Summer Shines Unique Opportunity On Active Job Seekers

NEW YORK, Aug. 14, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- For most Americans, summer is traditionally synonymous with rest and relaxation. However, some unemployed professionals also extend a vacation to their job search during the warmer months. To better understand why rising temperatures make job-search activity cool, TheLadders surveyed hundreds of its members, enabling the job-matching service to gain valuable insights for improving its expert advice. Their opinions, coupled with the mentality that summer is time for a break, represent a decline in activity, making it an ideal time for job seekers to turn up the heat on their job search.

"Chronicling job-seeker behavior throughout the year, we see spikes in January, likely due to New Year's resolutions and disappointing holiday bonuses, and again in September when kids go back to school," said Amanda Augustine, job search expert for TheLadders. "Summer is a fantastic time to jumpstart your job-search efforts because your application will have less competition, plus it offers numerous social events for networking and fine-tuning your elevator pitch."

Below are the results from TheLadders' summer 2012 job-search survey:

• More than 60 percent of job seekers find searching for a job "harder" during the summer months, versus 9 percent who said "easier" and 31 percent who said "no different."
  
  
• Job seekers believe that employers during the summer are 71 percent "less responsive," versus 10 percent who said "more responsive" and 19 percent who said "equally responsive."
  
  
• Almost half (45 percent) of job seekers describe the level of competition as "more competitive" or "equally competitive" (46 percent) during the summer, versus 9 percent who find it "less competitive."
  
  
• From June through August, less than half (44 percent) admit to being "more active," versus 37 percent whose efforts are "no different" and 19 percent who report being "less active."

Although Augustine admits that the hiring process in the summer can take longer since key decision-makers may be out of the office, she offers the following tips to help today's job seekers set themselves up for success by September.

1. Get Resume-ready – A recent study conducted by TheLadders reports that recruiters spend just six seconds reviewing a resume before making an initial decision. With a professionally written resume, candidates are 40 percent more likely to land the job they want.
   
   
2. Perfect Your Personal Brand – An online presence speaks volumes to potential employers. Increase the security settings on all personal profiles to keep information and photos private, and update professional profiles to align with one's current resume.
   
   
3. Party with a Purpose – Summertime is a social time. Take advantage of barbecues, baseball games and beach parties to expand professional networks. Carry business cards at all times, and practice an elevator pitch with fellow guests.
   
   
4. Quench Their Thirst – Workloads tend to be lighter during the summer, making it a perfect time to invite industry associates for iced coffee. Use the time to pick their brains and get a pulse on their companies and the industry, overall.
   
   
5. Set Summer Hours – Although children are on summer vacation, there is no break from the job search. Setting summer hours means allocating time for opportunistic outreach, and maintaining that schedule.

On an ongoing basis, TheLadders conducts primary user-experience research and analyzes quantitative data provided by its more than five million members to gauge current behavioral trends in the job-search process. TheLadders uses this research to improve the customer experience and provide expert advice to the marketplace. An infographic illustrating TheLadders summer job-search survey can be downloaded at TheLadders Blog.

About TheLadders
With more than five million members, TheLadders has been committed to finding the right person for the right job since 2003. With a unique suite of personalized products and resume services, this career-focused online service helps job seekers connect with employers and recruiters more effectively and efficiently. Given its heritage as the leader in the $100K+ job search, TheLadders is dedicated to the science behind the job search and optimally positioned to help all career-driven professionals in finding the right jobs. Expanding services to include sub-$100K+ positions allows recruiters and employers more options when looking to hire professionals at other stages of their careers. TheLadders is headquartered in New York. For more information, visit TheLadders Blog and theladders.com. Your career is our job.™

SOURCE TheLadders