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Misperceptions of Job Searching During the Holidays

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So no one is hiring during the holidays, right?

WRONG!

1) It’s the end of the year so obviously no one is hiring.

Not true!  As Staffing Consultant- Temporary Division Kimberly Brown can attest, many organizations need temporary coverage to manage an uptick in business or to cover their employees' vacation time over the holidays. This presents a great opportunity for you to get a foot in the door and show off your skill sets. Also, some hiring managers will need to begin the hiring process now. Thirdly, employers who plan to hire in Q1 of next year will be competing with other employers for the same talent. Therefore, many will be more likely to take the time to review and interview candidates who apply before the January rush.  

2) Organizations’ hiring budgets have been allocated already.

Maybe, but also think about the fact that employers have hiring budget approvals that expire at the end of this year. This creates a sense of immediacy to interview and select the right candidate(s) in Q4 so they do not “lose” their budget allocation.

3) Everyone is so busy during the holidays; no one is around.

Maybe they are “busy” celebrating the holiday so use the nature of the holidays to your benefit.  The spirit of the holidays can have a positive influence on people as they tend to be more festive, relaxed, and generous during this time. This is your chance to take advantage of every invitation and participate in the holiday celebrations, so network with family and friends! Staffing Consultant-Direct Hire Division Claire McKeown suggests, “Share your story by connecting with others this holiday and offer to help them in return. “   

4) I’ll start my job search at the beginning of the year as part of my New Year’s Resolution.

The worst time to start a job search is in January. Many job seekers put their search on hold during the holidays and wait until the New Year. The competition is more fierce in January and so it can be more difficult to stand out from the crowd during this time. People who demonstrate their organizational skills and their ability to be proactive by applying during the holiday season are likely to receive more attention from employers in a smaller pool of applicants. 

As a gift to yourself this holiday season, update your resume with this year’s accomplishments and kick-start your job search now!  The holiday season is a great time to develop relationships that are crucial for hiring in 2012, so when the opportunities surface, employers think of you first.  Staffing Consultant-Direct Hire Division Barbara Demore contends that, “This may be the best time of year to maintain and even accelerate your efforts and raise yourself above the crowd.” There are many opportunities for employment that come with the 1^st of the year if not beforehand, and this year’s early resolution should be dedicated to finding the fit that is right for you…ahead of the competition.

Tell us, what will you do this holiday to boost your job marketability?

Reaching Gen Y

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Ever hear the saying “the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach”? Well, the way to a Gen Y’s mind is through technology.  This estimated 70 million population segment grew up on the internet and high-tech gadgets; these constantly-changing, “world-at-our-fingertips” devices are second nature to them. Understanding who they are as a generation will shed light on how to best approach Gen Y’s about new opportunities and nurture them as future decision-makers in business.  

Note: As a Gen Y myself, I speak generally about Gen Y to illustrate my points but please note that we as an organization support the notion that not all Gen Y’s fall into the described category.

We are the fastest-growing segment in the workforce, and our perspective on work is different than other generations’. The line between work and home is blurry to us, if the line exists at all. We like to spend our time in meaningful and useful ways, no matter where we are. We tend to spend more time “plugged in”  online because our “first language” is the internet and because our social network is there.

From the video, Dr. Marc Hill from Columbia University says the fact that Millennials know how to “connect and access information faster than any other generation in U.S. history” makes them highly attractive to employers. The truth is that we, more than any other generation, are comfortable and like working outside the nine-to-five timeframe.  Especially so if we find meaning behind our work, which further illustrates the “entrepreneurial” approach we often take to achieve our assignments. Actually, entrepreneurship now functions as a safety net for our generation, especially given the relatively soft job market. We love a challenge and multi-tasking is one of our strongest assets.

The way we engage with our networks is demonstrative of what we look for in a career. Here are some suggestions for reaching Gen Y’s:

To recruit…

• Use technology to make a friendly introduction and share information with us, and in short bites (i.e. Twitter).

• Stay connected and communicate with us via social media for a higher response rate and to nurture our interests from the get-go.

• Pitch our strengths to your clients and communicate how adding us to your (client’s) staff is vital for the success of your business’ growth. Our familiarity with technology, coupled with being described as confident, ambitious and achievement-oriented, are a few key selling points to interested employers.

To motivate…

• Find new ways to incorporate technology into the workplace. “Facilitating technology is vital to gaining the highest level of interaction with this group and bringing them on board to achieve company goals,” says Senior Staffing Consultant at John Leonard, Rob Harvie. “

• Include your Gen Y staff in new marketing initiatives or operation processes and cultivate a team-oriented environment to execute.

• Be open to our ideas. An entrepreneurial approach to completing goals resonates with us. We like to find creative and more efficient ways to do things and often excel with a startup-type of project.

Here are some examples of million dollar businesses started by Gen Y’s who have leveraged these skills and abilities:

My Yearbook ($100 million dollar business started by a 15 year old high school student)

Greenhorn Connect (an online hub sharing real-time opportunity updates and resources with the Boston entrepreneur ecosystem started by a 24 year old)

Dart Boston (an online community of Boston professionals and inventors started by a 20 something entrepreneur)

 Facebook (a multi-billion dollar company started by a Harvard undergraduate in a college dorm room)

Gen Y is transforming the way our employers conduct their businesses. Time Magazine online wraps it up the best:  Employers and Older Workers--that is, anyone over 30--need to know how to adapt to the values and demands of their newest colleagues. Before too long, they will be running our organizations.

In what ways do you reach Gen Y’s?

The Undiscovered Advantages of Temporary Work

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