10 Ways to Keep Momentum When Job Searching Over the Holidays

Inside: Job searching over the holidays? Use these 7 tips to keep your momentum without sacrificing enjoying time with your friends and family.

Have yourself a merry little job search. Let your heart be light

With a new job your troubles will be out of sight!

Okay, so a new job doesn’t necessarily clear ALL the troubles, but it sure can lead to more money for your family, more joy at work, and making your impact on the world.

That sounds pretty great, right?

But if you’re job searching over the holidays you may be tempted to hit the brakes because hiring slows and life gets busy. Makes total sense!

I do want you to keep momentum on your job search though even if you’re not actively interviewing, so take these 10 tips and feel confident about what’s coming next.

Grab some egg nog and off we go!

10 Ways to Keep Momentum When Job Searching Over the Holidays

1. Sleep!

You weren’t expecting the first job search tip to be “sleep” right?

But were you also pleasantly surprised?

Good! Because getting some rest over the holidays when you have a break from work, school wakeups, sports practices, deadlines, is going to keep you healthy and help you recharge.

Then take that extra energy with you for the steps below, and into the new year for your job search.

2. Get Clear on What You Want

Leaving on an airplane to visit family? Unplugging from work for a few days?

Take whatever quiet time you can find for self-reflection. What do you really want and need from this next chapter of your career?

Spending some time on this step over the holidays before diving back into applications in January can go a long way in helping you stay focused and efficient.

3. Pay Attention to What Gives You Energy (And What Zaps It)

Having trouble with the self-reflection piece? Try this coaching exercise when you’re hanging out watching movies, sledding, putting together your kiddo’s new toy, or sipping hot chocolate.

What activities give you energy and which activities suck that energy dry? For example, you love doing puzzles with your niece but the idea of planning a big party makes you cringe? What does this tell you about the types of work activities will give you energy and help you feel fulfilled at work?

If you need some help figuring this out, check out the free How to Land a Fulfilling Job You Love Without Giving Up the Flexibility You Need training!

4. Be Open with Your People

If you’re heading into a holiday party you may be tempted to clam up around your friends and family about your job search.

Either you don’t want to talk about it because it’s a bummer, you’re embarrassed, or you don’t think your friend and family can help so why bring it up.

I’m going to challenge you on all those points though. A job search can be an exciting opportunity for change, everyone goes through a job search at some point – nothing to be ashamed of, and your friends and family can absolutely help!

Even if your loved ones don’t have a job up your sleeve, they may know someone they can connect you with which could then lead to a great opportunity! So go ahead and talk about it!

5. Practice Your Pitch

As you’re talking with your friends and family about your job search, you probably won’t be doing your formal job search pitch over Christmas morning mimosas or Grandma’s green bean casserole.

BUT, you can practice talking about what you’re interested in and why you’re interested in at holidays parties. That’s an important part of your job search pitch!

Then if the timing is right and you have the chance to talk about your skills and experience with a new acquaintance at your spouse’s work party, go for it. The more you practice, the more comfortable you’ll be networking and interviewing.

6. Save Time with Saved Searches

I would love to see you off your computer and munching on a Christmas cookie over the holidays, so save some precious time with saved job searches and email alerts.

Head over to LinkedIn, Indeed, or your favorite job board and set up your job search criteria around industry, location, function, and other keywords. Then opt in to have jobs matching your criteria emailed to you weekly or daily.

This saves you a ton of time because you aren’t combing through job postings. Then you can prioritize any applications that you’ll send over the holidays to ones that were just posted.

7. Brush Up Your Resume

If you find yourself with a few days off of work and kiddos deeply engaged with a new joy, use that to brush up your resume.

This doesn’t have to be an overwhelming task – I promise.

If you need a new resume format, grab this resume template for free.

Then check to see if your resume lists responsibilities or accomplishments. If it’s responsibility-based, think about your key accomplishments at your previous roles and then include THOSE at bullet points instead.

Instant impact!

Grab your free resume template here.

8. Practice Interview

If you have been getting good traction with your job search and have some interviews coming up after the holidays, take some time to practice.

Try answering these three questions to start:

Tell me about yourself.

Why are you interested in this company and this specific position?

Why should we hire you?

There are lots of other questions too, including behavioral “tell me about a time” type questions, but let’s start here then move on to the next.

9. Make a Post Holiday Plan

One thing you can take care of now that doesn’t require a time commitment over the holidays – make a plan for what you’re going to do AFTER the holidays.

That way you don’t show up in January confused about your next steps, but instead you’re ready to take action.

One move you could make now is checking out the free How to Land a Fulfilling Job You Love Without Giving Up the Flexibility You Need training! Grab a time that works for you and you’ll be walking away knowing what 3 mistakes to avoid when searching for a fulfilling and flexible job so that you don’t waste time endlessly scrolling job boards. Then you’ll be ready to roll come January!

10. Celebrate!

That’s right – celebrate! Be with your people, enjoy yourself, relax!

Job searching can be stressful and it’s good to take a break.

Plus you should be celebrating you! You’re working really hard, you’re putting yourself out there, and you’re investing in yourself to make a change. Cheers to that and cheers to you!