How to Job Hunt During the Holidays (Without Feeling Awkward)
How many times have you heard, “Don’t job hunt during the holidays”? Companies are winding down. Hiring freezes are in effect. No one’s looking at resumes between Thanksgiving and New Year’s.
Here’s the problem with that advice. It’s only half true. Trust me, I’m a recruiter and I’ve worked with hundreds of hiring teams over the years.
While many companies do slow down, the candidates who continue applying during the holidays face dramatically less competition. I’ve helped hire at least 20 candidates during November and December over the past decade (at least that I can remember), and the ones who kept going often had faster interview processes and better outcomes than those who applied during the spring “rush.”
But there’s a catch. Holiday job hunting requires a different approach. The awkwardness is real - reaching out when people are planning their PTO, following up during holiday parties, and explaining gaps at family dinners. The key isn’t avoiding the holidays. It’s knowing how to navigate them.
The Holiday Hiring Reality
Let me share what actually happens inside companies during Q4.
Budget approvals often come through in December for headcount that will start in January or February. Hiring managers who've been understaffed all year are scrambling to get job descriptions posted before year-end. And many recruiters are trying to fill their pipelines for Q1 because they know January will be chaos (or at least busy).
A recruiter I worked with at a Fortune 500 company told me she posts 60% of her Q1 roles in December. Why? Because approvals come in late, and she wants candidates ready to interview the first week of January.
What this means for you: companies are absolutely still hiring. They're just hiring differently.
The roles posted in November and December often have faster timelines. Many hiring managers want someone to start in January or early February. This compressed timeline actually works in your favor if you're available and responsive.
And let’s not forget the employers who are trying to use the remaining dollars in their budget this year. Some companies will have budgets that they haven’t spent and are allocated to headcount.
Sometimes these are the roles that have been open for months, and sometimes they’re last-minute roles that a department wants to fill before the end of the year. Either way, now is a great time to apply because responses are typically faster as there is increased urgency to fill these openings before the new year.
When Holiday Job Hunting Actually Works
Not all holiday job searches are created equal. Here's when you should absolutely keep going:
You're in industries that don't slow down.
Healthcare, retail, hospitality, logistics, and customer service are often hiring through the holidays. Technology companies also rarely stop recruiting, especially for engineering and product roles. For a detailed analysis of what I expect to be in demand this year, check out my Fall Hiring Trends: 2025 article.
You're targeting startups or growth-stage companies.
These organizations don't follow traditional corporate calendars. I've seen startups extend offers on December 23rd. As I write this, I’m working with a company that is experiencing rapid growth and is trying to fill 3 openings in their finance department before the end of this year.
You're already in process with companies.
If you have interviews scheduled or final rounds coming up, pushing pause just prolongs your search. Keep your momentum. Don’t stop either until you have a written offer. Even then, I’d say don’t stop until you start that new job. I’ve seen more and more jobs rescinded over the past few years, even after an offer is made.
You were recently laid off.
The worst time to stop looking is right after a layoff. Even if response rates are slower, you're building a pipeline for January when things pick up again.
The real question isn't whether to search during the holidays. It's how to do it without the awkwardness.
Navigating the Social Situations
The hardest part of holiday job hunting isn't the applications. It's the conversations.
Thanksgiving dinner. Holiday parties. Year-end happy hours. Everyone asks what you're up to, and suddenly you're explaining your job search to your uncle who hasn't updated his resume since 1987.
Here's how I advise professionals to handle it.
Have a one-sentence answer ready. Something like: "I'm exploring some interesting opportunities in [your field] and actually pretty optimistic about what's out there." Then change the subject. Many people don't actually want the full story—they're just being polite. I’ve used this with people I just don’t want to have the job search conversation with.
Turn social gatherings into networking opportunities. Holiday parties put you in rooms with people you wouldn't normally talk to. A casual conversation can lead to an introduction. One individual landed a VP role because he mentioned his search to a friend at a New Year's party, and that friend connected him with a hiring manager the following week.
