While summer is often a time to relax, vacation, and slow down, it can also be one of the best times to look for a new position. While others are off enjoying downtime, you can take advantage of the “lazy days of summer” to embark on a summer job search or level up your skills. Here are five reasons you will want to launch your search during the hottest months of the year.
1. Take Advantage of Summer Hiring Cycles
While it is common that summer can be a slower hiring time for some companies, that’s not true across the board. When companies follow a fiscal year, they could have new openings available come July 1. When you launch a summer job search, you can tap into that larger pool of opportunities. Plus, since companies that follow a calendar year like to onboard before the winter holidays, by starting your search in the summer, you’ll gain a competitive advantage.
2. Expand Networking Opportunities
Yes, many professionals take vacations during the summer, but those lighter numbers at events can work to your advantage. Because networking events are less well attended, you’ll have more time to engage in meaningful conversations with professionals, industry leaders, and potential employers. Seek out events such as industry conferences, workshops, breakfast and lunch meetings, or happy hour mixers within your community.
Remember, networking is often the key to accessing hidden job markets, so don’t downplay its significance—during a summer job search and throughout the year. And whether you meet new people in person or online, be sure to follow up within 24 hours to keep that conversation and relationship moving forward.
3. Enhance Your Resume
Updating your resume is crucial when launching a summer job search. Here are some essential tips to consider:
Add recent achievements.
What wins have you had at work this quarter? Accomplishments play a critical role in highlighting your value add to future employers, yet too few job seekers think to include them. Be sure to craft accomplishments that highlight not only what you did, but the outcome of your efforts as well. If you have relevant metrics or numbers, make mention of those. As your reviewing your recent contributions, they’ll typically center around making money, saving money, making people happy, and improving processes and productivity.
Consider your transferable skills.
If a career transition is your goal, paying attention to how you’re sharing transferable skills on your resume is imperative. Review the skills you have used thus far in your career that will be applicable to the position you want. Then highlight these skills in your summary and areas of expertise, as well as the experience section of your resume, so employers will see what you have to offer them.
Update your contact information.
If it’s been a while since you reviewed your resume, your contact information could be out of date. These days, it’s standard to only include your city and state, not a full address, and you should have your custom LinkedIn URL on your resume as well. Additionally, having your name and one way to contact you at the top of page two helps keep the pages together should they get printed and separated. (And yes, two pages is the ideal maximum length of a resume.)
Tailor your resume for each application.
When striving to get your resume through the applicant tracking software systems most companies use, it is critical to update your resume for each job application. This helps you integrate requirements and keywords into your title, summary, and areas of expertise. Updating your resume also lets employers see that you’ve taken time to highlight how your experience aligns with their needs in the role.
4. Leverage Online Platforms and Job-Search Tools
With the plethora of online platforms and job-search tools available, be sure to use them to your advantage. Ensure your LinkedIn profile is up to date and accurately reflects your skills, experience, and career goals. Actively engage with professional groups, join relevant discussions, and leverage LinkedIn's job-search features. You can also explore job boards, industry-specific websites, and company career pages to identify job openings that align with your interests and aspirations.
5. Prepare for the Interview Process
As you progress through the application process and secure interviews, interview preparation is crucial. Research the company thoroughly, including its values, culture, and recent news or projects. If you know the names of the participants in the interview, do your homework on them as well. Any information you can glean will help in the interview.
Familiarize yourself with common interview questions and practice concise and impactful responses. Be ready to articulate how your skills and experience align with the needs of the company. You’ll also want to prepare thoughtful questions to ask during the interview, which demonstrate your genuine interest in the position as well as the research you conducted ahead of time.
Rock Your Summer Job Search
Blue Signal is always looking for excellent candidates for the positions our clients are seeking to fill. We encourage you to review the open jobs on our website and LinkedIn to see what matches with your qualifications. If you’re unsure if your resume is ready to embark on a summer job search, learn about our sister company, Resume and Career Services. Their team of highly qualified resume writers and career advocates can help you build an interview-getting resume and polish up your interviewing and negotiation skills so you’re ready when those offers come your way.
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