Advice on How to Find Seasonal Work

Advice on How to Find Seasonal WorkAdvice on How to Find Seasonal WorkMost hiring for seasonal work takes place during the summer and the winter holidays. Companies - especially those in retail, transportation, and tourism - often hire workers for the busier months during the summer and around the holidays when business ramps up. Many resorts hire workers for both ski season and the summer, while tax preparation firms sometimes hire additional staff just for tax season. Any industry that has a busy season is likely to hire some seasonal help to manage the extra work. What Is Seasonal Employment? Employment that does not continue year-round butusually recurs is generally referred to as seasonal work. Many positions are only necessary duringcertain timesof the year, so workers will be employed only during that time period. Seasonal jobs are temporary and short-term by definition. Some work is seasonal based on geography. For example, there is a large boating and fishing industry in the Great Lakes region during the warmer months, but it shuts down during the winter. Some professionals in such an industry may work in a northern climate during the summer and shift operations to someplace further south and warmer for the winter. For retail hiring, Christmas is the busiestseason of the year. Employers usually start hiring in the fall for additional staff to ring the cash registers during the holiday shopping rush. In general, if youre looking for seasonal employment, start your job search before the season begins. That is, if youre looking for a summer position, start your search in the springtime. And, if youre interested in working around the winter holidays, apply for jobs beginning in the fall. Types of Seasonal Work What kind of seasonal jobs do employers hire for? There are a variety of terrific seasonal job options to consider if youre looking for a job for a specific time of year, or looking to make a career out of cobbling together different types of seasonal work. Retail Many stores have help wanted signs in their windows. Your best bet if youre interested in a seasonal retail job is to walk around a mall or your town and stop in and fill out applications. Major chains, such asMacys, Target, andWalmart, among others, accept online applications. Also, check out thelocaljob searching resources for your city or state. Many of the employers who hire extra help for the holidays are the saatkorn employers who hire part-time help. So, be sure to check thepart-time job sites. Temporary Temporary agencies often seek additional staff for their clients during the holiday season. Kelly Services,Snelling Snelling, andManpowerall provide searchable databases of temporary positions. Temping is one of the fastest growing employment sectors in the country, and the range of available positions has increased significantly. One of the big pluses of temp work is that you can do it on your schedule. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) an d state tax departments need help in processing tax returns starting in early January, and tax preparation companies need staff to help prepare and file income returns throughout tax season. Delivery Package delivery services add staff, including drivers and handlers, to help them deal with the deluge of holiday boxes.UPS is one of the leading employers of holiday help, and has a variety of options for applying for seasonal work. FedExhas a searchable database of jobs and you can also apply for employment online.DHLalso has employment information available online. Food delivery and food service is another area where more jobs may be available during the holidays. With busy schedules and visiting guests, people order more pizza and other delivered food and often eat out more frequently. Outdoors Does the outdoors sound more attractive? schi areas and resorts hire extra help for the holiday and winter season. Typical positions include ski instructors and patrol, snowmaking, an d hotel and restaurant staff. Some facilities include housing and discounted lift tickets. If youre passionate about skiing and want to share your knowledge with other people, working as a ski instructor can become your regular seasonal job. Many ski resorts bring back the same staff year after year. Youll find summer seasonal employment at beach resorts, amusement parks, and historic and national attractions. Also reviewhospitality,travel, and outdoor job listings, so youre viewing a broad range of options. Youll find that many of the jobs in these career fields are seasonal by nature. Finding Seasonal Jobs Job search enginesare an excellent way to find seasonal job listings. When you use advanced search options, youll be able to search by type of position and narrow the results to include only job listings with seasonal hours. Heres how to search for seasonal jobs on the topjob search engines. Most job sites, such asIndeed.com,LinkUp.com,SimplyHired.com, andCoolWorks.comoffer advanced search features where you can search by keywords likeseasonal, seasonal holiday, seasonal retail, seasonal ski, or seasonal summer, etc. Include your location in the search to find jobs in your area. If you have an employer that youre interested in working for, visit the employment section of the companys website. Most large employers, and some smaller ones, accept online applications directly on the site.