The post-Thanksgiving festive period is upon us and that means this for practitioners’ calendars: holiday parties.
Whether it’s firms hosting their own gatherings or practitioners dropping by a party organized by a group or client, these social situations present enormous opportunities to cultivate business or network into a new position.
One person who knows this better than most is Chris Jones, who 25 years ago founded PoliTemps, a political job placement agency for Beltway-based employers. Jones suggests everyone in the industry embrace their holiday spirit — if only because it could help their careers or their firm’s bottom lines.
“I encourage young people to get out of their comfort zone, go to those holiday parties, RSVP, put your hand up: I’m attending,” he said.
When it comes to job seekers looking to land a spot on a 2024 effort, he offered this advice: approach these events and the conversations you have at them like a campaign.
“I tell a lot of [job] candidates to pretend that you’re in a Capitol Hill elevator with a senator, and they turn to you and they say, ‘how are you? Tell me a little bit about where you’re from.’ You’ve got to hit those points.”
He also encouraged younger job seekers to look at holiday parties as a chance to sharpen their in-person conversation skills, which often go under-used in this era of virtual interactions.
Your talking points don’t “have to be about politics,” he said. “It could be [that] you fostered a puppy, you are a big fan of the Cowboys or the Dolphins, or something unrelated. It’s a great opportunity to really build relationships, and not make it too transactional.”
For firm owners, the parties serve a dual purpose: business development and thanking current staff. He added: “But probably more client and business development focused and a secondary purposes for the staff to just enjoy themselves.”
Moreover, one of the lessons that Jones has learned from 25 years in business translates to how firm leaders can take advantage of their holiday gatherings.
“I try to treat everyone, as they’re coming up the ladder, with respect and help them in their job search because you never know where they’re going to end up,” he said. “And many of them have become clients — former associates that turned into president of nonprofits. … It’s the pay it forward expression because you never know when they’re going to become a client. You never know if they’re gonna be the gatekeeper for the lobbyist or the consultant or the CEO.”
