Here are some tips for keeping your job search and career planning alive over the holidays.

• After a long semester, it’s sometimes hard to get motivated to do your job search or to think about career development. Pat yourself on the back for a job well done over the fall, and take time to reflect on everything you’ve accomplished over the past semester. You’ve worked hard and learned a lot. Get excited about what you have to offer the world!
• Keep your networks working for you! The Holiday Season is a great time to get in touch with the contacts you made over the past year. Write your contacts a card or a brief note to keep them up to date about your latest accomplishments, to let them know about upcoming events or activities, or just to say hello.
• Holiday get-togethers offer excellent opportunities for you to find out more about the jobs or careers of people you know, or to make new contacts with interesting people from different fields. Don’t worry, you don’t need to spend the entire party talking about work, but you can ask a few questions, like: “So what do you do for a living?” “How do you enjoy that field?” “How did you decide on the work you do?”
• Take an inventory of the skills you used or gained over the past semester. (This is good practice at any time of year!) Plan to spend some time, either on your own, with family, or with some friends, discussing the kinds of skills you’ve been using in your classes, at work, volunteering, etc. List all of these skills down and date them. Next time you go to write your resume, you’ll have an up-to-date inventory of the most recent skills you’ve been using.
• Finally, make time to browse your career center’s website for resources, tips, and advice.  And if you haven’t done so already, make one of your New Year’s resolutions be to visit your career center after you return to campus in January.

Best of luck with your work search and career development. Have a great holiday season!