5 Job Search Tips For You This Holiday Season

By Florence Mukunya

Job Search Tips For You This Festive Season

The holiday season is already here; in fact some companies will be closing in the course of this week. Over and above, office parties and other festivities have already taken up which tends to make job seekers slow down when it comes to job search.

Muthoni Ndegwa, a recruitment manager at Corporate staffing Service says that the hiring process doesn’t stop because of the festivities. She notes that some of the organizations are very busy at this time of the year and they therefore tend to look for additional staff on part time basis. This is especially in retail companies such Supermarkets and other industries including hotels and transport.

So is it possible to carry out your job search as usual with the festivities?

Related article: Why You Should Always Plan for Your Job Search

Here are 5 Holiday seasons job search tips

1. Look into temporary positions

Like Muthoni Ndegwa mentioned, some companies become very busy around the festive season, thus they need additional staff on temporary basis to help manage the workload. At the same time some staff members want to take time off so they look for alternative ways to fill the gaps. A temporary job can be a great way to get a permanent job in a new company.

2. Use Volunteering as a job search strategy during the holiday season

Holiday seasons are the best time to give back to the society; there are more opportunities to carry out you charity work and help families in need. As a Community development graduate you can take this opportunity to volunteer with NGOs and other companies that are in line with your career. Take this opportunity to make new professional connections and also boost your confidence.

3. Use Holiday social events to network

Well, during the festivities people travel a lot meeting new faces every time. Don’t make every conversation about your job search, but you can let people know how they can help you in your job search . You could probably ask the people in your network for their job cards and request to contact them come next year.

4. Reach out to your contacts

The holidays are a great reason to reach out to friends and your networks as a way of reconnecting if you may have fallen out of contact. Also, remember ‘scratch my back I will scratch yours’, thus find ways to help the people in your network, and they’ll be more likely to help you in the future.

5. The last of the job search tips-purpose to stick to your resolutions

As a job seeker, you need to be firm with your new year’s resolutions. Start the year by determining and setting up clear goals for the coming year. Also make sure you prepare a compelling CV and work on your interviewing skills.

Lastly Muthoni says that, “Job seekers should not stop their job search because of the holidays, in fact this is the best time to apply for jobs because at the end of the year some companies rush to fill job openings while other companies will be looking to fill positions in 2017 and therefore advertise earlier”.

The writer is a Communications Officer at Corporate Staffing Services, a leading Recruitment firm that offers CV Writing, Job Placement & Career Advice. Email florence@corporatestaffing.co.ke