Welcome to job search, holiday edition. It’s not fun to be job-hunting while people are buzzing around buying gifts or traveling to see family. As noted in last week’s column, that’s one reason for taking a holiday break from the search: Sometimes you just need a chance to recharge your batteries, and this year’s Wednesday holidays almost guarantee a slowdown from employers.
If that’s been your strategy, stick to it. The way to make it feel more refreshing? By having a plan in place for when you return to your search.
Following are eight steps for returning to job search in January. These are calibrated toward those with little or no employment — and thus, some schedule flexibility. If you’re working while searching, just adjust the steps to fit your situation.
• 1. Set meetings for the first week of January. These could be with networking contacts or perhaps a professional association meeting or a class at your local workforce center. Set two, preferably in-person, conversations. This helps you re-establish or maintain a habit of leaving home and being seen by others. If job leads or advice result, that’s even better.
• 2. Set meetings for the rest of January. Right — that’s a repeater. If you’re like many job-seekers, you’ve been conducting your job search remotely. This may seem efficient but it can spiral quickly into isolation. If needed, some of the “meetings” can be sessions in the library or at a coffee shop with your laptop.
• 3. Create a work window. Between two and four hours each day is good. You don’t need more time, but less won’t let you build momentum. Starting at the same time every day is ideal, especially if it’s in the morning. This gives you the afternoon for other pursuits, and keeps you from dreading the search all day.
• 4. Sandwich in exercise. A brief walk or set of stretches before and after each job search session helps clear your head. It also ensures you get some exercise when that can feel more difficult to fit in.
• 5. Focus on tasks, not the big picture. Of course your goal is to get a job, but that’s not likely to happen all at once. Focusing on the tasks you’ve set for your daily job search is all that’s needed. If the tasks are on target, you’ll move along to your goal. Tasks could include: identifying and researching appealing employers; checking your network for relevant contacts; connecting with those contacts to ask for meetings, etc.
These are steps in a targeted job search process, but of course your tasks could also include checking online postings and applying for positions. The key is to limit the postings process to an hour or less each day or to relegate it to only one day a week. This helps you avoid the diminishing returns of reviewing less and less appealing jobs.
• 6. Create a master timeline. How many contacts and job applications for January? A good goal would be 10-20 per week combined, depending on your job target. Whatever goal you set, be sure to keep track. At the end of the month, count how many interviews or meetings resulted. If not at least three or four for the month, stop and get advice. You need stronger results in order to get an offer.
Otherwise, if the process is bringing results, set new goals for February that replicate whichever steps in January brought you the most success. Then check again at the end of February. With this intensified focus, the count should be up, perhaps to seven or eight meetings and interviews. If not, stop and get advice.
• 7. Add part-time work or volunteering. With job search taking two to four hours a day, you have time for another activity. This might be counter-intuitive, but adding something to an otherwise fluid calendar can create the structure needed for job search to happen consistently.
• 8. If not employed, get advice in March. If you’re not employed or well on your way to an offer by mid-March, something needs to be shifted in your goal or re-aligned in your process. Don’t just continue doing the same thing, because all that will change is your momentum — and not in a good way.
Your new job is out there. Starting fresh on the process can give you the push you need to land it. In the meantime, enjoy your holiday break so you can begin with new energy in January.
Amy Lindgren owns a career consulting firm in St. Paul. She can be reached at alindgren@prototypecareerservice.com.