Cookies, careers and contacts: Why your network is pure Christmas gold
At every christmas party there are two types of people: The ones glued to the snack table, praying no one asks what they “do”, and the ones who somehow walk out with three new leads and a lunch on the books. You do not have to become the second type. But you can absolutely use December as a quiet career accelerator.
“Networking” often sounds like slick elevator pitches and awkward LinkedIn messages. In reality, most opportunities come from simple, human moments: a Christmas text to a former manager, a coffee between Christmas and New Year’s, a quick “How have you been?” to someone you worked with two jobs ago. Mark Granovetter’s classic “strength of weak ties” research showed that many job moves come not from best friends, but from those loose, in-between contacts.[1]
Why your weak ties get extra powerful in December
Granovetter’s findings still hold up in the age of LinkedIn and Slack. Weak ties – people you know, but do not talk to every week – connect you to different circles, ideas and opportunities.[1] Modern analyses of professional networks keep confirming it: Career shifts, new roles, side projects, collaborations – they often start with a light-touch reconnection.
The holidays are the perfect excuse. A quick “Merry Christmas, it’s been a while!” or “Happy holidays, I loved following your move to Austin this year” feels completely normal in December. No one suspects a hidden agenda. You are just one of many friendly pings in their inbox – but a slightly more thoughtful one.
Zoom out and there is a bigger trend: The US market for personalized gifts is projected to grow strongly through 2030, fueled especially by Millennials and Gen Z who value thoughtful, customized gestures over generic stuff.[2] That is a giant cultural hint: People are craving to feel personally seen, not just marketed to.
Turning holiday greetings into long-term career capital
This does not mean spamming everyone with your resume. It means using the natural warmth of the season to keep connections alive in a way that feels honest and light.
- 1. Start with real history: Focus on people you have actually worked with or studied with, not total strangers.
- 2. Anchor in something specific: Mention a project, a talk, a funny moment you shared.
- 3. Skip the instant ask: No “If you hear of any openings…” in the first paragraph. That can come later, if at all.
- 4. Open a door, not a pitch: Suggest a low-pressure coffee or Zoom catch-up in January.
Keeping track of all those threads mentally is almost impossible. That is where a small system helps. An app like HighFive acts as a private contact manager on your iPhone: You can log notes about when and how you last worked with someone, add milestones like their promotion or move, and even attach photos from events. Because data stays on your device and is designed with privacy in mind, it feels more like a personal notebook than a sales tool.
Your 30-minute holiday networking game plan
If you are allergic to the word “strategy”, think of this as a quick pre-holiday ritual. One coffee, one playlist, 30 minutes.
- Make a list of 15–25 people: Former managers, colleagues from projects that went well, mentors, people from side gigs or volunteer work.
- Add a short note for each: Where you know them from, what you did together, anything meaningful that stands out. Store it in an app like HighFive or in a simple document.
- Draft three message templates: “Long time no talk”, “We worked together this year”, “We always said we’d grab coffee”.
- Personalize lightly: For each person, tweak two or three lines so it clearly could not have gone to anyone else.
- Stagger the send: Some messages in early December, some between Christmas and New Year’s. That way it never feels like a mass blast.
Research on personalized gifts shows that well-explained, tailored gestures stick in people’s memory far more than generic ones.[3] Your messages can play the same role: small, specific, memorable.
The emotional side: networks protect you, too
Career aside, December can be rough. A 2022 survey found that about 55 % of people feel more lonely or sad around the holidays.[4] Images of perfect gatherings are everywhere, and if your life does not look like that, it can sting. Reaching out to others is not just good strategy – it is a way of taking care of yourself.
Studies on greeting cards even found that sending them is as tied to people’s emotional life as receiving them. In one multi-trial study, Christmas cards themselves did not dramatically change measurable outcomes, but the act of writing and sending them was experienced as meaningful by many participants.[5] Add in what we know about loneliness and health, and a pattern appears: Staying in touch is a small, stubborn act of resistance against isolation.
“The best holiday networking doesn’t feel like networking at all. It feels like checking in on people you genuinely like.”
Conclusion: Invest once, benefit all year
The holidays give you a rare, socially accepted moment to reconnect widely without looking opportunistic. The science of weak ties, personalized gestures and loneliness all point in the same direction: Careful, human outreach now can turn into opportunities and support later – in ways you cannot fully predict.[1][3][4]
Use this December to send 15–20 messages that sound like you, anchored in real shared moments. Set up a light-touch system – maybe with HighFive – so you remember who you talked to and when. Next year, you may find that your network feels less like a random list of names and more like a living, breathing safety net.
Pick three names tonight, send three authentic notes and see what unfolds. That is often how the best career stories start.
Sources
- [1] Granovetter, M. (1973): The Strength of Weak Ties. Overview e.g. here: Link
- [2] U.S. Personalized Gifting Market Outlook 2025–2030. Summary via Yahoo Finance. Link
- [3] University of Bath (2024): Personalized gifts create lasting emotional connections and enhance self-esteem. Link
- [4] Public News Service (2023): Loneliness, isolation on the rise around the holidays. Link
- [5] BMJ (2021): Bah humbug! Association between sending Christmas cards to trial participants and trial retention. Link