Use the holidays as an excuse to reconnect. Sending a "happy holidays" message to a former colleague or connection is less awkward than a cold outreach. Add a line like "I'm actually exploring new opportunities in [field] and would love to catch up if you have time in the new year."
The key is framing your search as forward-looking, not desperate. You're not unemployed and panicking. You're strategically positioning yourself for the right opportunity (even if you are panicking a little bit on the inside).
The Tactical Approach to Holiday Applications
Here's where most people get tripped up. They apply to jobs in December the same way they applied in September, and then wonder why response rates are lower.
You need to adjust your approach.
Apply early in the week.
Hiring managers and recruiters are more likely to be actively responding to emails Monday through Wednesday. By Thursday afternoon, many people are mentally checked out for the week.
Follow up strategically.
If you applied to a role in mid-December and haven't heard back, send a brief follow-up in early January. Something like: "I wanted to follow up on my application for [role]. I'm very interested and available to speak this week if you're scheduling interviews."
Many recruiters are buried in December and will appreciate the reminder once they're back in January.
Adjust your target list.
Focus on companies that are actively hiring, not companies where the posting has been up for months. If a job was posted on December 1st, that's a company moving quickly. If it's been up since August, they're probably not in a rush.
Be extra responsive.
If a recruiter reaches out during the holidays, respond within a few hours if possible. The candidates who are hard to reach during December get deprioritized. The ones who are responsive move to the top of the list.
And if you can, answer your phone when someone calls - even numbers you don’t recognize. Things can move fast this time of year, and it’s easy to miss a call and an opportunity.
Strategic Applications
This isn’t the time to apply to hundreds of jobs; it’s the time to apply to the jobs that you’re insanely qualified for. And I mean truly qualified for.
Read through the job listing and ask yourself, for each bullet point, can I show receipts of my success doing this in past roles? If you can do that for a majority of the items, that’s a role you should apply for.
Trust me when I say you’ll feel better about this strategy. If you’re doing it right, you should see less rejection, and that’s always going to help how you feel.
If you’re applying to similar jobs, then you probably don’t need to tailor every resume, but if you don’t have a good targeting plan, then you’ll need to make sure you’ve shown in your resume that you are qualified for the jobs you’re applying for.
Whatever you do, don’t wait until January. But do be smart about where you spend your time, effort, and emotion.
Create a Realistic Schedule
The holidays bring a lot of additional activities to many of our calendars. There are holiday gatherings, work parties, work parties with our partner, gatherings with friends and family, and so much more that goes into planning and preparing for these things.
Your schedule that worked in September may not work at the end of the year. Your schedule needs to adapt and be realistic. Plan time for your personal life and your job search.
Many job seekers fall into the trap of “Job search is a full-time job.” I don’t know who started that BS line, but they’re wrong. It can be a full-time endeavor, but it doesn’t have to be. We’re all in different places, have different financial situations, and have different job search priorities.
Do what works for you and come up with something that gives you time to accomplish everything that’s important to you. And if that means your job search doesn’t take 40 hours each week, there’s nothing wrong with that.
The Outreach That Doesn't Feel Weird
Cold outreach during the holidays can feel tone-deaf if you're not careful. No one wants to receive a LinkedIn message asking for a referral on December 24th.
But there's a way to reach out that actually works.
Send a year-end message with value. Instead of asking for something, share something useful. A recruiter told me she received a message from a candidate in December that said: "I wanted to share this article on [industry trend] that made me think of your work. I'd love to connect in the new year and hear your perspective."
It wasn't a job ask. It was a conversation starter. And it worked.
Ask for a January coffee, not a December favor. If you want to reach out to someone, frame it around the new year. "I'd love to grab coffee in January and hear about what you're working on" is much easier for people to say yes to than an immediate request. Imagine having a packed January schedule before it even gets here.
