Gift of the Season: A New Job
By Brent Warman.
I have found, through my experience as a Career Development Practitioner working with clients, that many “take a break” during the Holiday Season. Typically, they take time off from job searching from American Thanksgiving to about the first week of January. However, this could mean missing out on some great opportunities including potential job offers.
Since so many job seekers choose not to perform their job search until after the Holiday Season, it is a good time for proactive clients to take advantage of less competition. For most employers, the month of December is “business as usual.” Many are hoping to fill positions before the end of the year, or to get off to a fresh start in the New Year with new staff.
The Holiday Season presents opportunities for networking with an abundance of parties and other events taking place. Many faith-based organizations, professional organizations, and clubs host events which could provide opportunities to meet other people sharing similar interests. This is a valuable way to meet potential contacts that could connect clients with job leads. A client could potentially meet the new boss.
There are many volunteer activities that take place with community and faith-based organizations. It is a great way to help out the community and to “give back” while uncovering possible job opportunities with those organizations. Many volunteers giving their time working on projects in the communities also work for companies in the corporate world. A job seeker who makes a good impression with such a member of the volunteer team might get that “big break” that he/she is looking for.
The Holiday Season is a good time to catch up with friends, family, and old colleagues through making phone calls, emails, and sending out special holiday cards. They could be great resources to guide job seekers toward potential employment opportunities.
The Holiday Season presents other opportunities to plan ahead for the New Year. It is a great time to update the resume, reflect on career successes through the past year, explore potential career opportunities, set career goals, and to develop new strategies for achieving goals.
The effort put forth during the holiday season for job seekers has the potential to pay off with an offer especially if there is less competition. The Holiday Season, with its generally festive mood, presents opportunities for job seekers to connect with people that could make a difference in his/her career.
For the job seeker, the Holiday Season could truly be a “gift that keeps on giving” for many years.
Brent, I can say from personal experience that you are correct! I once had an interview in December and received a call on the last business day before Christmas inviting me to start the job the first day back after the holidays!
Hello Janet,
It was great that you were able to get a position in December, and that it started after the holidays. I have also had personal experiences with interviewing in December with employers and starting in new positions as well.
I know that many of my clients over the years have also had their efforts pay off with new positions during the Holiday Season. The Holiday Season can truly be rewarding for the proactive job seeker.
I love the holiday season to prospect. The business owner is in the office, I can talk with them while most of my competition is slacking off! I have to make more calls to reach people but I have had many years of success.
HI Brent,
You bring up a very good point. I recently applied for a position that asked when are you ready to start, with the options of before or after the new year. I felt this was one way a potential employer can assess readiness to work, and I did get the interview – next week, before Christmas.
Businesses are looking towards the new year at this time – even while managing year end busy-ness. New years bring new contracts, new opportunities and new energy, often requiring new staff to implement. Encouraging job seekers to keep at it during this time is a gift of encouragement.