It Might Be Christmas, But Don't Let Your Job Hunt Take a Holiday

By Martin Ellis

While Christmas is peddled as a time for families, festive fun, and a bit-of-a-break, if you're a job seeker you can't afford to relax for a moment (well appear to relax anyway). It's a rough and tumble world world out there, and if you're taking some time out to let the days drift by, there will be others beavering away to take advantage of your sloth.

I can remember a time when the Christmas holiday was just that - a holiday - but the internet doesn't sleep, and people were never more attached to their technology than today.  I was struck by some research that Reed.co.uk recently undertook:

• 77 per cent of people would work on Christmas Day if it secured them a new job.
• 56 per cent of people will be checking their work emails on Christmas Day this year (I'd put money on it'll be more than that!).
• The majority of people have checked their work email on Christmas Day.
• A third of people will be at their workplace during the Christmas period, with a further 10 per cent working from home.
• 46 per cent of workplaces are closed between Christmas and New Year - which means 54% are open.

So it's clear workers are more active than they used to be. Even if they're at home, they're still 'busy' and ready to pounce at anything that moves.

If the thought of this is turning you to stress, relax a little - the great thing about technology is you can use it to your advantage. You can still fill yourself with pud and grog, yet still remain visible and lively....

5 Tips for a Christmas job hunter:

1. Before Xmas, make sure your CV is up to speed (If you need a CV template that relevant to the 21st Century - email me)
2. Make sure your well constructed and spell-checked CV is available on the right CV data bases - That's Reed, Monster, CV Library et al
3. Get your profile on LinkedIn if it's not there already. Don't make it a mirror of your CV, but use it to develop a little more about your personality
4. If you have a Twitter account, link it to a platform such as HooteSuite. You can use it to feed your Twitter and LinkedIn accounts while you're digging into your turkey. You'll appear busier than you are (never a bad thing!)
5. Finally, if you've been searching for a while, pledge to yourself to do something different in your job search. Try to mark yourself out as somebody who will stand out in a crowd. 

4 Tips for a Christmas recruiter - and a Resolution:

1. Keep looking! Those who are most keen and able will remain active during the break.
2. Don't assume that just because you're out of the office that everybody else is. Even if you deserve a well-earned break, make sure your technology can muster an auto-reply so that senders know their stuff has landed.
3. Check where the decision makers are during the break. Make sure you know when and where they're contactable. You don't want to miss out on the gem candidate - neither do you want to piss anybody off when they've got the family round.
4. Do some reading and research. You've been busy in the last year, but the world is moving on. Catch up with technology. It'll help you plan for the future. Not sure where to start? Try here.....

A RECRUITER'S RESOLUTION: Pledge to deal with candidates better. You/we have a dreadful name among job hunters. What they'd like is feedback on their every move. What they get, most times, is.... nothing. Not even an acknowledgement. Let's be fair, you won't be able to cope with personal messages to everybody, but technology can at least let candidates know where they stand in any process.

It would be really good if you did this. Candidates would be a whole lot less suspicious when we approach them in the first place.

Merry Christmas!

Have a break. Enjoy it. Share good times with friends and family. Even appreciate the socks when they arrive.

Just don't let the season drift past without a little thought and preparation. Go on. It won't take long.

Do it now.

 

(Images courtesy of http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/)

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