Holiday Tips For Recruiters And Candidates

It may be creeping up on you, or you may have been buying groceries for a week, but Thanksgiving and the holiday season are fast approaching.  While chowing down on turkey and swilling eggnog, you might give some thought to your career, or to how you sell during the holidays. 

Advice for Candidates:
1) Act Now.  Don't wait until January 1 to start looking for a job.  That's when everyone hits the job boards.
2) Be Social. Attend lots of corporate parties (there's no better place to talk business then a corporate party, and if you're lucky, the festive cheer will lead to referrals, phone numbers, and a new job in your stocking.
3) Enjoy The Season, but Not Too Much.  If you're a candidate, now is not the time to put that jingle bell message on your answering machine or cell phone.

Advice for Recruiters:
1) Respect the Holidays. Some people do not like to work over the holidays.  If you are encountering resistance, be sensitive that there may be extenuating circumstances.  Don't be too cheery or cheesy with your holiday wishes.

2) Work On The Holidays:  In direct contradiction to number 1, remember that people are taking time off to shop, to relax, and using vacation up at the end of the year.  If you work hard at this time, you'll get people when they aren't at work, and prior to the rush of calls in the New Year.  The market is tight, and while you have to be respectful, you also have to dig for people who want to be recruited, but haven't had time to look, until December.

3) Don't forget the holiday wishes.  Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah, or even just Fun Festivus are all important holiday wishes - just make sure you know who you are speaking to. Don't assume - and don't over reach - but a well timed Merry Christmas to someone tired of secular wishes can be a boost to your attitude as well as to your business.

4) Don' forget the e-cards to your contractors.  A little goes a long way. If you're not sending out Christmas cards to you contractors - send them an e-card. 

Advice for Salespeople:

1) Call Early.  Even the most diligent of holiday workers is mentally kicking off by 2:00 or 3:00 in the month of December.  Early calls suggest that you are not giving up on business, but you are leaving your afternoons for shopping, egg nog, and office parties.  7:00 a.m. - 9:00 a.m. calls are a prerequisite.

2) Save your meetings for the afternoon - managers are open to meeting you - and an afternoon can be a casual meeting or coffee or tea or at least not the formal meet and greet you normally use as your introduction.

3) Get your Holiday Cards out early. The day after Thanksgiving is the earliest they should receive the cards - but anytime in the first week is fine.  Managers put those cards up on their desks and boards - the more they have, the more important they seem to co-workers.  Cards sent the day before Christmas have almost no value - and they let the manager know you aren't that organized.

4) Use your time to understand their first quarter needs. If they have business - great.  Many times managers don't - so you have to turn this visit into an analysis of what you'll be doing for them in the next three months.

5)  Schedule your next meeting.  Don't let a prospect escape without scheduling the next phone call or meeting. Telling them when you will next speak with them and then following through is very important.  "We'll talk in January," is not a vote of confidence in you abilities - it is a dismissal.

6)  Go easy on the holiday goodies. The last thing most of us need is more holiday junk food.  Sudoku puzzles, small books and pamphlets, and something they will actually use in the new year (not another coffee mug) is your goal.  Another coffee cake or bagels is overkill, and too many other account managers use this as their hook.

Your managers and lazy recruiters will tell you that December is the slowest month.  While many managers do take that time off, remember that this is the time to differentiate yourself.  There's less business, but less competition, which means more business for you.

Good luck, and so I can be the first to say it, Merry Christmas, St Louis.