People often believe the summer season is the most challenging time to search for a job. While many decision-makers wait to hire in the fall, a summer job search can prove the perfect opportunity to land the right position for you as you have less competition to fill the vacancies that exist.
Furthermore, the summer season is the perfect time to prepare for a future job search by networking. There’s plenty of opportunities to network in summer – think patio season, summer BBQs, company picnics, road trips … plenty of low key, less stress opportunities to connect and build authentic networking relationships that may end up influencing your future job search.
Summer Networking Tips to Boost Your Future Job Search through Networking:
Spice Up Your LinkedIn Profile
Put in the time to make your LinkedIn profile something that will get you noticed. Add in your STAR stories and use power words that set you apart to anyone viewing your profile. Be active on your profile by sharing articles and commenting on posts to demonstrate your experience and expertise.
Research
When it comes to networking, landing a job comes down to quality over quantity. You can have hundreds of people in your network, but, if those people, cannot help you find viable leads, they will prove useless to the future of your career. Summer enables you to slow down to research contacts that will help you build a quality network. Additionally, reaching out to people while you are not aggressively searching for a job gives you time to really build relationships with those people and even help them out before you turn to them to help you in a job search.
Get Out of the Normal Networking Scenes
As you work to authentically network during the summer, consider alternative environments in which you can network. Host an informal outdoor meetup—hiking or golfing—to meet new people and build relationships with those you already know. You could also set up a meeting at a coffee shop or restaurant. Regardless of what you do, getting outside the office—or the computer—allows you to really get to know people and build stronger relationships with them.
Summer is a time where people seem not as stressed and are happy to socialize; therefore, you can take advantage of this season to build a strong network that will help the future of your career.
Leave a Reply