Just like the holiday lists you need to prepare, the last minute gift shopping and the mad rush to the holiday spiked eggnog, you may not find time to do the one thing that’s been on your mind for awhile, look for a new job. It may be on your list, you may have even checked it twice but it’s a far cry from getting your job jingle on if you are not motivated to start searching.
The job search process can be one of the most stressful events in anyone’s life. Next to marriage, buying your first home, having your first child, finding and keeping a job in this day and age is not something you can commit to with all of your being. Once upon a time you would graduate school, have ten job offers post-graduation you might consider and pick a job you could stay with until retirement. Now you are lucky if you can graduate college without a hefty debt-load, get at least one job offer post college and stay with a job until your 401K employer match kicks in. My how times have changed. And if that were not enough to take the “ho-ho” out of your holiday jingle, think about all of the other folks just like you all up against the same set of challenges. Yes, the odds are not staked in your favor.
The holidays may be a time for merriment, spending time with loved ones and reflecting on all the things you are grateful for. The holidays can also be a time where you take a serious look at your job prospects and start to put some real goals against your holiday wish list before you sing your last jingle. It’s okay to have a little fun and catch up on some much-needed rest, but waiting too long to get into the job-jingle spirit may make you late for the party in more ways than you’d like to count.
Here are a couple of creative things you can do for yourself this holiday season that might make the time in between gift-wrapping a little more productive as well as fun:
- Gift of Time: Maybe you have a little time on your hands this holiday season or, at the very least you might be able to make a little time for yourself with some advanced planning. Allowing yourself the time to think about your next career move with respect to the things you’d like to accomplish may be the biggest gift you can give yourself this holiday season.
- Make A Wish It’s okay to work on the job search thing as a solo endeavor but what if instead of exchanging gifts this year, you asked a friend or two for some job assistance? Maybe they can help you write a resume, or maybe they have a few networking invites they can extend, maybe they are even in a position to get you an interview with a company or job you really want? Knowing how to get the most out of your holiday can make the difference between moving ahead in your job search from lagging behind.
- Count Your Blessings: It’s nice to be good to others, but are you good to yourself? Counting the blessings you have now will help you realize even more good fortune in the future. Being positive about your prospects no matter how difficult your job search has become is the right way to honor the holidays and to honor your job efforts to date.
When it comes time to sing your “job jingle” remember to think about the good things that will come your way:
Jingle jobs, jingle jobs,
Jingle all the way,
Oh! what fun it is to search
For a job to come my way.
Jingle jobs, jingle jobs,
Jingle all the way,
Oh! what fun it is to get
A job where I might stay…
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