Are you looking for new opportunities or are you a first-time job seeker? Your holiday job search window might just be the difference between whether you are going to find the kind of job you desire or not. The Christmas and new year are largely popular for the festivity that comes with it. However, it is also a time of the year when many professionals get hired or called up for job interviews that take them several steps closer to landing a new job.
Regardless of whether you are spending time with your family and loved ones or travelling, the holiday job search tips below will open up the doors of opportunities to you and help you get ahead.
Over the past months, you have just been applying for several job opportunities but so far, nothing has come forth in terms of feedback. Don’t be discouraged. The holiday season is the perfect time to switch off and take a closer look at your personal skills, qualifications and interests. The purpose of this is to align your skills, interest and qualification with the jobs you are interested in.
Defining your job search strategy could include your frequency of checking job sites, social media platforms with job openings or newspapers for fresh opportunities and job listings. Having a job search strategy gives you a clearer insight into how you should search for jobs and apply for them. For instance, should you be searching for an internship opportunity as a way to gain entry into your desired career or organisation of choice? So, what is your job search strategy? Do you have one? If you don’t have one, get a notepad out now and begin scribbling down what you want your job search strategy to look like.
There is no better time to take that course online or offline than now. Find the relevant piece of training to take during the holiday season to improve your job search profile. Rewrite your CV and cover letter with better storytelling techniques. The idea here is to sell yourself with every opportunity that comes your way.
Social recruiting or social hiring is the use of social media platforms for the recruitment of qualified professionals. The holiday season offers a lot of opportunities and time in identifying individuals or organisations to follow on social media. You can use platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter for a range of opportunities to get hired.
Another holiday job search strategy you can use is asking your followers/friends to inform you when certain jobs are shared by contacts on their network. This increases your chances of accessing such opportunities and taking full advantage of them.
Ensure your social media pages and social media activities capture your professional branding and personal brand. This raises your likelihood of being contacted and getting invited for a job interview. For your professional brand, ensure you make use of keywords and technical terms that correctly capture your skillset.
All the parties, family gatherings and other events you attend during the holidays offer you a great opportunity to network. They key to this is being observant and listening actively but you must come off as a person of value to the prospective individual you wish to network with. Everyone loves a win-win situation. As such, you should find out how you can offer it.