Use holiday downtime to your advantage. Many professionals have more time between meetings during the holidays. A well-timed message that says "I know this is a busy time, but I'm hoping to connect in early January if you have 15 minutes" shows you're respectful of their time while still making the ask.
The goal isn't to force conversations during the holidays. It's to set yourself up for productive conversations in January.
What to Do If You're Not Getting Responses
If you're applying in December and hearing nothing, don't panic. It's probably not your resume.
Recruiters are often out of office or dealing with reduced bandwidth. Hiring managers are closing out their year and may not be reviewing candidates until January. Some companies have legitimate hiring freezes until budgets reset.
But that doesn't mean you should stop.
Use this time to do the things you've been putting off. Update your LinkedIn profile. Research companies you want to target. Reach out to your network. Take an online course or certification that strengthens your candidacy. Polish your portfolio or work samples.
January will be here before you know it, and when it arrives, you want to be ready with a strong pipeline and a polished application strategy.
I've seen too many job seekers take their foot off the gas in December, only to realize in mid-January that they're starting from scratch while everyone else who kept going is already scheduling second-round interviews.
The best time to look for a job was three months ago. The second-best time is right now—even if it's the week before Christmas.
The Holiday Advantage
Here's what most people don't realize. If you spend November and December applying, networking, and staying active, you enter January with momentum. You already have applications in process. You've already had preliminary conversations. You're not starting cold.
Meanwhile, everyone who paused their search in November is scrambling to update their resume, refresh their LinkedIn, and remember which companies they wanted to target. They're weeks behind you.
The candidates who keep going during the holidays don't just avoid awkwardness. They create an advantage. Because when the new year starts and hiring picks back up, they're already at the front of the line.
It’s a fact that there are fewer job seekers in active searches this time of year. My candidate flow (how many candidates are applying to my jobs, networking with me, and referred to me) slows way down during the holidays. And I’m not alone. Many of my recruiting colleagues have shared similar experiences.
Whether that’s because they’ve bought into the myth that “nothing happens in December” or they’re enjoying some vacation time, or whatever - it’s a fact that you’ll face less competition during this time of year.
Now, don’t mistake me. Just because there’s less competition doesn’t mean there’s no competition. Especially as I write this, we are entering some serious economic headwinds. But, there most likely will be fewer of your peers vying for the same limited number of jobs that exist right now. So take advantage of that.
Holiday Job Search Moves
I don’t have a magic ball, but this year, we’re on the edge of a white collar recession. Whether it happens or not, I don’t know, but it’s a real possibility. So here are some job search ideas that you can use to be creative during this time of year.
Volunteer
The right volunteer activities can be goldmines for networking. And sometimes success is found in the least expected places.
One parent volunteered to help their PTA with holiday events at the school. They told the other volunteers they were job searching, and it just happened that one of the PTA board members helping out with the event was married to someone who was hiring for the type of job this person was looking for.
Had they not had that interaction volunteering, they might have missed this opportunity.
Now it doesn’t always work out that there’s a job, but they may know someone who can help you. I think of it this way. When I was in college, it was easy to make friends because there were people always around in common places, classes, etc. But after that, it became harder because there aren’t as many shared activities. Volunteering opens you up to new communities and makes it easier, like it was in college, to “network.”
Seasonal Gigs
There is no shame in taking a seasonal gig, even if it’s stocking shelves at the grocery store or folding clothes at a retail shop. This time of year usually has a surge in seasonal retail and service jobs.
It may not be great pay, but if it helps extend your runway and bridge a gap, take a gig.
Don’t be afraid of temp jobs, too. That 4-month job verifying data for an ERP implementation may be a cake-walk for you, but if it helps pay the bills and keeps some skills fresh, why not?
Plus, you never know who you may meet doing seasonal gigs. Remember, it’s not always who you meet, but who they may know that can help you.
