This season is no time to slow down your holiday job search. Employers have to fill positions and some more urgently than others. Yes, even the week of Thanksgiving, offices are slow, but this is a time to be more personable, and flexible while your competition is on vacation.
Here are a few suggestions to give your job search a boost:
1. Bypass the fence by building familiarity. When you’re kind to everyone over the phone (yes, the phone) you can extend your reach. The like and trust factor is even more achievable during the holiday job search. I think people are looking for ways to be kinder.
2. Friend former employer/coworker relationships. If you left on great terms with your old company, certainly reconnecting with former supervisors and managers is to your advantage for two reasons, 1) They may be open to re-hiring you or contracting work to you or 2) Refer you peers and colleagues at other companies.
3. Spread your personal marketing to a wider net. Social media is quieter during your holiday job search (especially after this past election cycle). The time to start sharing content, initiate conversations, and join group discussions is now.
Listen to: 10 Job Search Tools We’re Grateful for This Holiday Season
4. Start a personal blog for branding now. While it’s slow, a blog is easier to get started and dedicate yourself to if you’re looking to make moves in a few months. Not only share on social media but also to ensure Google can show your relevance and existence by listing you a little higher.
5. Crash Christmas celebrations. Some of your friends, neighbors, and family can invite an extra person to their company parties. Drinking eggnog with new people can expand your network. Remember, you’re just adding to your network, not asking for referrals unless someone likes you enough. Even then, setting up a coffee meeting or phone call away from the party ensures the authenticity and sincerity of wanting to refer you.
6. Upgrade your thinking of “thank you” cards. Gratitude is not exclusive to interviewers and hiring managers. If you want to be a standout, five dollar gift cards from Starbucks and similar shops are valuable to the secretaries too. Even if it’s a small holiday card (and not just an email) is thoughtful and memorable during your holiday job search.
Read: Your Spouse Can Help With The Holiday Job Search
7. Call in carols on the company’s #800. No, I’m not talking about singing, but this is a good time for research and potentially finding names of key people. Want to send a pain letter or a resume to a particular person? What it’s like to work for the company? Unless the company is selling or servicing holiday products, it’s slow. The representatives have to chat, trust me.
8. Add volunteer value during vacation. Some companies volunteer at charity organizations during the holiday season. Your favorite company probably has a press release of where they are handing out toys. I bet you can join them too so you can gather intel about the business, get to know at least one or two employees and be charitable.
9. Hurry and get with a Temp agency. Some business slows down while others speed up and look to temp agencies to save them. There are too many to name, and I guarantee, they will be more than glad to help place you
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About Mark Anthony Dyson
My name is Mark Anthony Dyson, and I am the Founder of The Voice of Job Seekers. I am a career advice writer, but more importantly, I hack and re-imagine the job search process.. I've worked with hundreds of job seekers one-on-one helping them to construct a narrative and strategy that appeals to hiring managers and recruiters. I present at colleges and organizations, and facilitated many workshops including my volunteer effort through a Job Lab. I write and create useful job search content on this blog and write career and workplace advice for blogs such as Glassdoor, Payscale, Job-Hunt.org, Prezi and more. Media Feature highlights: Forbes, Business Insider, NBC News, Glassdoor, LinkedIn's #GetHired, and NPR Freelance writer and content contributor: Glassdoor, Payscale, job-hunt.org, The Financial Diet, RippleMatch.com and more. Contact me to contribute career, job search, or workplace advice for your site at markanthonydyson@gmail.com.