Proper Job Search Etiquette Starts During the Holidays

Proper Job Search Etiquette Starts During the HolidaysProper Job Search Etiquette Starts During the HolidaysContrary to popular belief, the holidays are actually a golden time to look for a job.How would you like to wake up on the morning of January 2 with a solid job offer in hand, while the rest of the job seekers are just getting started on their search? Do you think its too late for that? If so, youre alfruchtwein 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.But attitude means just about everything too. This is true if you are working or if youve been laid off and are seeking new opportunities. Remember that for most jo b seekers its bad etiquette to appear desperate or needy to any contact or employers. Wendy Calson, an executive in transition says, When I stopped acting so needy and pestering people for employment opportunities and just found out employers needs and ways to fill them, my search style yielded more return emails and phone calls. Consider adopting this holiday attitude and core commitment its never too early to develop a positive relationship, renew relationships or build new ones. Matt Zelman, an independent executive recruiter confirms, fruchtwein job seekers during the holidays come across anxious, upset and glum. I dont want to hire or consider them based on their bad attitude. So change your attitude before the holidays are over. Focus on developing new relationships, and starting and keeping outstanding communication habits.Perhaps it is true that timing is everything, and at any given time of the year, a window of opportunity opens and closes. How do you know the holidays wo nt open the key relationship, contact or zugreifbar/ offline lead that results in an interview for you?In fact, the year-end crunch may offer significantly more opportunities than other times of the year depending on your industry, where you are looking and hiring trends. Recruiter Matt Zelman notes, You hear the headlines of layoffs, but there is a but here. Buthiring managers are often under pressure to fill job requisitions by the end of the year, knowing that their window will close after the first of the year. Companies may have an overt freeze that will cease. Recruiters, like other salespeople, are under pressure to fill their quotas. So are you developing relationships with key hiring managers or just demonstrating through email, online and offline networking how frustrated you are? Now is the time to stay connected, in touch and focusedIf 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 seeke rs 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. Its the micro-economy that matters YoursWhen the masses of job seekers back off its 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 w ill 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. Youll 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, youll 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.Identify your long-term goals and short-term requirements. What are the must-haves about any job offer you will accept? Where do you want this job to lead you? What type of company do you want to work for? How would you like to put your skills to work?Exude happiness despite negative headlines.Maintain a positive attitude and demeanor online and offline. Confidence is attractive being in a slump isnt. Get excited about the opportunity youre going to land. That excitement will rub off on the people around you so refine your communication skills online and offline. Itll make the job search process fun and using proper, professional etiquette makes you stand out amongst the desperate masses.Develop an online presence.If appropriate for your level of search confidentiality, create a Ladders, LinkedIn and association profile if you dont have one already and make sure that all of your information is up to date, appropriate and professional. Any time you learn the name of a hiring manager, look to see if anyone in your LinkedIn network knows that person, and if so, ask for an introduction. Research companies that you apply to on sites like Ladders and develop a gameplan to research each and every one.Attend networking events, open houses and holiday parties.Not just any networking events, and not every networking event. Youll need to figure out which events will be well attended by people who can connect you with decision makers (or, better yet , events attended by decision makers themselves). But dont carry a sandwich board with your resume on it (unless appropriate) If you choose to attend any career fairs, be sure to research the names of the companies represented, and find out as much as possible about those companies and their current needs. Social events are times to interview. December is the month for them.Find the connectors and properly communicate with them.These are the people who know the decision makers, and who have an incentive for connecting you with them. These may be recruiters, or they may be other employees in the same company. You wont know who they are at first, but theyll identify themselves to you if you network effectively. Find proper and appropriate ways to develop relationships.To act on the time-critical window that opens during the holidays, you need to be fully focused on getting to the decision makers directly. You dont have any time to waste. This is why its so critical to narrow your focu s and figure out which types of employers you need to talk to. Its also why youll need to target your elevator pitch to a very specific audience. If you do this, the wrong people will quickly lose interest, and the right peoples ears will perk up.Finally, dont fill out a job application with a company who hasnt heard of you. By the time you fill out a job application, this step should be a formality after the decision to bring you on board has already been made. You dont have time to sort through online job postings, in the hopes of finding the urgent ones. There are just too many postings and not enough time. And the kind of opportunity youre looking for is unlikely to be publicly posted anyway. The front door approach takes a long time. The trick to getting a great job during the holidays is to squeeze in through the back door with proper communication etiquette only.The job market is ripe with opportunity during the holiday season so work on the micro economy YOURS.