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They are the most common and also the toughest for many candidates.
This free E-book shows you how to answer them with confidence.
Career Reshaped Episode 8: Can You Really Land Your Dream Job Before the Year Ends?
What if the holidays weren’t a pause in your job search—but the breakthrough moment you’ve been waiting for?
In this special solo episode, career coach Pauline offers a refreshing and honest look at what it really means to job hunt during the holiday season. While many assume hiring freezes in December, Pauline reveals a different story—one where opportunities quietly exist for those willing to stay curious and intentional.
Rather than giving in to end-of-year burnout or putting your search on hold, this episode invites you to shift your mindset. It’s not about scrambling for any role—it’s about using this quieter time to reflect on your values, reframe your direction, and position yourself for success in the new year.
Pauline shares how to stay motivated even if 2024 felt discouraging, how to recognize misleading “ghost jobs” that waste your time, and why networking in this season might just open the right doors. If you’re feeling stuck or unsure, her thoughtful perspective will help you reset—without the pressure.
This isn’t about hustle. It’s about clarity, confidence, and giving yourself permission to move forward with purpose.
So if you’re job hunting, thinking about a shift, or simply wondering what comes next, consider this your sign to pause, realign, and take a deep breath.
🎧 Tune in now and give your career the steady, thoughtful start it deserves. The next chapter could be closer than you think.
Discussion Overview
Yes! Contrary to popular belief, the holiday season is actually a smart time to job hunt. Many candidates take a break, so the competition is lower—and hiring managers are still checking applications and planning interviews for January.
Because most people slow down or stop altogether, this is your chance to stand out. Even putting in a few hours a week to apply, network, and follow up can make a big difference by the time January rolls around.
Ghost jobs are fake or inactive job postings—roles that aren’t actually open but are still listed online. Companies use them to collect resumes, build databases, or appear like they’re growing. They waste job seekers’ time and hurt morale.
Reach out to hiring managers directly before applying. A real employer will usually be willing to answer questions or provide details. If the role feels vague or the contact disappears, it might be a ghost listing. Trust your gut.
Give both a refresh: update your profile photo, tailor your headline, add keywords aligned with your target role, and highlight your achievements. Your resume should clearly reflect your voice, skills, and relevance to the role you want.
Networking is your best tool. It opens real doors—not ghost jobs—and connects you to opportunities you might never see posted online. People refer you only when a job is legit and you're a good fit, so it’s a reliable strategy.
Send professional, personalized messages that highlight your skills and interest in the company. If you know a problem they’re facing, briefly share how you can help. Don’t pitch—build relationships and plant seeds for future roles.
Aggressive doesn’t mean pushy. It means being intentional: attend events (online or in person), message hiring managers, create a digital business card, and follow up. Take consistent action that gets your name out there.
Because waiting means missing out. Many hiring managers are working now and reviewing applications for roles starting early next year. Taking small but meaningful steps in December sets you up ahead of the January rush.
Apply to as many relevant roles as possible. Don’t pin all your hopes on one application (especially when some might be ghost jobs). Diversify your efforts and keep going—even when it’s slow. That consistency will pay off.
