The Morning Blend: 5 Gifts for Your Job Search

Now that another Thanksgiving is behind us, it’s time to turn our attention to holiday gift giving and the close of another year. Enjoy this time of year with your family and friends and get your mind and heart right for a bright, new year ahead!

The holiday season is hectic, and if you’re still looking for your perfect job, the last month of the year may be frustrating for you. While you can still make initial contacts and set up some interviews, the chances that you will receive a job offer in the next month are small due to what I call the “December Distractions”

Hiring managers and recruiters are busy both inside and outside the office in December and it will be very difficult for you to move along the path to a “you’re hired” given all the stumbling blocks. With yearend accounting and 2011 budgets due in December, many C-level decision makers put off hiring decisions until January. Recruiters are also trying to land new corporate clients before the New Year begins, and their December is muddled and hectic as well. Add to this the fact all of these folks are caught up in shopping for gifts, attending holiday parties, readying their homes for visiting family, putting up decorations, etc, – your job search will not be on the top of their to-do list in December!

However, you can still make positive strides in your job search in December but you have to “flip the script” a little to do it! My holiday wish for you is this - GIVE YOURSELF 5 wonderful presents this year that will enhance your search and make you much more effective at the start of 2011.

December is the ideal time to work on these items, and unwrapping these gifts before the end of the year will give you more self-confidence, motivation, and drive to succeed!

Gift #1 – Refine Your Targets – I have met some job seekers this year who have listed 60-80 companies as targets for opportunities. There is absolutely no way to be effective with this many prospects. Start 2011 with 10-20 very specific companies and corresponding job possibilities. Narrow your focus and become an expert on each of these organizations.

Gift #2 – Meticulously Research Each Company – If you have attended one (or more!) of my seminars or workshops, you have heard me preach about having 10-20 great questions ready for the recruiter or hiring manager before you walk in for the interview. Use that level of detective work and scrutiny to find out everything you can about your 10-20 company targets. You must know more about the company you are pitching than the recruiter and almost as much as the hiring manager! Doing this will give you tons of confidence and it shows the hiring manager a great attitude, tremendous effort and energy, as well demonstrating your intensity.

Gift #3 – Polish Your Resumes and Cover Letters – Use the next month to have other people critique your resumes and cover letters. Note, I used a plural on both “resumes” and “cover letters” – you need multiple versions to send out if you are targeting different industries or diverse companies. Also, you don’t necessarily need “experts” to critique your resume – use colleagues, friends, and those you trust to give you a straight answer. Resumes are very personal and there are literally hundreds of styles and versions on the market. If your resume is not getting hits, invest in a professional to get it right. If you just want an opinion, turn to someone you trust.

Gift #4 – Perfect Your Elevator Speech/Interview Stories - Use December as the time to really work on and perfect your 30-60 second “elevator speech” about yourself. You need to be able to describe you, your strengths, your passions, and why you targeted the company in less than a minute. Have trusted colleagues or friends help you with this one as well. When it comes to the “interview stories,” these are critical for the open ended questions – these show your uniqueness, your outlook, and your integrity (among other VOWELS!). You have to learn to weave your stories in at the right times during the interview. I suggest practice interviews or at least saying these out loud so that you can hear how they come across in discussion.

Gift #5 – Work Your Network – December is a fantastic time to reach out to others in your network for assistance because everyone is in such a giving mood! Asking for help before the end of the year from a colleague will make you both feel better and it will energize your network for the year ahead. Send out holiday cards early and then follow up with a phone call. Send funny emails with dancing elves that have your head on the elf body (love those!), then leave the person a voice mail. Schedule a lunch with several of your colleagues to really get the networking going! People want to help each other in December so don’t be afraid to ask! And don’t forget the networking groups and their holiday luncheons – an outstanding place to reach out to folks and ask for assistance or guidance with your search.

I guarantee you that if you unwrap all 5 of these gifts by the end of the year; your job search will kick into high gear in 2011! I’m here to help in any way I can!

Sincerely,

Brad Raney

brad@improveyourvowels.com

Brad Raney is a motivational speaker, life coach, author and sales trainer. He has over 25 years of experience in sales and sales management within the broadcast industry. Brad developed the VOWELS program in 2009 and the success it brought his sales team has spurred keynote speeches, workshops, seminars, a website, and his first book “Improve Your VOWELS, Improve Your Career!” which was released in July 2010. Click here to order “Improve Your Vowels, Improve Your Career! The A, E, I, O, U’s of Finding Your Perfect Job!” — Available Now!

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