Be Productive During Memorial Day

We're just a day away from Memorial Day weekend, which means most of you will probably be enjoying a relaxing three days. No doubt you will be wanting to avoid anything related to the job search. You should take a break from the daily grind, but you can still find ways to be productive while taking a much deserved rest.

One of the most popular Memorial Day activities is the barbecue. Most people invite a lot of friends and family to join in the fun, which makes it a great place to do some networking. There's a good chance a lot of the people you see haven't seen you in a while, so they won't necessarily know you are currently looking for a job

The danger here is you don't want to come off as begging or desperate. You also don't want to ruin the festive atmosphere by bringing up work. That's why it's important to bring up your job search in a casual manner. Here's an example of what you could say in response to a question such as "What have you been up to lately?"

"Well I've been pretty busy these days. I've been spending a lot of time looking for work which, as you probably know is pretty frustrating. I've gotten some leads but it's still a struggle."

Something like this will hopefully lead the person to offer some assistance, assuming they have contacts in the nonprofit sector. If you don't get that kind of response, you can always ask if they could offer any assistance. But that should wait until the end of the conversation.

Make sure you have a good Memorial Day weekend regardless of what happens with your job search. Consider these three days as a reward for all of your hard work so far!

Nonprofit Career Round-Up: Memorial Day Weekend Edition

Well it's hard to believe it, but Memorial Day weekend is coming up.  As a note, I will be starting the festivities tomorrow, so there will be no posts tomorrow; I will be back starting on Tuesday.  You should take the opportunity to take a short break from your job search during this holiday weekend.  That way, you will be rested and ready to go again starting on Tuesday.  So forgot about the job search and job boards this weekend, and enjoy the time with your family and friends.

• 'How Successful Freelancers REALLY Get Started'-I don't talk about this a lot, but freelancing is a great way to keep yourself busy while looking for full time employment.  Besides, a lot of time freelance work can lead to full time jobs.
• 'Does Your Power Style Support Your Job Search?'-A lot of times, the way your personality shines through in an interview can be the difference between getting a job and seeing it slip away.  This article from The Harvard Business Review shares an anecdote on how this can happen, and what you can do to improve.
• '20 Classic Business Card Mistakes That Make Your Life Harder'-Yeah, this is another post from JobMob, but it was too good to pass up.  Giving out business cards is a good way to get remembered at networking events, but you need to make sure you avoid the mistakes listed in this article.