3 Strategies for Dealing With Concerned Relatives -

3 Strategies for Dealing With Concerned Relatives -Last week I wrote about how to use holiday gatherings for career networking. For most people, the holidays inevitably bring more contact with another network your family. If your family is anything like mine, the holidays offer a perfect opening for questions like, When are you going to get married/ have a baby/ buy a house/ cut your hair whatever. If youre out of work, this familial concern is bound to focus on your job search at some point. To manage the stress that can come from unterstellung questions, try to address your relatives one of three waysDeflectWe all have relatives who just arent a helpful resource for us. This may include the retirees in your family, or stay-at-home moms who have been out of the workforce for 15 years. Realistically, someone who hasnt had to look for a job within the brde decade is just not going to understand what its like out there today. When you encounter these relatives, its best to deflect them with a generic comment such as, Oh, Im still looking or, Ive gotten some good leads lately and then change the subject.Offer minimal informationMany times your relatives out in the workforce are eager to help you find work, but they just dont have the connections or understanding of your career to be of much assistance. You can spot these relatives when they cant really explain what their spouses or children do for a living. Since you, too, will probably be described as Oh, he does something in finance, you want to give these people a very succinct sound bite. For example, you can tell them that youre looking for a job in health care accounting. Even if they dont process the information, it will make sense to someone else when your relative tells them how youre doing.Make a connectionSome of your relatives will probably have a professional or personal network that could help you. They may also have prior experience as a hiring manager or supervisor that would allow them to provide you with helpful advice. You can spot these relatives when they ask you probing questions about the type of work youve done and what interests you professionally. With these family members, make sure youre connected on LinkedIn, and offer to send them a copy of your resume in case they run across someone to whom they can forward it.All of your relatives wish the best for you and are eager to help you with your job search. Be prepared during the holidays for questions about how things are going, and learn to recognize which people can help you and which are just curious.