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Tis the Season to Job Search

Whether it's Christmas or Memorial Day, the perception is that employers are away on vacation and your career search comes to a standstill. This perception is a misconception. While others turn their search off, turn yours up! In a competitive market, if your competition feels that the holidays are a useless time to search, their loss can be your gain.

While I was going through my own journey through the "transition-zone," I found the holidays were a good time to make connections and ramp up for the post-holiday campaign. Here are some ways to focus your job search during the holiday season:

• Use holiday get-togethers, cards and greetings to network and restore old connections. Send holiday wishes without making any reference to your job search. Re-establish the connection upon their response.
• Holiday weeks can often be a slow period for employers. In past positions, my colleagues and I would use this time to clean up our offices and catch up on paper work. This can be an easier time to arrange for a coffee meeting or brief phone conversation.
• During the actual holiday, when you cannot be on the phone or making connections, take a breather and reflect on what has worked - and what hasn’t. Use this time to alter your strategy, modify your resume, and get yourself rested. By taking these actions you will be ready to re-launch your campaign when everyone returns to work.