I thought I would add a few what may be right to do points to yesterday’s post. A portion of the my full article is excerpted here from The Ladders this morning under Best Holiday Job Search Advice:
How would you like to wake up on one early in January morning with a solid job offer in hand, while the rest of the job seekers are just getting started on their search? Do you think it’s too late for that? If so, you’re almost right. But if you get started immediately, you can get your foot squarely in the door while everyone else is out shopping, drinking egg nog or worse yet, lamenting the layoffs, the Stock Market and whatever doom and gloom news that gets circulated. Contrary to the popular refrain, the holidays are a golden time to look for a job, and a number of opportunities will be gone if you wait until after the New Year.
Perhaps it is true that timing is everything, and at any given time of the year, a window of opportunity opens and closes. If you look at the kind of group think that is out there, what do you suppose most job seekers are doing or saying? Ask them. Most job seekers have already called it quits for the year, resolving to get serious about looking for a job after the holidays. Media facts back them up. Read any headline: X Company Announces Layoffs. Who could argue with the headlines? So my advice? Stop looking at the macro headlines. It’s the micro-economy that matters – Yours!
When the masses of job seekers back off it’s an opportunity. This narrows the playing field considerably, and it increases the amount of pressure on hiring managers who know that they need to fill positions during December. Also, most people who are out looking for jobs are easily discouraged by the holiday slowdown myth. If you have a solid plan of attack, you can keep your head above the water and attract people to you. This will give you an advantage over the majority of other job seekers. So, the time to hit the job market is now.
However, to pull this off, you must effectively invest your time. Continue to customize your resumes versus spraying resumes everywhere. You will need to hone in and narrow your focus to the particular types of employers most likely to urgently need you. Link to them. Develop relationships. Dialogue with them. You’ll also need to find a back door, or a quick avenue to accessing a decision maker directly. And you had better have something to say that helps them accomplish their goals. Finally, you’ll need a way to find out about advertised and perhaps even under-advertised job vacancies.
There are a few simple strategies you can use to accomplish these goals.
Have a plan.
Exude happiness despite negative headlines.
Develop an online presence.
Attend networking events, open houses and holiday parties.
Find the connectors and properly communicate with them.
The job market is ripe with opportunity during the holiday season so work on the micro economy – YOURS.