Tuesday, December 22, 2009

The Job Seekers Holiday Card


Happy Holiday’s December grads! As you step off campus you’ll face the toughest job market seen in decades. With the jobless rate for 20-24 year olds hovering at 16% you’ll have to be creative and take every opportunity to make your pitch. That said, job seekers are often tempted to sideline the search during the holidays but this is the perfect time to make your pitch with a Holiday Card.

The Job Seekers Holiday Card:

A recent grad and former Yale softball player recently sent me an excellent example of this. She really leveraged the Holiday Card to update her professional contacts and send out a signal. Rather than just sending out a blanket Happy Holiday message she took the opportunity to update her contacts on her background, internship experience and next steps. She used the following format to get her message across:

· A brief personalized (hand written) message at the top.

· Followed by a succinct typed out message that talked about her recent graduation, her relocation to a new city, recent internship experiences & job interests.

· Then closed with another brief hand written message at the bottom.

This message did a great job of letting her contacts know how to help. The message was personal, yet to the point. It tied together where she was both geographically and within her job search. As a professional contact I’m reminded that she is job searching and now know enough about her background to point her to the right contacts. One quick reminder is keeping the message clear and succinct leave room for a personal note and don’t forget to include your contact information on the card.

Happy Holidays and Happy Job Hunting!

No comments: