Think Before You Give

Seasons greetings to all of my fabulous followers! I hope your holidays are full of warmth, kindness and appropriate gift giving!

With the holiday season comes gift giving and card sending. I have been thinking, if most of you are on a budget because you are on a career search, gift giving will be challenging. I think it is important for you to think about the gifts you plan on giving before handing them out. You may think this is rediculous but it is important because what you give someone reflects your taste and is part of the impression you leave on someone. Put simply, before you give, think.

Do you want your associates to say you are cheap or insensitive? What if you don't give a gift at all, are you then perceived as totally self absorbed and on the black list?  Since you are not working, you will have more free time to think carefully about the people on your shopping list and what they would like. Think about what you know about them. Start this process by thinking about their likes and dislikes. If you are planning to buy your ex-coworkers gifts, think about items they may have displayed on their desks or what pictures they had in frames. Try to remember conversations you have had with them about what they do while they are not at work. Think back to what hobies they have shared with you or sporting events they like. This is a good place to start because then you will make your gift more personalized.

Gifts don't have to be large or expensive you just have to be resourceful and thoughtful. A nice idea I found online is http://www.smilebox.com/. I had to think of something to give to my nephew who was having his birthday and I didn't have much money. What I ended up doing was creating a personalized slide show on smilebox that allowed me to incorporate pictures of my nephew in it. With Smilebox, you can use your own video or photos with their designs and music and it equals a one of a kind and personalized greeting. They have hundreds of templates to choose from and it is easy and it didn't cost me a thing. I was so impressed with the slideshow I was able to create, I cried and I looked like a technical genius in front of my family!

Hallmark also has personalized greeting cards now where you can record your own voice and message in them. I think that would be an economical and personalized gift to give to a co-worker. So, when you think about it, gift giving doesn't have to break the bank account. Take this time that you have over the holidays to try and be the most thoughtful you have ever been in the gift giving department and see how many lasting impressions and stronger conenctions you develop from this process.

I hope this helps and most of all, try to be positive over the holiday season even though you may be on a career search. I know it is easier said than done but the people around you will appreciate this and recognize it. I promise!
Seasons greetings!
Anrea