Should Your Job Hunt Take a Break This Labor Day?

Karen Burns

So you’ve been looking for a job for what seems like a long time now. And here we are at the end of summer, with a big three-day weekend coming up.

Do you feel like making it a five-day weekend? Or longer?

Why not, you may say. No one will be working anyway. I’ll just take a breather and come back, refreshed and reenergized, next week sometime. Or the week after that.

This reasoning makes some sense and, for sure, it’s your decision to make. But is taking extra time off from job hunting around Labor Day, or any holiday, a smart move?

Here are reasons to take that break: A few days away may help you to see your strategy with new eyes when you return, you may have family responsibilities during holidays, and everybody needs a break from time to time.

Here are reasons to continue to treat that job hunt like a job:

• It is a job.
• Other job hunters may knock off the hunt around holidays, which thins the field a bit, if only temporarily.
• Support people often take off time around long weekends, increasing the chance that the hiring manager you’ve been trying to reach will answer his or her phone directly.
• Keeping the search going even when the waning days of summer are calling makes you look hard-working, ambitious, and focused.

It’s up to you. Either way, have a great Labor Day!

Karen Burns, Working Girl, is the author of The Amazing Adventures of Working Girl: Real-Life Career Advice You Can Actually Use. She blogs at karenburnsworkinggirl.com.