Thinking Your Holiday Job Search is a Waste of Time? Think Again.

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Many people believe that searching for a job during the holidays is a waste of time. Hiring managers and recruiters are on vacation, and no one is hiring around the holidays, anyway. Right?

Wrong. If you use the holidays as an excuse to take a break, you may be missing a huge opportunity. Suspending your job search could leave you behind in the dust.

The need to hire quality people does not go away simply because a holiday appears on the calendar.  After all, many employers are keen on hiring to ensure that they are fully-staffed at the beginning of the year. They also want to be ready to hit the ground running in the new year, so they will schedule interviews and make job offers in November and December.

They leverage the natural slowdowns around the holidays to get their ducks all in a row. If everyone else is taking a break, there will be much less competition; you will have an easier time standing out from the crowd.

Hiring managers and recruiters do take time off during the holidays, and they can be distracted by family commitments and office festivities, so it may take a wee bit longer to make contact with them and land that interview.  But, if you keep at it during the holidays, you are more likely to be successful.

However, do not simply send out resumes en masse.  The key is to target your search with laser-like precision. Spend time targeting particular employers and jobs and craft cover letters and resumes to appeal to those employers.

Here are three other tips to keep in mind:

  • Leverage the natural networking tendencies of the holidays. It is party season, after all, which means that organizations and associations are holding get-togethers.  Parties are prime networking opportunities, even those that revolve around family. Your family and friends want to help you, so do not shun opportunities to get face-time with people who can help…not matter how you know them.
  • The holidays provide job-hunters with the perfect excuse to call up old colleagues and acquaintances just to see “what is new.” Once the conversation is underway, it is easier to ask about open jobs or companies who are hiring.
  • Exploit the natural slow-downs that many businesses undertake during this time of year. With administrative assistants on vacation, hiring managers may answer their own phones. So if you are comfortable selling yourself, you may end up talking to the right person.

If you’re looking for a job around the holidays or thinking about making a move in 2018, Snelling is both the expert and advocate you need to land your best-fit job. Locate your local office today, and let’s get started.