Okay, as a former sales manager, I have to admit that one of my favorite movies is Glengarry Glen Ross. You may think I'm callous liking it, but it does show a lot of the personalities that work in the sales world, and some of the ones that are successful. Being a bit jaded, Alec Baldwin's sales speech wasn't that shocking to me. Maybe I was a tough manager.
The best salesperson in that group was Al Pacino's character, Ricky Roma, who when the power went down at the office went with his roll of quarters to the nearest phone booth and kept calling away. The other salesmen were griping about how they couldn't make calls, and therefore couldn't work. It's not surprising that Al Pacino's salesman outperformed them all, everytime. I've seen both types of salespeople and recruiters, and have never been surprised when the innovative person is more successful.
Having worked in an office with other salespeople, I often heard excuses why they couldn't sell at various times. Everyone always said that the period between Thanksgiving and New Year's was the worst times to be trying to sell services. They are also the easiest time to get distracted by holiday shopping, family gatherings and the related hub-bub.
But if you are smart, and really want to pursue a new job opportunity or new client, the holidays can be a great time to connect with people. You may be able to carve out a little extra time to search job postings. You may also be able to contact people in your network to wish them well during the holidays--and ask about any opportunities they have heard of. And, you may be one of the few people that responds to a posting--since they other job hunters are too busy with the holidays!
So, don't look for excuses why this is a bad time to be looking for a job. Look at it as a good time to make some solid inroads in your job search--while spreading holiday cheer!
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