This time of year offers special opportunities for job seekers. Holiday networking events, for example, can be great chances to meet professionals you might not encounter otherwise. Additionally, some employers are still eager to fill positions before budgets reset or headcount is finalized in the new year, making it a prime time to stand out with a strategic approach.
Here are five ways you can stand out from the competition this holiday season and find a job before the end of the year.
1. Showcase The Right Skills On Your Resume
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When updating your resume, focus on aligning your experience with the specific demands of the industry. Go beyond just listing responsibilities; dig into job descriptions to identify the core skills that consistently appear for your target roles. By tailoring your resume with these keywords, you not only capture the attention of hiring managers but also boost your chances of passing applicant tracking systems (ATS), which are often programmed to scan for these key terms. It's all about keywords!
During the holiday season, hiring managers are often managing tight timelines and high demands, making it crucial for candidates to demonstrate that they’re ready to hit the ground running. Highlighting industry-relevant skills shows you're not only familiar with the landscape but also equipped to make an immediate impact. Be sure to include examples of how you've leveraged these core strengths in previous roles to support team goals or tackle challenges (aka quantify your work experience). The holidays are hectic, so share with the potential employer how you'll be a positive addition to the team by leveraging your strengths and emphasizing your value as a business-of-one.
2. Dress The Part
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Don't underestimate the power of a great first impression. Dress for the interview in professional attire. Even if the job description mentions a casual dress code, such as jeans and a sweatshirt, it’s essential to show respect for the employer by dressing in a way that demonstrates your commitment to making a positive impression. Wearing attire that reflects your professionalism shows you care about how you're perceived and the impression you leave on others.
Not sure what to wear? We recommend dressing conservatively in clothing one level above what the current employees at the company are wearing. You want to look professional, but not like you don't fit in with the workplace culture.
3. Show Your Connection To The Company
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Employers like to hire candidates who have a passion for what they do. Why? Because when people are passionate about their work, that enthusiasm often translates into a higher level of commitment, creativity, and productivity. This intrinsic motivation can lead to consistently strong performance and a positive impact on the team and company as a whole.
In your disruptive cover letter (and during your job interview), demonstrate how and why you admire the company. Highlight what you love most about their products and services. Give examples of how you have personally used them in your own life with success. The more you can show them you understand and respect the business, the more likely you'll impress the hiring manager and move forward in the interview process.
4. Demonstrate Your Value
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It's important to remember that you're a business-of-one, and you're trying to sell the service you provide as a business-of-one to employers (the customers who will be paying you for the service).
To find a job during the holidays, you must adequately demonstrate your value as a business-of-one and highlight your strengths and the specific benefits you bring as a potential employee throughout the hiring process. How do you do this? Well, make sure to quantify your work experience on your resume. Use numbers to showcase your accomplishments. Clearly state how you'll make or save the company money with your employment. Do this, and you'll easily become one of the top candidates for the position.
5. Express Gratitude
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The holidays are busy for everyone. When you're applying for jobs during the holiday season, keep gratitude in mind. This positive mindset not only helps you stay resilient but also shines through in your applications and interviews, leaving a memorable impression on potential employers.
After every job interview, always send a thank-you note. It's just the polite thing to do, and you'll score more points with the hiring manager. Even if you get rejected, or never hear back about a position, make sure you send an email thanking the employer for the opportunity and wish them the best of luck with finding the right job candidate.
Don't be bitter. Be gracious. You never know what will happen in the future. You might want to apply for another job at the company down the line. So, don't let your frustration get the best of you. Remember: If you get rejected, they didn't say, "No, not ever." They just said, "No, not today."
A successful holiday job search depends on a solid strategy. Follow the guidelines above and land a job this holiday season!
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This is a true story as told to JustJobs Academy which houses career interviews and job search advice for professionals in any industry. Visit to read about how to advance your career and how to take ownership for yourself on the job.
I was the production manager for a Kansas City based business journal. I have over ten years of advertising and media relations experience.
My primary responsibility was to generate revenue through advertising sales and to create high quality ads through various mediums. My specialty was advertorials – paid interview/review/informational style articles written about a specific client as a featured special interest piece. In my opinion, the biggest misconception about print advertising is that it isn't worth the cost. Print advertising allows clients to target a specific market without wasting resources in an area not likely to be receptive to the product or service being offered.
I would give my job satisfaction a solid 10. There is nothing quite like the feeling you get when a client calls to thank you for helping increase their business. What’s even more satisfying is when that client recommends you to a new client and your own business grows as a result. The one thing I would like to see change is the economy. With so many out of work and small businesses failing all around us, people have less and less money to spend on goods and services. The job itself had so many rewards. So many times I would get a call or card from one of my clients thanking me for the work I did, telling me their business had increased significantly since their ad came out.
This job has been incredibly fulfilling for me. I have had the opportunity to work with many wonderful members of my community, pool our resources and come up with new ways to promote local businesses. I can’t tell you how rewarding it is to see a client’s business have customers lined up outside the door because of an ad I created. I have always had a passion for creative writing and just sort of stumbled onto this position by accident. Whether it was my true calling or fate, I can’t say, but I do know it has been one of the most enriching and rewarding experiences of my life.
As people lost their jobs and houses, businesses began loosing business. It wasn't long before those businesses started closing their doors. As more and more of our advertisers were going out of business, we were left scrambling to make operating costs, and in the end, had to close our doors as well. That is perhaps the most unique aspect of working as an advertising executive. You are only as strong as your economy.
One day I picked up a news journal and scanned the pages. There was only one regular writer on staff, so I sent in my resume. A day later, I was being interviewed and the following week moving into my new office. My new editor had this idea that if he combined my creative writing skills with his ability to sell advertising space, we could come up with a more effective ad campaign for our clients. It was a roaring success. If I had it to do over again, I probably would have taken a few marketing classes in college so that I had a better understanding of markets and the role economy plays on spending.
When my business is good, it’s really good, but it goes the other way, too. I think the best way to gauge a local economy is by flipping through a newspaper. If there are lots of ads, things are going well. A vast majority of our advertisers were small, local businesses and because our journal relied primarily on revenue generated from ad space, when those businesses went under, so did we. I think the biggest lesson I learned was the importance of supporting local businesses first.
Something strange I learned from on the job was that we’d recently hired a new sales executive who inadvertently sold ad space for the family section to a clinic that offered abortion services. I had also sold an advertorial to an adoption agency for that same section. I titled the article “Choose Life.” Going through the proofs, we all missed the error. A few days later, our phones were ringing off the hook and we even had several people come into the office telling us how appalled they were that we would run an abortion ad under a “Right to Life” article. Needless to say, it was a lesson to us all. People really DO look at the ads.
The most challenging aspect of selling advertising space is convincing clients they should buy ad space. More often than not, I had to give out free space just to prove it could be effective. Problem clients had me tugging on my hair a few times. Clients have a tendency to want to nitpick about every little detail. They leave little room for true creativity and limit your ability to convey the message you know from experience, works the best.
Stress levels depend entirely on deadlines. There were a few times we had to work through the night to get ads ready on time. This is, however, by no means a complaint, because that simply meant we were making more money, but it can get stressful.
My base salary was $46,000 a year with bonuses ranging from $10,000-$20,000 a year depending on ad sales. For the area that I live, my base salary provided for a comfortable living and I typically took one week of vacation every six months which was more than enough for me.
JustJobs.com is ajob search engine that finds job listings from company career pages, other job boards, newspapers and associations. With one search, they help you find the job with your name on it.Advertising job image from Shutterstock
