Job Seeking? Here’s How To Get Ahead During The Holidays
Image courtesy of Flickr Creative Commons user dooderose
Wondering how to make the most of your holiday break?
If you’re job seeking, the answer is clear:
Don’t stop the search!
Hiring doesn’t go on holiday. There are year-end crunches to satisfy, vacationing staff to temporarily replace, and fresh crops of budget-approved positions to fill for January. Recruiters are busy. Employers are busy. And in between some wassailing and snowshoeing, you should be busy, too.
Get an edge on the competition and ring in the New Year two steps ahead on your job hunt. If you follow our tips, you might even start 2014 off with the career you’ve been searching for!
Volunteer
Whether you work full time or are unemployed, volunteering for a cause that aligns with your professional goals or expertise is a great way to stay involved in your industry and gain valuable experience. Added bonus: you get to network with people who are as passionate as you are!
To get started, scope out your prospects through college and university volunteer boards, community organizations and the companies you want to work for.
Check online, too. GoVolunteer.ca is an excellent resource for finding career-oriented volunteering opportunities in British Columbia and Alberta.
Take on temp work
Want to get your foot in the door of the company you dream of working for? The holidays are a prime time to find temporary position opportunities. This is the busiest period of year for many businesses, and it’s also when many employees want to use their vacation hours. To make it out of the holidays alive, managers depend on recruitment services to meet heightened demands. That’s where you come in.
Temporary work exposes you to day-to-day operations, increases your presence in your chosen industry, and can lead to full-time position offers down the road. And don’t forget the gains in valuable work experience and extra income, too!
Make the most of this fleeting window of time by first contacting a professional recruiter in your community. Recruiters have access to temporary work opportunities you can’t find on job boards or company websites; with their industry connections, you are connected the best positions available, at no cost to you.
Work on relationships
Arrange coffee meetings over the holiday break to nurture relationships with people who could have a stake in your professional success, such as new and old colleagues, teachers, and networking event acquaintances.
As Forbes contributor Leslie Grossman says in her article How To Get Your Foot In Any Door, “Your future will be more influenced by your connections and relationships than by your capabilities or experience.” Even if you are working full-time, she argues, it is still important to build and maintain a thriving business network.
Listen before you speak
College grad, professional-in-transition, career-changer; no matter where you are in the job seeking cycle, you definitely have interesting experiences to talk about. Save ‘em. You’re in relationship-building mode now, and the best way to get started is to show a genuine interest in what your connections have to share. Selling yourself (and your stories) comes later.
Always make the conversation about the other person. Ask questions about their work. “Look for ways you can support them to achieve their goals,” says Grossman. “In time, they may be willing to reciprocate.”
Act now
Job seeking during the holidays gives you a distinct advantage over other prospects in your chosen field; utilizing just one or two strategies over the next few weeks will help you make a confident start in 2014, whether it’s with the company of your dreams, or on the path to career success.
So between the eggnog and shopping, visiting friends and enjoying some rest, take action on a couple of these strategies to see some serious job seeking results.
Happy holidays!
Get the temp work position you need to get your foot in the door – contact Stacey at Aspire Hiring today!