Make the most of the festive season: A guide for using this time to prepare for the January job hunt

New year new job. Sound familiar? 

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Then check out this guide for using your time between festivities to get ahead of the January jobs rush. 

Reflect and set goals 🎯

Any downtime you get in between long lunches, drinks parties and winter walks, use it to reflect on what you want to do next.
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Think about your military experience and pick out the key skills that it’s given you. Consider the most important things you'd like from your career, including salary and the type of work. Then relate this to the competencies that you’ve already proven. This will mean you have the potential to go into a high-paid job, rather than entry-level. 
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Set goals and timelines. When would you like to be in a new role? What salary would you like? Do you need to complete any courses first, and if so, when? 

Update your career profile 👤

Make sure your Redeployable profile, CV and LinkedIn profile are all updated and reflect the transferable skills that you’ve got from your service. 

Tailor your resume to the civvy job market by focusing on your accomplishments, leadership skills and any relevant qualifications that you have. 

Finally, take a great profile picture for your Redeployable profile and your LinkedIn, it makes a great first impression. Outside, with a plain background is best.  

Network and meet new people 🍻

It’s famously a time for a lot of socialising, so use this to your advantage. Family, friends, or work events, you never know who you’re going to end up chatting with or what advice they have. So be enthusiastic and ready to chat about your upcoming plans. 

You can also use this time to make relevant connections on LinkedIn, engage with people's posts and reach out to spark conversations. Ask them if they'd like to go for a coffee, or if they have time for a phone call. You can even use LinkedIn and Google to find any upcoming networking events. (Check out this article if you'd like to learn more about networking)

Do some research 🔍

Look into companies and industries that you’re interested in. Get a handle on market trends, company cultures and skills needed. There’s a talent gap challenge that many industries are facing, so see if you can match your skills to these industries that are recruiting in high numbers. 
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Being clued up not only helps your job hunt, but it shows commitment and preparedness to any future employers. 

‍Upskill 📚

Gaps in your skill set? No stress. 

Use this time to do online courses and workshops to upskill yourself. Making sure you’re proficient in commonly used software (like Excel) is a great place to start. Both Google and LinkedIn offer some great online courses, so this could be a good option for where to start.

Remember you’re a highly-skilled candidate, and if you use this time to prepare yourself for the January jobs rush, then you’ll be snapped up. You’ve got this.

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