One of those myths that never seems to die in the career industry is that the approaching holiday season is not a good time for job hunting.
I certainly agree that not too many interviews get scheduled for the weeks around Christmas and New Year’s but that doesn’t mean you can’t leverage the Holiday season to get ready to make a move in 2020.
Here are some vital actions you can take this Holiday season:
1) Update your Resume
Yes, the official “Update Your Resume Month” was in September so ideally you just updated your resume, but the reality is that most job seekers neglect this task until the very last minute when they need an updated resume asap. Avoid the mistake for 2019 and leverage the Holiday season to get ready to make a move in the new year.
2) Refresh your Network
It is never an ideal situation to tap into your network when you need people’s help if they haven’t heard from you in years or they hardly remember who you are. So, make it a habit to reach out in the Holiday season and send them a handwritten, snail mail Christmas card. Include old contacts and new contacts that you made during 2018.
3) Review your Social Media Strategy and Outcomes
The end of the year is an ideal time to review the strategy and outcome of your social media efforts. Has it been a lackluster year in terms of unleashing the power of social media to communicate your personal brand? Does your last professional tweet date from July? Did you add less than 50 new LinkedIn contacts this year? Assess what went well and where you need to improve if you want to have social media to have a positive impact on making a career move in 2019.
4) Read up on Career Trends for 2020
Life is busy, so it is understandable that you might not have had the time to stay abreast on vital new and future career trends. You haven’t heard about AI’s increasing impact in conducting first round interviews or latest developments of Applicant Tracking Systems and algorithms analyzing your resume for keywords? Take a couple of hours sitting by the fire when the weather outside is too frightful to go outside anyways.
5) Take Away
Things might slow down at the end of the year and this is an ideal time to catch up on your career readiness for 2019. Let your present self save your future self from a stressful 2019.
Happy Holidays!
