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If you’re working this week, you may have extra time for Facebook games or for long workouts at your gym. The week between Christmas and New Year’s can be a slow one in some corporate offices – and that can be a precious opportunity for some career climbing and creativity. Yes, you can and should use these dead days to liven up your work opportunities in 2012.
Ask around. Most of the incumbent career coaches are going to tell you that job hunting gets tough in December. They say that decisions don’t get made, recruiters are slacking off, budgets are slamming shut and interviewers are glazing over. The ‘end of the year slump’ is like most of the other down times in the hiring cycle. It’s an illusion. Believe it and you’ll relax your efforts. That’s the very stuff of which self-fulfilling prophesies are made.
Unemployment refuses to drop below nine percent, which means real unemployment – counting all the people making do, juggling multiple part-time jobs and the people who’ve given up on looking – is probably much closer to 15 percent. This reality, for those of us struggling to make ends meet or to find a job, makes it difficult to be grateful. When you’re in survival mode, it’s pretty tough to step back and reflect.
Many people believe job searching between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Eve is unadvisable, but this is a huge misinterpretation! This is a great time for job seekers because companies don’t just stop working during the holiday season. Plus, it puts you at an advantage among other job seekers because many people don’t look for jobs around the end of the year. Here are some important tips on how to search for jobs during the holiday season.
So it’s the last two weeks of December, and the decision makers may be out of the office. But that doesn’t mean your job search should come to a halt.
“It is worth continuing your job search during the holiday season,” says Joey Price, a human resources specialist and founder of Push Consultant Group, LLC, a career search services firm. “Companies never stop hiring so job seekers should never stop applying. While business may slow down during the holiday season, resumes are still screened for open positions and future positions that may develop in the upcoming year once fiscal year budgets are determined. Give yourself the advantage by searching when others may not be.”
To make the most of your job search during the holiday season, keep these tips in mind:
This question comes at the most inopportune time every Christmas Season. If you’re unemployed, your mind races as you hear this question, sweat is now gushing from your temples, neck and arm pits….why me?!? why now?!?
Unemployment is no fun and particularly at this time of the year. We don’t need to review all the reasons, most of us have lived them and shudder at the memory. So for those experiencing unemployment for the first time or for those who have been there before and would rather just stay at home than face the question, here are a few suggestions so you can prepare for the encounter and maybe just maybe turn a tough situation into a positive.
First, embrace the situation. It is what it is and there are many in the boat with you and many, many more who have been there before. In other words, this is not a slap at you personally it is a result of a number of events and decisions we have little control over. So embrace the fact you are unemployed.
Here’s three useful pointers when it comes to describing your situation:
It’s that busy time of the year when we meet friends, acquaintances or new faces at parties, gatherings and events and will be asked “what do you do?”
To help get you ready for this year’s round of holiday celebrations, here’s some advice to help those of you who are employed best answer this question before you find yourself looking like a deer in the headlights.
If you want to stand out like a blazing star atop a beautiful Christmas tree this season, send a holiday card.
Send the cards to everyone in your professional network, including people who you’ve met through job interviews and at professional organization meetings.
“It’s not a Christmas card. It’s not a Hanukkah card. It’s a holiday card,” said Ford R. Myers, an executive coach and author of “Get the Job You Want, Even When No One Is Hiring.” Choose a simple, non-denominational card with no pictures of Santa nor any holly or a menorah. A card from a charity or cause you are active with is “absolutely perfect,” he said. So is one that seems a little generic or plain vanilla.
Your goal is twofold…
Traditionally, if you wanted to make a little extra money for the holidays, you got a seasonal job at a retail store or restaurant. But this holiday season, there are lots of options that don’t involve long hours standing behind a cash register or avoiding customer stampedes on Black Friday.
“The retail industry is an obvious area for possible seasonal and holiday employment but it’s not the only opportunity,” says Sherry Kast, communications and public relations manager at Express Employment Professionals. “Retail drives the need for additional workers in warehouse, shipping and packaging, gift wrapping and more.”
According to Snag A Job, an hourly jobs website, hiring for seasonal, hourly jobs is up 26 percent from last holiday season. And while many of those jobs are in retail stores, there are a variety of other opportunities as well. This holiday season, look beyond retail to pad your pockets with some extra cash from one of these out-of-the-ordinary seasonal positions:
Your vacation is just hours, if not minutes away but before you dash out of your office for some well deserved time away from work, don’t forget to set up that incredibly useful out-of-office message. However you may be thinking: “I know I need an out-of-office email reply, but what exactly needs to be included?” and “please let this little out of office message keep things at bay till I get back.”
Here are some questions to consider when crafting your auto-response that will keep your contacts informed and give you the chance to get away:
When will you be gone and when do you get back? Be clear in your message and let people know the date(s) that you will be out and when you return.
Do you have an alternate contact while you are out? Do you want your cell phone to ring incessantly while you’re out of pocket or have emails just go unanswered? (Or are you one of those who never actually shuts down? If not for yourself, try to do this so you don’t bother your friends and family.) Determine if another colleague could assist in handling inquiries while you are out and make sure they are ok ...
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