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How to Find a Job Over the Holidays

OFFICE PARTIES:

Conquering the holiday office party doesn’t just mean keeping track of how much you drink. Seasonal social events can be the best opportunity to network within your company, so you may want to consider veering away from the buffet line.

“Whether you’re the life of the party or full of social anxiety when it comes to holiday events, it’s important that you go into them armed and ready to make the most of your time with every holiday well-wisher you encounter,” said Maribeth Kuzmeski, author of the recently published book “The Connectors: How the World’s Most Successful Businesspeople Build Relationships and Win Clients for Life.”

Kuzmeski gives these tips for maximizing workplace merrymaking:

- Everyone from your company’s CEO to your top client’s boss are likely to come out of the woodwork for this party. Think about which contacts are the most important to you, and make a point to speak to each of them over the course of the night. Do some research ahead of time to learn about the attendees so you are prepared to engage in conversation with them.

- Ask questions and be sure to have more in your arsenal than small talk. After you’ve asked about how they’ll spend the holidays, move on to more in-depth business questions such as what they see as their biggest work-related challenges, the best thing to happen to their business this year or something they’ve done to change their career.

- Be prepared to pitch yourself in 15 seconds. Resist the urge to give a long introduction, and instead highlight your career and top skills. Be creative and think about how you can frame your accomplishments in a way that gets other guests’ attention.

- The party may end, but your connection shouldn’t. Keep track of all the connections you’ve made, including reminders of interesting or remarkable things that people said or that you learned so that you can refer to them in later conversations. Be proactive and use social media to keep in touch.