Episode Transcript

Chris Villanueva 0:23
So I don’t know where you are in the world or what time of day it is, but it is the holidays. It is December, finally, and I know there is so much going on in our personal lives, so today we’re going to discuss flying during the holidays. We’ll talk about some stats that I’m noticing in the market and what you should do if you do decide to submit your resume for job applications.

Chris Villanueva 0:50
All right, just some quick thoughts here. The holidays have been crazy. I’ve been amidst my own kind of things. Over here, we had a awesome Thanksgiving with the in laws over here. I had a lot of traveling. I went all the way to Victoria, Texas and San Antonio, and on top of that, I am trying to move. We’re selling our house currently, to move on over back to San Antonio, where I was born and raised. So oh my gosh. Just so much going on right now, so much in the personal world of Chris and I know that so many of you who are applying to jobs right now have your own personal things going on.

Chris Villanueva 1:30
You are dealing with family, you’re shopping out there for Christmas presents or Hanukkah presents, whatever it may be, and you are just looking to affect everything and keep everything together get ready for that new year. So I’ll talk about what the holidays look like in terms of applying and why my key recommendation is going to be for you to send those applications out there, even if it is in a minimal way. I do want those who are serious about their job search to find some way to get applications out there in this December and I’ll talk about why in a second.

Chris Villanueva 2:07
Let’s talk about some key insights here in December of 2023 so this is last year we saw non farm payrolls increase by 216,000 this was just 9000 below the year’s monthly average when I think job applications and Are there jobs available, the stat is, in particular, it’s very helpful to show me that companies still are hiring. I would not say that companies across the board have slowed down their hiring. There’s certain industries more than others that will do so, and I’ll talk about those in a second. But overall, companies still are making one final push before the New Year.

Chris Villanueva 2:51
There’s still some budget in the hiring, and folks still want to make those hires. As far as the reduced application competition, competition, you will see less job seekers applying in December. I’m not going to say that it is just so crazy to where you’ll send your resume out there, and you’ll start to get amazing feedback because you’re competing against less people. Folks typically match kind of where the job market’s going, but you will, I think have an edge over the folks who are waiting until January to apply. It’s not just again because you are matching supply and demand, you have less competition, but it’s by way of momentum here, which I’ll talk about in just one second.

Chris Villanueva 3:36
The holidays are also ideal for networking. So think about all those holiday parties and all of the events that people are hosting. Maybe your alumni association has a holiday event that you can attend. Maybe people are just in particular, more willing to connect from a human to human level. But Do not overlook this opportunity from a networking perspective, really, to get yourself out there and professionally start to network, you really want to make sure that you’re not missing out on these opportunities here. So these are all kind of like the pros of applying during the holidays.

Chris Villanueva 4:14
So number one, companies are still out there making that final push for the year. Number two, you might see some a little bit less competition out there. And number three, some networking opportunities. Again, with the con side. The holidays are crazy. You know, I mentioned the things going on for me personally. And I know a lot of you have the similar things going on, but it can be a time that’s in particularly very stressful. So what I would say is find what works for you. Don’t go into turbo mode. Turbo mode like I know a lot of you career warriors are in a time where maybe spending time with family or friends is going to be your number one priority.

Chris Villanueva 4:56
So for someone who owns a resume writing service, trust me, it’s in my best in. Interest to get you that job as soon as possible, but I would encourage you to take time for you and your family and work in your job search at least minimally, and then hit the ground running, very hard in January. The reason why you want to start sending that application out, sending those resumes out for job applications, I should say is you’re going to start to build some momentum, and you might get some feedback that, okay, this is not working as you send out your application, and so by January, you’re going to be even ahead again, more ahead of the folks who just started applying cold on January 8, or whatever it may be.

Chris Villanueva 5:42
So start to build that momentum, and it’s going to carry you into January’s hiring wave, because you will be one step ahead of everyone else. You’re going to have a resume that looks better, you’re going to have a LinkedIn profile that looks better, and some cover letters ready for those key companies that you’re extra excited about here. Speaking of which, head on over to letgra.com if you haven’t gotten your free resume critique. We also have some amazing deals in December. It’s like the happy hour of our service, because things get crazy in January for us, and we want to encourage folks to be proactive, and we want to reward them for getting the resume done early. So we have some awesome discounts.

