As recruiters rush to fill open positions before the end of the year, there are more opportunities than you think amongst the tinsel and tra-la. Here are some must-know job search tips if you’d love to start a new job in January.
One: Keep a hand in the game while others don’t.
Many other job seekers – your competitors – will take time off now. All the more opportunity for you, if you keep at it.
Two: Be talking to people!
Do attend events, meet new people and deepen relationships. A party might not be the best time for an in-depth discussion of career matters (or then again, it might – use your social intuition), but you can certainly make connections with an eye to reaching out later for one-on-one networking meetings. Connecting on LinkedIn and/or Facebook is a good next step, and you can do it on the spot with your smart phone. Download the app in advance.
Three: Make good use of those friendly inquiries.
Capitalize on the question “How’s your job search going?” with this surprising suggestion.
Four: Be prepared for these three networking-crucial questions, too.
Plan networking-friendly answers to three questions most job seekers flunk: “What do you do?”, “What are you looking for?” and “What happened to your job?”
Five: Keep your wits about you at those parties.
Anybody you meet could possibly be a connection to a new job, or maybe could put in a good word, or a bad one. So go easy on the punch!
This post was originally published in December, 2017 and has been updated.