How to Make the Most of Your Job Search This Summer

How to Make the Most of Your Job Search This Summer How to Make the Most of Your Job Search This Summer This is where that all-important career-life balance comes into play. You may want to make great summer memories with family and friends this time of year, but your job search neednt fall by the wayside. Heres how to make the most of your job search this summer: Kick it into high gear. Think of it this way: the moment the rest of the world is embracing a slower pace is an opportune time for you to stay in the fast lane- and even hit the accelerator. While its true that some industries undergo hiring slowdowns during the summer, thats not necessarily the case across the board. Even as you press ahead, be patient in your job search and silence your inner doubts, bearing in mind that it might take longer to hear back from hiring managers who, like most everyone else, may be taking taking time off here and there during the vacation season. Capitalize on seasonal activities. This one can be a win-win. Outdoor activities, from barbecues to baseball outings, can provide great avenues for networking, and for establishing or maintaining contact with people who can help you find your next job. This can be a matter of planting seeds that may not come to fruition right away, but can lay out a path to a new job in the long run. Say yes to invitations, seek out summer networking events, or stage your own backyard party and invite a mix of people for both fun and business. Make a schedule- and stick to it. For some of us, the daily schedule can get pretty easy breezy during the summer months, increasing the temptation to put things off until tomorrow. If you really want to make the most of your job search this summer, be disciplined. Draw up a  realistic schedule and do your very best to follow it. Establishing a job search schedule and committing to it is one of the most meaningful ways to set your career goals and meet them, no matter what the season. Take advantage of longer days. Forget about the lazy days of summer, and focus on the longer  days that summer brings. Get up earlier, taking full advantage of the potential for quiet time around daybreak to get your job search efforts going with the sunrise. Or if youre more of an evening person, use the summer solstice season and evening cool-downs to makes the most of the time around sunset. Either way, youre providing yourself greater opportunity to find time for relaxation, while staying on track with your job search. Look ahead to autumn. The summer season can offer fertile territory for the fall, when some employers begin gearing up for new projects slated for the third quarter of the calendar year and beyond. You can be way ahead of the competition if you get your resume and credentials in the right hands now. Your strategy should focus on the long game; hiring and staffing managers may give more time during a possibly slower hiring season to weighing job candidates. That, in turn, may give you more time to make contact and follow up with thank-you notes and email, to sell yourself and demonstrate why youre the best candidate for the job. Readers, how much energy are you giving to job search right now? Share your tips for making the most of your job search this summer!