Amidst the copious amounts of turkey,tangled lights, family visits and well-wishes that fill the holiday season sitsan opportunity for you to improve your job search and career in general. Usingthe three ideas in this article, you can get yourself looking more polished, inbetter standing with your connections, and on the right path to personalsuccess just in time for the New Year.
The New Year Means a New Look
Well, not necessarily a completely newlook. Since the New Year is a time for making your life better with new goals,it is also perfect for polishing your business look. Whether you’re looking fora job or think you might look at some point during the, it’s good to optimizeand fine-tune your business cards, website and LinkedIn profile.
Business Cards: Your business card is often your first impression. Take theholidays as a time to treat yourself to newer cards. Whether it’s adding socialicons or re-designing the entire card, giving yourself a distinct look for theNew Year will set you up for success. Website: If you have a website, you’d better believe that the holidays area good time to make some changes. Add more personal information to your site,change your current aspirations and goals, or just make a resolution to writemore blog posts next year if you didn’t this year. LinkedIn Profile:If you’re attentive of your LinkedIn profile,this tip doesn’t pertain to you. However, if you’re someone who checks outtheir profile once or twice a month, take the holidays as an opportunity toclean up your profile, get it up-to-date, and make it look exceptional for potentialemployers.
Wish Your Connections a Happy Holiday Season
One effective way to keep yournetworking connections interested in your life is by sending them a customChristmas card. While holiday cards are often sent to close friends and family,a special greeting to a few of your connections can go a long way for yourrelationship. This can be especially helpful if you’re looking to find a jobaround, or just after the holidays.
A good way to start is by mining yourLinkedIn profile. Sift through and see which of your connections you’re eitherthe closest to, or think can help you out in the near future.
*Note: If you haven’t spoken to this connection for a while, re-ignitethe conversation before your send them a card. This way, the card seems lesslike an arbitrary ploy for advice and help and more like a genial statement,which it is.
From here, it’s all about writingsomething that gives them your gratitude. While this card won’t get theirundivided attention. The fact that you sent them a Christmas card will beremembered the next time you ask them for advice or leads. A simple card canlend itself to big wins in the future.
Take a Look in the Holiday Mirror
Similar to the first piece of advice in this article, theholidays can be the best time to reassess your business appearance. Even moreimportant is revisiting your personal development and the direction you wantyour career or job to go in the future. New Year’s is a fresh start. This stepcan be one too.
Take a look back at the past year and the road ahead, andthink about these questions about your job and your life:
What career goals did I accomplish this year,and did this job get me to those goals?Did I not get done what I wanted to this year,and why?Will the position I’m currently in get me towhere I need to go?Have my previous goals changed, or has a totallynew idea sprung up?Asking these questions can be like opening Pandora’s Box.Thoughts that are very difficult to swallow or comprehend (especially if theyare much different than the previous year) may come pouring out. But taking thetime to hash out what you truly want will lead you towards a job that not onlysatisfies your career goals, but your life goals as well.
There’s always an opportunity to improve your worth topotential employers, and the holidays are no exception. So in between wrappingpresents, traveling to see family, and stuffing yourself full of deliciousfood, remember that it pays to invest just a little time in your careerdevelopment during the holidays.
Bobby Gaglini is a Marketing Associate for SEO for Vistaprint, an online print leader in Christmas cards, business cards and other small business marketing needs.Posted at 08:45 AM in Advice, Career, Networking | Permalink | |
| | Digg This Comments Keeping Your Networking Tree Fruitful During The Holidays Amidst the copious amounts of turkey,tangled lights, family visits and well-wishes that fill the holiday season sitsan opportunity for you to improve your job search and career in general. Usingthe three ideas in this article, you can get yourself looking more polished, inbetter standing with your connections, and on the right path to personalsuccess just in time for the New Year.
The New Year Means a New Look
Well, not necessarily a completely newlook. Since the New Year is a time for making your life better with new goals,it is also perfect for polishing your business look. Whether you’re looking fora job or think you might look at some point during the, it’s good to optimizeand fine-tune your business cards, website and LinkedIn profile.
Business Cards: Your business card is often your first impression. Take theholidays as a time to treat yourself to newer cards. Whether it’s adding socialicons or re-designing the entire card, giving yourself a distinct look for theNew Year will set you up for success. Website: If you have a website, you’d better believe that the holidays area good time to make some changes. Add more personal information to your site,change your current aspirations and goals, or just make a resolution to writemore blog posts next year if you didn’t this year. LinkedIn Profile:If you’re attentive of your LinkedIn profile,this tip doesn’t pertain to you. However, if you’re someone who checks outtheir profile once or twice a month, take the holidays as an opportunity toclean up your profile, get it up-to-date, and make it look exceptional for potentialemployers.
Wish Your Connections a Happy Holiday Season
One effective way to keep yournetworking connections interested in your life is by sending them a customChristmas card. While holiday cards are often sent to close friends and family,a special greeting to a few of your connections can go a long way for yourrelationship. This can be especially helpful if you’re looking to find a jobaround, or just after the holidays.
A good way to start is by mining yourLinkedIn profile. Sift through and see which of your connections you’re eitherthe closest to, or think can help you out in the near future.
*Note: If you haven’t spoken to this connection for a while, re-ignitethe conversation before your send them a card. This way, the card seems lesslike an arbitrary ploy for advice and help and more like a genial statement,which it is.
From here, it’s all about writingsomething that gives them your gratitude. While this card won’t get theirundivided attention. The fact that you sent them a Christmas card will beremembered the next time you ask them for advice or leads. A simple card canlend itself to big wins in the future.
Take a Look in the Holiday Mirror
Similar to the first piece of advice in this article, theholidays can be the best time to reassess your business appearance. Even moreimportant is revisiting your personal development and the direction you wantyour career or job to go in the future. New Year’s is a fresh start. This stepcan be one too.
Take a look back at the past year and the road ahead, andthink about these questions about your job and your life:
What career goals did I accomplish this year,and did this job get me to those goals?Did I not get done what I wanted to this year,and why?Will the position I’m currently in get me towhere I need to go?Have my previous goals changed, or has a totallynew idea sprung up?Asking these questions can be like opening Pandora’s Box.Thoughts that are very difficult to swallow or comprehend (especially if theyare much different than the previous year) may come pouring out. But taking thetime to hash out what you truly want will lead you towards a job that not onlysatisfies your career goals, but your life goals as well.
There’s always an opportunity to improve your worth topotential employers, and the holidays are no exception. So in between wrappingpresents, traveling to see family, and stuffing yourself full of deliciousfood, remember that it pays to invest just a little time in your careerdevelopment during the holidays.
Bobby Gaglini is a Marketing Associate for SEO for Vistaprint, an online print leader in Christmas cards, business cards and other small business marketing needs. Become a Fan ( function() { var container = document.getElementById( 'facebook-like-container' ); if ( container ) { var e = document.createElement( 'fb:like' ); e.setAttribute( 'href', 'http://blog.simplyhired.com/' ); e.setAttribute( 'layout', container.offsetWidthBrought To You By#sh_job_widget {width:165px; border:1px solid #cccccc; margin-top:8px;}#sh_job_widget form input {width:155px; margin:4px; font-size:14px; font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; }#sh_job_widget form button {margin:4px; font-size:12px; font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; }#sh_job_widget h3 {font-size:12px; font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight:bold;color:#666666; margin:4px;}
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