5 Important Things to do In the Job Search When Everyone Is on Vacation

As a job seeker, I hated hearing that you can't job search during the holiday months. Supposedly, everyone is on vacation. Hiring decisions are paused until sometime in January. Or worse, talent planning is already done and filled for the next year.

These felt like excuses for no one replying to emails. They felt out of touch with organizations that probably did have serious and real hiring needs ASAP.

The reality is that yes, many people are out. This last week of December is not optimal, at all, for getting an interview, much less a job. I'm not even going to factor in the massive layoffs of 2022 into the equation... which means there are a bunch of new candidates and many companies are still reeling from those cuts.

The other reality is that there are a ton of things you do in a job search, and not everything depends on other people. If you find yourself twiddling your thumbs waiting for someone to reply, but it's end of year, or any holiday period whereever you live, here are five things you could spend hours and days on:

One: Revisit Your Target Companies List

I have written a lot about target companies on my JibberJobber blog . Here's a post: How I Found a Job (3/20): Target Companies Are Critical . There's more... just google site:blog.JibberJobber.com "target companies" . BTW, that search phrase is helpful for finding anything on my blog.

People will tell you that most jobs are found through networking. That's true, to an extent. I don't think most McDonald's front-line workers got their job through networking. But in some fields, levels, and industries, networking is a great (and sometimes the only) way to get a job.

What people didn't tell me was how important having a target companies strategy was. Sure, you can add people to your network, talk to everyone, etc., but without a target this will be like throwing spaghetti on the wall to see what sticks.

Figuring out what your target companies are can guide you in your networking. "Do you know anyone who works at X, Y, or Z companies?" is a great way to start networking INTO your target companies.

Revisit this list. Spend time going through each company. Are you making progress? Are you forgetting any follow up you should do? Is there anyone in your network that can introduce you into those companies? Are there new companies you've become aware of that should be on this list?

One more thing: this isn't a list to keep in your head. Write these companies down. Better yet, track them in your job search CRM (that is what JibberJobber is for).

Two: Revisit Your Personal Branding Strategy

tl;dr: You have a personal brand. It probably is not what you want it to be. You can fix that. Check out my Pluralsight course on personal branding here .

I have years of writing about personal branding on JibberJobber . It's more than 1/2 of my career management presentation I've given hundreds of times. I didn't care about a brand until I was in my job search and found I didn't really have one (or, I didn't have one that helped).

Indeed, I had one. You have one. But I find most people have an unintentional personal brand. I want you to think about what yours is and figure out how you can make it what you want it to be.

My best resource for that is the Pluralsight course (linked above). That is a tactics-packed course helping you figure out what yours is, what you want it to be, and how to change it.

If you are bored between Christmas and New Years because no one is answering your emails or replying to your submissions, spend the week thinking about YOU.

When you land, keep your brand in mind. Make sure you continually work on it. This will not be the last time your personal brand is important to you.

Three: Still network, but smarter

Don't expect anyone to get back to you, but it's important you create another touchpoint with important contacts. Send out a personal message. Don't make it holiday based or it might get lost in all the other holiday (or end of year) messages. Don't make it a newsletter, again getting lost.

Write something personal. Ask if you can schedule some time on their calendar for early next year, when they are back in the office. Let them know what you are doing in your job search, and how they can help you.

Want an idea on what to write? You are in luck! Back in 2012 (I've been doing this job search stuff for a long time!) I wrote this: How to Write a Job Search Newsletter that Gets Results (1 of 2) .

Not to toot my own horn but I think that is one of the most brilliant ideas I've come up with. Don't let the simplicity of it underwhelm you. All of my brilliant stuff is simple :p

The point is that you write something that will actually be read, the actionable part is easy to understand, and you can repeat this regularly.

Sound easy? It is.

This is also a bit of a form/newsletter... I get that. Maybe you personalize it for each person, like, "Hey Jake, it's been a few months since we talked! Sorry for not keeping in touch better, but I'm at a point in my career where I could really use some help." Personalize it in the way that is best for you and each network contact.

The key is to not stop networking. You can reach out, and reach out effectively, even though people might not reply for a couple of weeks. Whether you do that with a voice message, a text message, or an email, just do it.

Shoot, borrow my 3-part newsletter format. Write it, personalize it, send it. Count that as networking, and then get on with other things.

Four: Re-evaluate Your Vision and Plan

This is another important task you can invest some time into. In a job search it's easy to go a hundred miles an hour and be busy, busy, busy. When you are in that mode it's easy to forget what you are really after.

Getting rejections (including non-answers) is hard. Worse, getting regular rejections can have an impact on your thinking. It can cloud your thinking. Check out my post Depression Clouds Everything , written very early in my job search. Note the 500+ comments. This is a serious and common issue.

I share that post not because of the depression part of it but because of the "clouds everything" part of it. It's easy to lose sight of who we are, our value, what we want, what we should work for, etc. when we get bogged down be details and uncertainty.

Down time, or quiet time, or this next holiday week, is a great time to clear the clouds and search for clarity. One of the things I love seeing job seekers do is sit back and reevaluate their future. They ask questions like, am I really happy in my chosen field? Is it time to make some serious changes? Should I downsize my life and role, for happiness? Or, is it time to go after that promotion I know I can handle?

This is stuff you should be doing regularly, but when you have a posh, "secure" job it's easy to push these questions off for later.

That later is now. Seriously. Take some time and ask yourself the hard questions, and then give yourself time to think about it to come to honest answers.

Downsizing might feel like a failure but maybe it will be one of the greatest things you do for yourself.

Getting on the right educational path might be the right thing to do, even though it means you are going to spend a few years living like a poor student.

The key here is that you have those honest, hard conversations with yourself (and relevant people, like a partner or parent), and make sure that what you are working on is what you should be working on for the future you actually want.

Five: Relax and Invest in Personal Relationships

In my Big Fat Failed Job Search of 2006 I figured I'd land a new job relatively quickly, and so I dedicated 110% of me and my time to the job search.

Months later I felt I was way, way behind in any goals I had created. That's putting it nicely. I could barely beg my way into a job interview. I didn't understand why.

Unfortunately, my 110% dedication to landing my next gig meant I put off my family, friends, and personal (especially physical) health. That was a horrible decision.

Look, this next week is probably going to be really quiet. So spend time with people who are around you. Do yoga. Go to a park. Watch some fun shows. Do something healthy.

Ignoring relationships, even the relationship with yourself, can set you back months, even years. Ironically, the people you are neglecting (including yourself) are the exact people you need to be investing more in right now.

Jobs come and go. Hopefully, your investment into the right people will last for many decades to come.

Don't put them off until you get to better times.

Anything else?

There you go... what else would you suggest people do during town times?