack of progress could lead to feeling upset and maybe even depressed as the old year ends and the new year approaches.
Contrary to a common assumption, December is often an active hiring month. Many companies conduct job interviews during November and December. They keep the hiring process going during the holidays for several reasons:
• December is the end of the fiscal year for many companies. A manager might speed up the hiring process to use funds from the current year.
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• Some managers will have received a budget allocation for a new position for 2007. If the position is important, they want to interview now so the new employee can start as early as possible in January.
• Many managers want to tie up loose ends before the end of the year. If an unfilled position has been ignored for several months, they’ll give it full attention now to avoid getting off to a poor start in the new year.
• In some industries the workload declines during the holidays. Managers use the slack time to interview candidates. They make job offers in December that take effect in January.
Thomas J. Wacker, vice president of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, urges job seekers to keep working at it.
“It’s important to keep momentum into the holidays,” he observes. “Taking a vacation from the job search between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day means missing opportunities. Some jobs are filled during that period, and the hiring process for others is too far along by the time January arrives.”
Wacker adds, “Smart job seekers realize that many of their competitors take the holidays off. They take advantage of that to compete for jobs against a smaller pool of candidates.”
Of course, some companies in certain industries might not do any hiring during the holidays. If you’re getting few responses to your inquiries, use the holiday period for further research on the companies that interest you.
Also keep in contact with the people in your network. Don’t assume they’re too busy. Some might be involved with end-of-the year deadlines, but others might have more time to talk or meet with you because many of their co-workers are gone and they have fewer meetings, client transactions or other demands on their time. Offer to take them to breakfast or lunch.
Accept as many invitations to holiday events as you can. They provide opportunities to continue networking in social settings. Be prepared to interact with people you already know and with people to whom you are introduced.
Wacker advises, “Act like a politician. Meet lots of people. Create a good impression.”
Before you meet with others socially, be sure your “elevator speech” easily falls off your tongue. Be prepared to describe your career and your job-search goals as succinctly as possible, conveying this information in only as much time as you would have to speak to someone on an elevator. Social events are not an appropriate time to conduct lengthy discussions about your job search.
If you are employed and looking for another job, you might not have as much time as usual for job-search activities because of holiday events and other holiday responsibilities. If you need to limit your job-search time, set priorities.
You might need to set temporary limits on making new contacts, but don’t ignore those you have already met. Keep in touch with them. Follow up on the leads you have collected. Write thank-you notes.
No matter how busy you are, or think others are, when you have an interview scheduled make it a priority to call the people in your network to learn about the company and its culture in preparation for the interview process.
If you are unemployed, you could be looking forward to a break from job-search tasks during the holidays. It’s fine to give yourself a break, but don’t totally neglect your search. A few hours here and there can keep your search moving. It will be easier to pick up the pace in January if there haven’t been large gaps in the process. And you’re more apt to avoid the post-holiday blahs.
Employed or unemployed, if you are going to be out of town during the holidays, be sure to give your schedule and contact information to prospective employers. You don’t want to miss out on a good job because you can’t be contacted.