The competition for job seekers has been extremely high over the last year, especially the last 6 months of 2009.  With all of the job searching strategies out there on how to beat the competition, job searching during the holidays is a strategy often overlooked.

Many job seekers believe that the holidays are not a good time for job searching.   The buzz is always that companies don’t hire during the holidays or that companies don’t interview during the holidays.  That may be true for some companies, but there are plenty of other companies that are interviewing and able to hire during this time of year.  While your competition is taking a break over the holidays, you could be getting in front of the right people at the right time without having much competition at all.

Networking meetings could be easier to schedule during the holidays.  With the demand for work slowing down, people have more time to spend meeting and talking with others.   What many job seekers don’t realize is that sometimes companies have money left over in their budget and would rather spend it on hiring someone than to lose it.  Also, the holiday season is a time where people are giving their notice.  People feel the New Year is a good time to start fresh with a new company, which means more open opportunities.

Instead of thinking that the holidays is a time to slow down or to even stop your job search, take advantage of the many benefits of job searching during the holidays and stay in front of your competition.