Are you a student looking to earn some extra cash over the holidays? Or perhaps someone trying to enter the workforce fulltime but needing some holiday employment to beef up your resume?
Whatever your reason for looking for a job heading into the holiday season, you can find plenty of opportunities if you know how to search effectively. Many employers seek out temporary help during the holidays to accommodate the crush of shoppers, extra events such as office parties, and so on.
Take advantage of this opportunity by implementing our list of helpful holiday job search tips:
1. Improve your LinkedIn profile
LinkedIn is a professional social networking platform that hosts more than half a billion accounts, so you should put in some effort to make sure that your profile stands out.
Recruiters will scour this platform to look for someone with a powerful professional presence.
To increase your chances of being noticed, you can check out these awesome tips to spice up your LinkedIn profile:
- Make sure you keep your profile up to date
The more complete it is, the better your chances of being discovered. Recruiters like to research potential candidates as much as possible before approaching them, so be sure to fill out every section on your LinkedIn profile as thoroughly as you can.
You can also take advantage of LinkedIn’s built-in Profile Strength meter to analyze the completeness of your profile. Make sure to follow its suggestions to know where you can improve.
- Customize your URL
LinkedIn automatically assigns a URL to your profile when you sign up. This URL usually contains a bunch of random numbers and can look quite messy.
By going to the Edit Profile screen and clicking “Edit” next to your Public Profile URL, you can create a custom URL that links to your LinkedIn profile. Having a URL with the format linkedin.com/yourname will help you appear more professional.
- Add a professional-looking profile picture
Sure, you look cute in that picture your mom took of you playing with your dog, but unless you’re looking for a job in the animal industry, this might not serve your purposes.
Conduct a search and try to match the types of images most people in your niche are using. An appropriate picture will convey the feeling that you are serious about the work that you do.
Never underestimate the importance of the role that LinkedIn can play in your search for employment, even if you’re just looking for a temp job. Having a strong online presence will maximize your chances of getting hired.
2. Clean up your social media history
You should focus on branding yourself in the same way that big corporations do. Google yourself to see what shows up, because this is exactly what recruiters might do.
Pictures of you drunkenly passed out by the pool at a college party might raise red flags for hiring managers who are looking for trustworthy employees.
Simply shutting down all of your social media profiles while job hunting may look suspicious, so focus on changing your social media settings to convey the best features of your personality.
Below are a few tips you can use specifically for Facebook:
- Secure your privacy
Did you know that Facebook allows you to decide who sees certain information and posts?
By clicking on the drop-down “share with” menu, you can choose to only share sensitive content with specific friends or groups.
- Limit old posts
Some of us like sharing way too much information on social media, checking in to every Burger King we visit, posting updates about how we’re “having such a bad day”— you get the idea. If you go to your Facebook Privacy Settings, you can click on Limit Past Posts to make sure that only relevant information shows up when someone views your profile.
- Untag yourself from incriminating photos:
By untagging yourself from photos that are not so flattering, you will ensure that only the photos you are happy to share will show up if someone searches for your name.
To prevent the need for untagging yourself from future posts, you can enable Timeline Review. This allows you to be notified whenever someone wants to tag you in a post, and gives you the option of deciding not to let it show up on your timeline.
3. Volunteer at a non-profit organization
Volunteering for a role related to your target job may not only benefit the community, it can also help you land the perfect job.
Not only do you get free training when you volunteer in a specific area, but you also get the chance to network with other professionals in the field.
Volunteering also shows ambition, which is always a nice attribute from a recruiter’s perspective.
4. Spread the word
Tell your friends, neighbors, the guy at the grocery store, the person you meet at the park — you never know who has information about a job opening that might be just right for you.
Don’t be shy about letting people know that you are in the market for holiday work. It’s a simple form of networking that doesn’t take much time but can yield big results. And if you are brought to the attention of a potential employer with a recommendation from someone they know, your resume could easily land on the top of the pile.
5. Go through a recruiting agency
Some companies enter into agreements with temporary employment agencies to search for seasonal employees on their behalf.
A temporary staffing firm acts as a matchmaker between hiring managers and job seekers. You can choose to collaborate with a recruiting agency that offers general temporary staffing services, or you can opt for one that focuses on temporary staffing in a specific industry.
Conclusion
Start your search now to get a jump on the process. By incorporating these strategies, you should be able to unlock a number of profitable and challenging opportunities.