Holiday Job Hunting Essentials

holiday job hunting tips

With Christmas right around the corner, now is a better time than ever to ramp up your job search efforts. The holiday season means an influx of temporary seasonal jobs, which are a great way to get your foot in the door and find a full time job for 2015 and beyond. If you are already gainfully employed, consider taking a part time seasonal role in retail, package delivery, or customer service. During this time period companies are constantly looking for new workers. Check out this list for some excellent job hunting tips during the holiday season.

1.)    Identify Your Intent

Do you want this to be a seasonal position once per year for some extra cash around the holiday season? Or, is this a way of getting your foot in the door in an attempt to land a full-time position after the holidays have passed. Some companies are better than others depending on your intent. Many of these jobs are purely temporary, but altering your search strategy can land you a full time career. The best way to land a seasonal retail job is to apply in person. Meet your potential manager face to face. Already have the proper applications filled out before you visit the location, because that is the first thing they will tell you to do. Expediting the process and being more visible will dramatically increase your chances of landing a job.

2.)    Optimize Your Resume

This point cannot be stressed enough, and not enough job seekers utilize this simple strategy. Whenever you are applying for a role, you stand a better chance of landing the job if you completely optimize your resume based on the job description. Whenever a sought after job appears on the internet it’s likely that hundreds of applicants will respond. Human resources departments simply do not have enough time to read them all, so they use keyword scanners to shorten the list. Using proper keyword placement will instantly catapult you to the top of the list. Don’t skip this step!

3.)    Beware of the Work

High volume, high stress, and high production environments are commonplace during the holiday season. For example, a retail store will experience a significant boost in sales, and as a result, an exponentially higher amount of merchandise needs to make it onto the shelves. Also, more customers will be coming into the store, so more employees need to be present on the sales floor. The work can be stressful, and management will have strict goals in place to meet organizational needs. If package delivery is your choice of employment, the work environment will be just as stressful. Do your research before taking the job and make sure that the nature of the work is right for you.

4.)    Can It Become a Career?

Many of these temporary roles will disappear after the holiday season. However, often times managers use it as an evaluation period to pick the next employee. Focus on working hard and being punctual. Be as efficient and effective as possible. Putting your skills on display is an excellent way to ensure a future full time position. Just because a position is labeled as “seasonal” doesn’t mean that you have no chance of furthering your career within that organization. Finding out your future job prospects will likely require some internet research, but the information is definitely out there. Figure out what people have done in the past and follow in their footsteps. Focus on doing an excellent job and the career opportunities will soon follow.

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Matthew Welch

Jobdiagnosis blog author Matthew Welch is an SEO strategist and content marketer from Boston, MA. Read blog content relating to job search by Matthew Welch.

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