Whether you’re unemployed or looking for some extra cash, a holiday job can improve your finances. Every holiday season, many companies scramble to hire employees. These temporary roles tend to be flexible, low-stress, and fun. Follow these tips to find your ideal holiday job this season.
The sooner you start your job search, the better your chances of receiving a job offer. After summer comes to an end, you can start looking for holiday jobs. Many employers start hiring for their holiday positions early. Typically, you can find holiday positions as early as October.
Keep in mind that the hiring process takes time. While you might not be looking to start work until November, it could take two months for you to get a job offer and start working. Furthermore, most companies hire earlier in the season rather than later. If you wait until November to apply, you’ll have fewer opportunities and more competition.
Before you begin looking for work, you should be familiar with some of the more common types of holiday jobs. The most prevalent jobs are in the retail sector. Department stores, boutiques, and big box stores often hire more staff for the holidays. As you search, you’re likely to find retail jobs as clerks, customer service reps, and stockers.
Another sector that does well during the holiday season is hospitality. As travel increases, hotels, restaurants, and caterers tend to hire new employees. You could find work as a host, server, or concierge. Manufacturers also have a higher demand for the holiday season. Jobs in manufacturing include assembly workers, package unloaders, and packers.
Don’t wait to create your resume, cover letters, and references. Even though most employers don’t ask for references and other documentation until later on in the hiring process, you should have them ready and available.
With holiday jobs, employers tend to try to expedite the hiring process. But, gathering references and informing them of your intent takes time. If you take too long to submit references, you could miss out on the job. Think about any documents an employer may ask for and have them ready to go. If you’re not sure what type of documents you might need, look at job listings.
It’s also useful to run a background check on yourself. Sometimes, there are cases of mistaken identities or errors in background checks. If you don’t look into your own background, you could miss out on a job because of a surprise issue on your background check.
While many holiday jobs come with flexible schedules, you still need to know what hours you want to work. Before you apply for jobs, think about your ideal hours. Come up with the perfect schedule and then create a list of acceptable schedules.
As you look for work, read the job listing to see if the hours work with what you need. You can also target your search for jobs that fit your schedule requirements. For instance, you might want to work late nights or early mornings. Because customer service retail jobs are usually during store hours, you would focus on finding warehouse or package handling positions.
People who are willing to work nights, extended hours, and weekends often get preference during the hiring process. So, if you don’t care what your schedule looks like, be sure to explain that to a hiring manager. It could give you a major advantage.
Think about your own strengths and weaknesses. Then, look for jobs that play to your strengths. Even though your former job might not have any seasonal roles, the skills you developed could translate well to a different position.
For instance, you might have worked as a bank teller. The customer service and money-handling skills you gained in that role would carry over well to a retail sales position. When you think about your skillset, think outside the box. Even if you were a stay-at-home mom, you developed skills like time management, scheduling, and conflict resolution.
While it’s great to apply for jobs that relate to your skills, you need to take it one step further.
Show the hiring manager that you deserve the job by adding your job-specific skills and achievements to your resume. Hiring managers typically look for the following skills for holiday jobs:
Customer service skills
Communication
Reliability
Time management
Take a look at your resume and add any skills or achievements not on there. Every time you apply for a new job, check your resume. Is it relevant to the job title? You may need to customize it to appeal to the hiring manager.
You don’t need to sit down at your computer every time you want to apply for jobs. Although you should fill out applications while you’re focused, there’s no harm in searching for work from your phone. When you’re waiting for an appointment or a passenger in a vehicle, search for jobs on your phone.
As long as you have a smartphone, it’s easy to apply for jobs on the go. You can download Google Docs to your phone and store a copy of your resume and a cover letter in it. If you find a job, it’s easy to make edits to the documents from your phone. You can even download organizational apps that help you stay organized during the job hunt.
Oftentimes, holiday jobs don’t require industry experience. Although you should apply for jobs that work well with your skills, don’t be afraid to learn new skills. Look for jobs that interest you and allow you to develop new talents.
For instance, you may not have customer service skills. By taking a seasonal retail position, you can develop those skills and then add them to your resume. You can make yourself a more appealing job candidate with your seasonal job.
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