Podcast Transcript:
| Time | Transcript |
|---|---|
| 00:00 | hi my name is pauline and i am a career coach for my career angels today i'd |
| 00:04 | like to talk about job searching and christmas and do these two go hand in |
| 00:10 | hand well the answer is surprisingly yes you can in fact |
| 00:17 | keep looking for work during the holiday period this podcast is your go-to guide |
| 00:23 | for landing your dream job think of it as your free masterclass packed with all |
| 00:27 | the tips advice and strategies you need to take your career to the next level i |
| 00:32 | first would like to address that i understand that a lot of people right |
| 00:36 | now can feel incredibly demotivated they spend a good part of |
| 00:41 | 2024 looking for work and they haven't been successful and now the holidays |
| 00:47 | have come around it's the end of the year there feels like there is no hope |
| 00:51 | at all what is now the point we might as well give up i understand that's |
| 00:57 | disappointment stress and |
| 01:02 | feeling of not continuing with this journey |
| 01:07 | and you might even be questioning if it's worth continuing this pursuit in |
| 01:12 | 2025. now |
| 01:15 | i'd like to give some tips on how you in fact can maximize this |
| 01:21 | time to your advantage i'm not here to give you some pause |
| 01:26 | toxic positivity i don't believe in that and i'm not here |
| 01:30 | to tell you hurrah keep going you can do it just a little bit more |
| 01:35 | none of this if you need to take the time out take the time out |
| 01:39 | work will always be there it is |
| 01:43 | always and forever flowing but i like to address a few key points |
| 01:49 | i'd first like to talk about why it has been so hard finding a job |
| 01:54 | and how you can improve your chances not just through the holiday period but |
| 01:59 | carry this on to 2025 and so i do hope that at the end of this |
| 02:06 | you will feel a lot more motivatedbecause you'll have a whole new approach |
| 02:13 | so first the elephant in the room why is it |
| 02:17 | so hard to find employment well it is an employer's market i had done some |
| 02:23 | research and looked at the government website at their |
| 02:28 | trends of the employment market and according |
| 02:31 | to the government website employment has not decreased and in fact |
| 02:38 | employment opportunities has increased it is not 100 correct now i have not |
| 02:44 | done my own research i am not out there in the trenches gathering data and |
| 02:49 | building on statistics and mulling over those numbers but what i am |
| 02:54 | doing is talking to individuals i am talking to |
| 02:58 | job seekers people like you and me and i am hearing the same thing over and |
| 03:05 | over again that employment is impossible to gain |
| 03:10 | and that people have been looking for months |
| 03:13 | some people have applied to even 100 200hundred jobs and |
| 03:18 | not even getting a phone call or other people are going to multiple interviews |
| 03:23 | and in the last round don't get the offer even though the |
| 03:27 | interview went really well why is this why do the numbers show one thing and |
| 03:33 | when you talk to other people they tell you a completely different story it is |
| 03:37 | because it is an employer's market now employment may not have gone down |
| 03:42 | because a lot of people are scared to quit |
| 03:47 | doesn't mean that a lot of people don't want to be in the jobs that they are in |
| 03:50 | now in fact i think majority are trying to seek |
| 03:54 | better or alternative work whether it's a career change or whether it's just |
| 04:00 | something else somewhere else even if it's doing the same thing doing it |
| 04:04 | elsewhere which i understand now the reasons are |
| 04:08 | varied but majority of it is either a |
| 04:12 | unsupportive toxic work environment or bad pay now with the cost of living |
| 04:16 | going up a lot of us are seeking better employment trying to get a better income |
| 04:22 | for the services that we are doing and most of us deserve it so a lot of us are |
| 04:27 | looking for work but a lot of companies are not hiring so why then does it look |
| 04:32 | like there's a lot of jobs out there and why |
| 04:36 | is the data showing that there's a lot of employment |
| 04:40 | it's because of fake jobs like trump says fake news |
| 04:45 | this is the issue there's a lot of fake jobs |
| 04:48 | ghost jobs is the technical term i think ghost jobs |
| 04:52 | it is out there for a lot of different |
| 04:55 | reasons now i can't speak for every organization on their motivation for |
| 04:59 | putting up this ghost job and even hosting |
| 05:03 | fake interviews it can be for a multiple or multitude of |
| 05:09 | reasons it can be to collect data so a recruitment agency perhaps would like to |
| 05:14 | build on their database so by you submitting your application you enter |
