Whether it’s office jobs, warehouse positions or marketing jobs, there’s a time of the year when companies slow down their hiring. That time of year is the end of the year or Christmas time. The last of the current year is when companies close out their bookkeeping for the fiscal year. The new quarter is the time to start fresh with your job search. Hiring managers take vacations at the end of the year too. With the holidays and fourth-quarter bookkeeping, this is a slow time for hiring, but it’s a great time to prepare yourself for a job search in the new year.
Update Your CV
Your resume is the introduction between you and the company. Prior to the resume, the company doesn’t know anything about you. Don’t let your resume give them the wrong impression. You could be the ideal candidate for the position and a serious asset to the company, but they won’t know that with a terrible resume introduction. All words and phrasing should flow properly. There should be no misspellings in your resume. Read it backwards from the bottom. Your brain won’t insert what it thinks should be there. It will read what’s on the page.
Hire a Professional
A professional resume writer can give you sound advice on your CV. They could rewrite the entire resume to accurately reflect your experience and previous job experience to impress hiring managers. Unfortunately, not everyone can afford a resume writer. Often, a fresh pair of eyes on your resume can help. Have a friend read your resume and make suggestions. Don’t forget that any resume you send should include a cover letter or inquiry letter. This letter should introduce you to the hiring manager and talk about why you’d be an asset to the company. It should have details about the company as well as slanted towards the type of position you’d like.
Professional Contacts
If your email address doesn’t have a professional polish to it, consider creating an email specifically for your job search. It should have your first and last name or first initial and last name so it’s serious and professional. Make sure your message system is professional and not filled with your favorite music. A hiring manager will not be impressed with your favorite band in the background. Remove any music or sounds and make sure the message states your name clearly.
Dress Code
Many people have at least two outfits for interviewing. If you worked in a business professional office, you probably have the proper attire for an interview. Those who worked in a casual office will need to buy or borrow clothing. One outfit should be for initial interviews. It can be the same outfit for every first interview as long as it’s clean and pressed. The second outfit is for the second interview. There can be two interviews in some companies. If you receive a call for a second interview, you want to be prepared.
Interview Skills
This is the time to practice, practice and practice again. Find the most critical friend that you have who is willing to give you harsh critiques. For jobs in Kandy or any other location, the interview is the most important step in the process. It’s what lands you jobs in Colombo, whether it’s marketing, finance or communication jobs. The friend should ask very pointed questions about previous work experience and the common questions asked by interviewers.
Research Job Markets
The winter months should be used to research job markets and find out what companies will be hiring in the new year. This is the time that you need to take advantage of and set yourself up for success at the start of 2015. Even if you’re desperate for a position, you don’t want to appear like you’ll take any position available. Find out about companies in your field. Proper research into local companies will help when you officially start your job search. It will provide information for a proper cover letter too.
Professional Groups
Professional business groups can be local. You can find them at the chamber of commerce or other official government offices. They are often associated with the local government but are open to most business people in the area. If you don’t wish to be affiliated with the local group, you could join an online networking group like those on LinkedIn. Some employers want to check out your demeanor and professionalism so they will check social media and LinkedIn to see whether you’re networking.
Goals and a Plan
While doing all this research and gearing yourself up for the new year, you can set up a plan for what you hope to accomplish. The end goal is a job, but what do you hope to accomplish on the way to that goal. Joining professional groups, networking with others in your field and polishing your business pitch should be on that list of goals too.
Networking
Some people do not want to join professional business groups, but at the very least, tell everyone you know that you’re going to be looking for a job. They’ll keep you in mind if they hear about positions. There’s nothing worse than a friend saying they didn’t know you were looking when they heard about a position recently. If you recently graduated from university, talk to the office for alumni. Some universities have a job placement department that might have some viable leads.
Hit the Ground
At the start of 2015, review your plan. Do you have your resume? Is your grooming impeccable? Use the list of companies you researched to start sending out inquiries for jobs in Sri Lanka or jobs in Kandy. Hiring in the first quarter of the year is on the upswing, and you want to be on the minds of hiring managers. Vacancies will fill up quickly once they’re open, but because you’ve prepared so thoroughly, you will have no problem finding a job.
