If you ask most job seekers when they are least likely to look for a job, it’s now.
It’s that time of year between Thanksgiving and New Year’s when our lives go in overdrive. It’s a joyous time but it’s also frenzied and stressful. Family obligations, holiday preparations, and social events fill our calendar. Each day our in-box explodes with additional requests for our time, money or both.
Add to that a job search, and it is all enough to make you want to crawl into a hole and hide.
The prospect is tempting. But while you can’t rightly put on hold family commitments, you can choose to hold off on making headway on your job applications until the holiday dust settles.
Wouldn’t it be better to pick up in January? Less stressful? More effective?
Less stressful. Definitely.
More effective? Who knows.
Perhaps December is not the time to whittle away hours editing and fine tuning your resume and cover letters. But it’s a perfect time to get yourself out there and network.
Another party invite that you will have to shuffle commitments for? Dry cleaner closed and no dress to wear? Shudder to think of small talk to make? All your babysitters suddenly out of town?
Why bother? It would be so easy to say no.
Say no and you can be reasonably sure you will be sitting on the floor watching Hotel Transylvania for the xxth time, wrapping presents and drinking egg nog straight out of the box. Lights out by 10 p.m.
But say yes? And you will be sparkling in your brand new heels, phone in hand, Uber on dial, not sure when you’ll be back.
Only one goal to pursue: Fun.
Make fun, not networking, your goal and suddenly tables turn. You are having drinks, telling jokes, building bonds, making friends. And who ever said no to that.
Maybe you’re still job searching in January. Maybe you aren’t. Either way, you’ll be richer in the end.
Just say yes.