| 05:18 | their database and then they can sell their services better to companies by |
| 05:24 | showing them what a healthy database they have |
| 05:29 | other companies could be doing it for money to show that they are hiring that |
| 05:35 | they can get maybe government subsidies or to show their competition or just the |
| 05:41 | general market the public out there that they're doing really well and they're |
| 05:45 | expanding it's an illusion smoking mirrors so this leaves |
| 05:50 | you the job seeker in a very horrible position and in a position where you |
| 05:58 | think that you are doing something wrong now i cannot speak for every job seeker |
| 06:03 | out there have not seen all of your resumes so |
| 06:06 | the first thing is is that you do need to make sure that your resume aligns to |
| 06:10 | the job the second thing is you need to make |
| 06:13 | sure that your linkedin is representing you in the most effective way |
| 06:18 | but if you're doing everything right and you're still not getting work then you |
| 06:23 | need to find another way of doing things and this is where i'm now going to talk |
| 06:28 | to you about how you can start applying this other |
| 06:32 | way during the holiday period why you should |
| 06:36 | do it now is because a lot of your competition other job seekers out there |
| 06:41 | are not going to be doing it they are going to be putting their feet up and |
| 06:44 | eating christmas pudding and that's fine if you want to relax and enjoy |
| 06:50 | this season please this is what's more most important and i |
| 06:54 | do recommend that you take time out to be with friends family or just yourself |
| 06:59 | i know i'm going to i'm going to do that but it doesn't mean that in between that |
| 07:04 | you can't dedicate an hour to a day or a few hours |
| 07:09 | in a week to take those extra steps so what are the steps well first i think |
| 07:16 | the first step should be is trying to eliminate these ghost jobs now this is |
| 07:21 | not foolproof this is not going to eliminate a hundred percent |
| 07:24 | but you need to pick up that phone and talk to the hiring manager now you're |
| 07:29 | not going to pick up the phone and immediately ask is this a fake job role |
| 07:34 | you are just going to have a conversation about the role if they're |
| 07:37 | willing to talk to you and to give you information you're ready halfway there |
| 07:42 | if it's a fake job you might not be able to find the hiring manager you might not |
| 07:46 | be able to get much information about the role from them and a few red flags |
| 07:52 | will start to pop up follow your gut with this one if it doesn't seem legit |
| 07:56 | it's probably not legit but if you get a hiring manager willing to talk to you |
| 08:01 | about the position the opportunity who they're looking for what the role |
| 08:06 | entails then there's a good chance that it's a legit role the other thing is |
| 08:10 | that you need to do is start networking your network |
| 08:15 | is your net worth remember that in such a volatile job market where there's a |
| 08:22 | lot of competition |
| 08:25 | you need to find employment from a different door |
| 08:30 | and the best door will be the old school networking a network is not going to |
| 08:37 | refer you to an opportunity that doesn't exist |
| 08:41 | why is this it's because they want to say face they |
| 08:46 | don't want to look like the ass showing you a role that |
| 08:51 | is not there the same way that they're not going to |
| 08:54 | put you forward to a role if they don't think that you can do the job because |
| 08:58 | you represent them as well this is why you should attend networking events |
| 09:02 | they're still happening during the holiday period they're there |
| 09:07 | if you want to find where they are then there are a few different um avenues |
| 09:13 | that you can search for them one of them is my favorite it's called |
| 09:16 | meet up you can find it online or you can download the app and it will show |
| 09:21 | you various networking events within your industry and area some of them are |
| 09:26 | online some of them are face-to-face face-to-face is the best but online is |
| 09:30 | okay too you can then connect with the people who are doing these events with |
| 09:35 | you and start building those relationships the |
| 09:39 | other thing you can do is jump onto linkedin and slide into those dms these |
| 09:45 | hiring managers and hr people are |
| 09:48 | getting messages all the time that's what they are expecting to receive |
| 09:53 | they're expecting to receive interest now you don't just slide in and say hey |
| 09:59 | how you doing um you know |
| 10:02 | let's meet up for coffee you want to come across as professional |
| 10:06 | and you want to express that you are interested in the position or any |
