By Terry Szwec, Felix® Global Corp.

TORONTO (December 14, 2009) - With the holiday season upon us and thousands of people searching for work, we find success this month in an interesting season - the holiday season!

The holidays are an excellent time to build, maintain, and nurture personal relationships. Calendars are emptier, hearts more generous, and most importantly, busy people are more relaxed, having stopped travelling, so they will be more approachable for appointments and lunch dates. Much of our career coaching practice centers around supporting the effective campaigns of job seekers, currently in the market, that require some focused and directed coaching - to achieve success.

A job search campaign requires great planning, organization, and an effective and focused strategy to achieve success in today's job market. When you become a job seeker, the old adage "your network is your net worth" rings true. Research has shown that over 80% of the time you will be successful in landing your dream job through networking. Below are some ideas to support your job search efforts during the holidays.

Top Reasons Why People are Successful:

1. Preparation of the campaign target and career choice, organizing your campaign, and the target networks. Who are your 1, 2 and 3 targets?
   
   
2. Research regarding the market, the organizations you would like to target, and the career objective(s) that you are seeking.
   
   
3. Practiced and Skilled in handling both the information and job interviews. Content, style and personality of the job seeker and using a more structured approach in handling the interview, are important factors.

10 Tips for a Successful Job Search During the Holidays

1. Know your Goals. The number one reason job seekers are unsuccessful is that they do not know what they want. Be clear and focused, and eliminate running a fragmented job campaign.
   
   
2. The Best Convincer Wins the Top Job. Hone and sharpen your convincing skills. It is often not the best person who wins, but the candidate who knows how to market and sell themselves effectively.
   
   
3. Network. Network. Network. Since over 80% of successful job seekers land their dream jobs through contacts that they have made and strategically developed over the years, you need to develop and work your network. Create a target list and ask everyone you know for advice and information to support your personal marketing plan. Also attend and/or hold holiday get togethers, send greetings, and reach out to former colleagues and friends.
   
   
4. Marketing 101 Rules! Research your marketplace, cruise the internet for trends and new directions, take relevant courses. Learn how to market yourself through books and articles and talk to the experts to learn their secrets. "Storyboard" your vision, goals, objectives, strategies, plans and activities that should include three areas in your target, your ideal position, and your landing date. If you need help, consider calling a consultant! After this important work is completed, you are then ready with your marketing plan to chart and benchmark your success.
   
   
5. Information and Referral Meetings. Know your A-B-Cs. The As include people you know. Meet with them and tell them what you are researching, have them refer you to B contacts or bridging contacts, which will lead you to your C contacts -- the people that can make decisions that lead you to your next job.
   
   
6. Avoid Dreadful Interviews. Always be prepared by rehearsing your “elevator script.” Include a few sentences about who you are and your objective. Practice tough interview questions, videotape your session, and critique it. Practice with a friend or a coach who can help you improve by critiquing your interview strengths and weaknesses.
   
   
7. Ace the Interview! Fully research the company and diagnose its organizational challenges, understanding how to align its needs -- with what you can offer. Be the aspirin for their pain.
   
   
8. Be Authentic. Interviewers will advance you to the next step if you are able to build a sense of trust. Be natural, build a relationship through the interview and ensure that references and resumes are all reliable and trust enhancing.
   
   
9. Always Thank the Individual. Ensure that you have thanked your interviewer or networking contact. Promptly send a voice mail, a personal note or a letter.
   
   
10. Smoothly Transition into your New Position. To be a success in your NEW job, be credible, make a contribution, and be a good communicator.

By identifying what you have to offer, what you need to do and know to stay competitive, marketing yourself, and preparing and planning, your job search will be a success! When preparation meets opportunity, success will follow. We wish you many new opportunities!

Have a wonderful and safe holiday season.

Copyright of Felix® Global Corp. 2009. All rights reserved. ® Registered trademark of Felix® Global Corp. Felix® Global Corp. is a dynamic, fast-growing human capital management firm with global reach that focuses on helping organizations gain competitive advantage through providing best-in-class business solutions which unleash the power of people. With over 20 offices in North America, Felix® Global helps business leaders assess, understand and shape their corporate cultures to drive exceptional business performance. Whether one-to-one or enterprise-wide, Felix® Global provides end-to-end holistic, integrated, full-service solutions. Felix® Global offers Strategic & Organizational Consulting for: Career Solutions, Leadership Development & Consulting, Assessment and Measurement, and Recruitment & Outsourcing, including H.R. Managed Services.
For more information, please visit the Felix® Global Corp. website at www.felixglobal.com or call 1-877-789-7023.