Attend Holiday Events with a Networking Mindset
Sure, have fun at holiday events, but go in with a mission to network. Put your game face on and get ready to make a good impression. If you have a business card, bring some with you if it’s appropriate.
Be prepared, too. Know what you’re going to say to people and how you’re going to guide them to help you.
Create a Follow-up Plan
Keep track of new people you’ve met and jobs you’ve applied to. Teal is a great app to do this digitally, but a simple spreadsheet works too if you don’t want to be techy.
You want to keep track of people so you can keep in touch with them and don’t forget key people who can help you accomplish your goals.
You want to keep track of jobs because some of them may not really get hiring momentum until January, so you’ll want to be able to follow up on those come January. Get your name in the queue (and by that I mean apply and get your resume in the ATS), but then be ready to follow up at the start of the new year. You can’t do this if you don’t have a way to track it.
Holiday Job Search Self-Care
Block Out Voices in Your Head
I find one of the things that slows me down toward any goal in life (finding a new job included) is listening to random voices in my head. I think about whether I should pause everything and wait until January. Even if I don’t follow through with it, I usually find I lose a day just thinking about the decision sometimes.
Try to keep those distracting thoughts at bay. Over time, I’ve gotten really good at recognizing this is a distraction and tuning it out during my most productive times. If you’re not sure, table these thoughts for later in the evening or when you’re not in productivity mode. But don’t let them eat up your efforts and your time because they will.
Don’t Let Your Search Overshadow Everything
It may feel like crunch time, but here’s a brutal truth that if you accept will help. Just because you do more activity and work harder, doesn’t mean you’ll experience success faster. Now, before you start throwing things at me, let me explain.
There are many, many factors in a job search that are out of your control. You can’t control how fast someone will respond or if they will respond at all. You can’t control if a hiring team’s urgency all of a sudden disappears and things come to a grinding halt.
And applying to more jobs, calling more people, or whatever you’re doing, won’t mean you’ll have more success.
There are only so many jobs that you’re really qualified for. Applying to more jobs because it makes you feel busy (even when you’re not as qualified for them or they don’t fit your goals) doesn’t make things better. It just stresses you out more.
Come up with a plan. Know what you are in control of and what will bring you success. And execute on those things. But don’t let this become an all-consuming matter. If you do that, it will diminish your relationships, it will impact your family life, and it will show in your interviews.
Set boundaries for yourself.
Celebrate the Small Wins
If you updated your LinkedIn profile, had a good conversation, or submitted a really good resume to a job - take a beat and recognize that.
In addition, think about what you’re grateful for and what the best part of your day was and write them down. It’s important to stay grounded.
Don’t Compare Yourself
No two job searches are the same. We all have different circumstances and different situations. As nice as it sounds to say we’re all in the same boat. That couldn’t be farther from the truth. Some of us are in yachts and some of us are in blow-up life rafts.
Some of us are working in dying industries, and some of us are in industries that are resilient to disruption.
That’s why you can’t compare yourself to others.
Bottom Line
You don’t have to pause your search. You don’t have to stress yourself out. You just have to adapt and leverage some of the advantages that the season brings for job searching.
Go and update one thing today that you’re going to do differently now that the holidays are here. Go send one networking message. Go apply to one job with a highly targeted resume.
If you work smart and stay active, you’ll be ahead of your peers going into January.
Other Articles In This Edition
How to Job Hunt During the Holidays (Without Feeling Awkward)
How Companies Really Choose Who Gets an Interview
Why November Might Be the Best Month to Search for Jobs
The 7 Most Common Resume Mistakes (and What Recruiters Think When They See Them)
Cole Sperry has been a recruiter and resume writer since 2015, working with tens of thousands of job seekers, and hundreds of employers. Today Cole runs a boutique advisory firm consulting with dozens of recruiting firms and is the Managing Editor at OptimCareers.com.
He llo, World!