| 10:11 | opportunity that may come you need to highlight your key skills and what it is |
| 10:15 | you bring to the table and if you know of a particular |
| 10:19 | problem that that company has how it is that you can solve that problem now i |
| 10:23 | can't talk on every problem on every company you know your industry you know |
| 10:27 | what they may or may not be facing and what skills and experience that you |
| 10:32 | have that you can bring to help them resolve any |
| 10:36 | issues that you can envision them |
| 10:40 | and educate a guest that they're having so these two are really effective |
| 10:46 | avenues so you need to be a little bit aggressive i use this word all the time |
| 10:51 | aggressive aggressive in terms of not |
| 10:55 | shoving yourself in other people's faces and elbowing the person next to you at |
| 10:59 | that networking event aggressive as in taking action |
| 11:03 | putting yourself out there beyond the resume download a qr code that has your |
| 11:09 | details on it like a electronic business card you should have |
| 11:14 | your linkedin should have your email and phone number |
| 11:18 | you can easily message that |
| 11:22 | digital business card to anyone that you meet and immediately they will have your |
| 11:27 | data follow up with them start building that professional relationship with them |
| 11:33 | you are now planting the seeds this is the time no one else is going to be |
| 11:38 | doing it so if you are out there connecting with people when things are |
| 11:43 | the slowest and they are not getting these emails they're not getting these |
| 11:48 | connection requests you are doing it do you think the live suddenly stops |
| 11:52 | because it's christmas people are right now going out shopping doctor's |
| 11:57 | appointments getting the car serviced filling up petrol |
| 12:01 | booking holidays going and meeting up with family and friends |
| 12:05 | life is continuing typically companies only shut down for a |
| 12:10 | week or two so you can choose to maximize your time between now |
| 12:14 | and christmas and plant those seeds and set things up |
| 12:18 | for 2025 you can set an application and get the |
| 12:22 | hiring manager to call you today to organize an interview |
| 12:27 | for week 2 in jan hiring managers are still sitting there at their desks |
| 12:32 | they're still waiting for resumes to come through even though there are ghost |
| 12:36 | jobs doesn't mean there aren't real jobs out there and this is also why you need |
| 12:41 | to apply to as many roles as possible you need to put as many eggs into as |
| 12:47 | many baskets as possible as opposed to all your eggs into one basket and the |
| 12:52 | basque and mighty not even be real so i know i've talked a lot about |
| 12:58 | the things that you can do and really it just comes down to |
| 13:03 | networking but of course there are a lot more there is |
| 13:08 | ensuring that your resume is indeed representing you in the best way |
| 13:14 | possible your resume is the first impression |
| 13:17 | that a hiring manager is gonna have of you so this might also be a great time |
| 13:23 | to reassess and re-evaluate the way your resume looks and feels and is it selling |
| 13:29 | you doesn't have your voice and these are talking about your key skills and |
| 13:34 | achievements and what it is that you bring to the table is your resume also |
| 13:39 | aligned to the job role the second is your linkedin |
| 13:44 | take this time to update it give it a makeover a little refresh |
| 13:50 | give it a facelift a christmas botox experience if you will |
| 13:56 | update your profile photo make sure that it is showing a very professional image |
| 14:02 | put in a banner stand out show a bit of personality through that banner that |
| 14:08 | little pop of color to track the eye make sure that everything is up to date |
| 14:13 | in terms of your experience and skills and make sure that you are using |
| 14:18 | keywords throughout that align to the role you're looking for if you feel that |
| 14:24 | you still need a bit more help and support then the link below is to our |
| 14:29 | free guides these guides cover things like resume writing interview skills and |
| 14:35 | job searching well have a very merry christmas and until next time |
| 14:51 | you |
Other episodes you might be interested in:
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The Greatest Gift You Can Give Your Future is Clarity
When you take time to reflect on your career and align it with your values, you’re not only investing in your own growth — you’re creating a ripple effect that impacts your family, your workplace and your wellbeing.
Whether you’re feeling stuck, ready for change, or simply craving more purpose in your work, Career Coaching can help you move forward with clarity and confidence.
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