The economy has caused lay offs and downsizing but don't believe those who will tell you not to bother looking for a job during the holidays. Things are picking up and the holidays offer some unique opportunities that could land you a job before your New Year's Eve resolution is broken.

Here are some tips to guide the way:

• Get over it and get on with it.
  Lick your wounds and curse the company you left in private but put on your game face when it's time to socialize during the holiday. Don't snarl about how unfair it is or how you got a rotten deal. You are likely to see family and friends at parties and they will be hesitant to refer you to others if you are bitter.

• Don't hide from people, just because you don't have a job.
  The holidays offer a perfect opportunity to network among people who know you and want to help you. When you are asked about your job, don't cringe and say, "I'm laid off." Prepare a standard line such as, "I was one of many who lost our jobs because of a downsizing. I'm looking at it as an opportunity to find a better job." This will let them know you were not the only one (which could indicate that you were the problem) and it will also show you are taking a positive attitude.

Step up your informational interviewing.
Contrary to conventional wisdom, the holidays offer one of the best times to job-hunt. Here's why:

1. Usually additional positions have been approved for the coming year and are waiting until after the holidays to be filled.
2. Many of the people who are laid off have stopped job hunting, so you have the advantage.
3. You are thrust into more social settings than normal, which offer opportunities to meet old-and new-contacts.
4. Many managers have fewer meetings because of vacations. Committee work and projects often stall during the holidays. For this reason, managers may have more down time to network with you.
5. People are in a more generous mood, so may be more willing to help you.
6. Performance reviews are over and poor performers have been given notice to shape up. Employers are usually unwilling to fire someone just before the holidays but come January, if they don't turn it around, jobs often open up.

• When you are asking friends and colleagues for referrals, don't ask, "Do you know of any job openings?"
  Instead, they will be much more likely to refer you to their contacts if you don't ask too much of them or pressure them. A more low key question would be, "Do you know anyone in my field who would be willing to critique my resume?" This does several things for you. It is an easy request to grant because it isn't asking for too much time or effort. It gets your resume in front of a lot of people (which is the whole point of informational interviewing). And it will give you a lot of free advice about how to make your resume better.

• Prove you're worth referring to their "A list" contacts.
  When someone asks me, "Who do you know…" I consider whether I want to refer him or her to my B List or A List contacts. If the person doesn't particularly impress me, I send them to resources or to people I know who may be able to help them. But if the person has talent and great experience, I send them to my closest friends and clients, who I know will take a personal interest in them because they know I wouldn't send them anyone who wasn't excellent. So how do you qualify for an A List referral?

• · Tell your contacts mini stories about past results that will make them drool...or at least cause them to refer you to their best contacts.
  Use a CAR approach. CAR stands for Challenge, Approach, Results. Think of the results you've achieved, that prove you're good at what you do. Next, turn them into short stories about the challenge you faced (or problem that needed a solution), how you tackled the problem and how the results turned out. This is much more compelling than saying, "I have five years of experience as an engineer."

Stories get repeated. Think of it as giving your friend something interesting to say about you when he calls his buddy to make an introduction, "Jack, I think you need to meet someone. I don't know if you could use someone like him but I think you need to see what this guy has to offer. He was telling me this story about a project he worked on..."

Before you know it, you'll be saying, "Ho, ho, ho."