Chris Villanueva 6:23
Head on over to letseatgradma.com and see some of the amazing discounts we have available right now. All right, so yes, yes, yes, apply by way of momentum. Of course, balance that with your own family life. I want to talk about some high demand industries here. So looking at October of 2024 these are what the current trends are saying for employment. We see that healthcare and government roles continue to trend up here. This is what the BLS of October said, and I won’t be surprised if that’s what November says and December, we don’t have those reports, of course, until the following month. But these are just the trends that we’re seeing there. With professional and business services, employment and temporary help actually declined by almost 50,000 in October.

Chris Villanueva 7:12
This has been a trend for the past couple of years. We’ve dropped almost half a million, actually more than half a million, since reaching that peak in March of 2022 so I know certain industries and certain types of jobs are really struggling out there. That might explain some of that looking at last year. So holiday season last year, where did we see some upticks in the numbers here?

Chris Villanueva 7:35
So November, December of last year, we saw government positions are in the government sector increased greatly, and health services and private education also looked great. This is for November, December of all of last year. So healthcare, I am looking at you, and I know that there are so many different types of positions, marketing, sales, it within healthcare, but that’s just an example of where we continue to see those increases. So my final words of advice here are, get your resume in shape. And I’ll just give you a few quick tips here.

Chris Villanueva 8:09
We’re going to launch an episode in January where I’ll break it all down on how to get your resume in the top 1% but here’s some things to look at for your resume. Is your resume too long, okay, resumes that are three, four pages long, I will say, almost all the time, can be cut down. Now, I know I’m not really speaking about my academia, people, my professors, or my folks within the sciences, those CBS, so to speak, but everyone else, and that’s probably most of you listening to this podcast, you can cut your resume down to two pages here.

Chris Villanueva 8:44
Does your design look like? It’s in tip top format here? So are you using the appropriate amount of white space between each section? Are you not overdoing the bolding? Do you have bullet points properly formatted under each professional experience section, double check each one of these things and start to get your ducks in a row, because it is a headache, I know, but it will make a difference for the types of percentages you’re getting back those positive responses here, are you targeting each role effectively?

Chris Villanueva 9:17
So don’t be that jack of all trades and I know the psychology here, we just want to spray and pray and just get the resume out there for positions and start to hear back, but make sure you’re not casting too wide of a net when it comes to your resume. You want to make sure that you put call it, that point on your resume. You sharpen that resume up to where it can really only apply effectively for one type of position, and that one position is going to look really like a good match. So if you have one version of your resume, you might want to consider spreading it out and diversifying, because that is much more effective in this day and age.

Chris Villanueva 9:57
People are competitive out there. HR, and you have to seem like an even better match for these roles, just because a lot of people have options, and you have to stand out numbers. How are your numbers in the document? Listen, I know numbers are the really tough thing to include, but that is the thing that again, it’s going to capture people’s attention. I would focus on the most recent position you have at the top, because that’s where you’re going to get the most bang for your buck and the summary, that’s one of those places where a lot of people think, Okay, I have to be super generic. I have to be boring. But do not be boring in that summary. Get specific. Talk about how many dollars you save for your organization, how many employees that you currently lead.

Chris Villanueva 10:42
These are things that are all fair game as long as it fits the job description. All right. So some things, some thoughts I have in regards to the holidays, keep your chin up. I know it’s a very tough time, but there is hope around the corner, I promise you. So again, my name is Chris bienewe. I am the founder and CEO of Let’s Eat, Grandma. Head on over to letseatgrandma.com to check out more of our resources as well as our packages.

Chris Villanueva 11:07
I can’t wait to see you next time Career Warrior Podcast and before you go, remember, if you’re not seeing the results you want in your job, search our highly trained team of professional resume writers here at Let’s Eat, Grandma can help head on over to letseatgrandma.com/podcast/ to get a free resume critique and $70 off any one of our resume writing packages.

Chris Villanueva 11:30
We talk all the time on the show about the importance of being targeted in your job search and with our unique writing process and focus on individual attention, you’ll get a resume cover letter and LinkedIn profile that are highly customized and tailored to your goals, to help you get hired faster. Again, head on over to letseatgrandma.com/podcast/ Thanks, and I’ll see you next time you.