Not everyone came back to work or school on January 3, 2017. Even now some are still on leave, or enjoying extended vacations because the nature of their work or because of school policy. Regardless, this part of our guide is for everyone out there who wants to have fun, while increasing their chances of starting the next chapter of their careers with a bang!
Did you enjoy the last leg of the year-end/year-beginning holiday season? How about the activities we suggested in the first and second parts of this guide? They were fun to do with family and friends, right?
Let’s round up your holiday adventures with a couple more suggestions on what to do to become that dream employee companies will be looking for this 2017. Here we go!
- Keep in touch with connections.
Apart from showing your concern and courtesy, wishing your professional network a happy vacation and staying in touch with them can strengthen your connection. This is what professionals call “establishing rapport”.
Who knows? The people in your network who you treat a bit more warmly might be the ones who give you some extra help to kickstart the next phase of your career. Each of them may know one or two excellent opportunities that you can apply for, and that means a lot of opportunities when you combine your whole contacts list!
The key is respecting the fact that the people within your network know certain opportunities or other connections that you are not aware of. They can help you cover your blind spots, and to gain their confidence you have to be genuine and willing to treat them as long-term professional connections.
- Do some volunteer work.
To do this, you don’t necessarily have to sign up for lots of activities. Get on board up to three activities, and you’ll be good to go for the whole holiday season and beyond. Bring your family or friends along to make it more fun! Try to engage in activities that are in line with your own beliefs and advocacies, and you’ll surely enjoy them and make a huge difference.
But wait: you may ask how this is connected to career-seeking. The answers to that lie in mindset and level of activity. Volunteer work requires at least some level of organization and attention to detail that will keep you sharp until the next working season starts. A moderate level of activity will also help you adjust better to job-hunting and actual work in the first few weeks of 2017. You will feel more energetic, and transition much easier from doing almost nothing to doing a lot of things. And employers love applicants who are not only talented, but full of focused liveliness.
Employers also love candidates who lead productive lives whether at work or not, and who commit themselves to advocacies aligned with their company’s objectives. Keep that in mind if you want something significant to add to your resumé.
And that rounds up our list of things to do if you want to your translate your vacation and post-vacation time into better chances of getting hired. Each of the tips we’d given, in proper practice and moderation, will turn your holidays and post-holidays into an excellent opportunity to grow your professional self.
Most importantly, they can be perfectly integrated into your bonding moments with the people that matter most to you: your family and friends. And at the end of the day, they’re the ones who really take priority in your life whether you’re talking about getting a job or spending quality vacation time.
So go ahead, give them some loving with these activities we’ve suggested over the past weeks. You’ll definitely be spreading the cheer all around when it pays off with that new job this year!