'Tis the Season for the Holiday Job Hunt
Just as Halloween decorations appear before school starts and Christmas decorations crowd in on Halloween in early October, the annual holiday job hunt is following suit. We are reading predictions that it will be a tough market. CareerBuilder has a list of 20 companies that are currently hiring for the holiday season. These include Mattel, Macy's, Radio Shack and Target. Now is the time to start lining up those jobs. In addition to finding jobs with a company, students can also consider self-employment for their earnings. Here are some suggestions that will help students get a jump-start on this season’s holiday job search.
Self-Employment
If having more control over your schedule and lower commute costs are important, consider starting your own business. Think about what adults do or hire to be done and then see if you can’t meet that need as a self-employed entrepreneur. Here are some suggestions to get you started:
- Dog walking/animal sitting – Families get busy with holiday plans and can use the help with their animals, whether that be daily walks or extended care while families are on vacation.
- Babysitting – It can be difficult for families when young children are home from school, but the parents still need to work. You can service these families and earn good money by putting together a weeklong winter “camp”.
Think back to what you liked to do at that age and ask parents, teachers and friends for ideas. Pack a “bag of tricks,” and include favorite children’s books, age appropriate DVDs and games, washable magic markers and scratch paper…even though they likely have all of this at their home, the fact that you brought it will impress young children (and their parents). You might even make-up a “project,” like taking your digital camera and then taking pictures of the children, and then making a “frame” or folded card out of construction paper. If they are very young, the children can dictate their messages for you to write in their cards and then sign their names.
If you haven't taken a CPR/babysitting class yet, put that on the top of your list of to-do's.
- Gift wrapping/greeting cards – Set up a business to wrap holiday gifts; box those that need to be shipped and take them to the post office and/or address greeting card envelopes. There’s a lot you can do with this business. Put together a “tool box” of supplies: scissors, sticky notes (so you can mark wrapped packages), pens, scotch tape dispenser). You may also suggest they write the “to/from” gift tags ahead of time for you to use – if not, write the information on a sticky note and affix it to the box. You can give options of using the client's wrapping paper or your own wrapping paper – just be sure to charge a higher price if you use your own.
- Household Chores: Raking leaves, clearing driveways and sidewalks of snow, help putting up and taking down holiday decorations – Please use safety precautions. Talk to your parents about rules, such as going on roofs and using high ladders.
- Lessons – If you have a talent for sports or music or computers, consider offering lessons – parents are often looking for things for their younger children to do over holiday breaks.
To promote your new business, create an eye-catching flier that has the following information:
- Your name and phone/email contact information (do not put your last name – first name is fine). Speaking of phone and email, be sure your phone voice mail message is professional – you don’t want wild music or “Wassup – leave it at the beep.” That will turn off adult clients; instead you should say something like, “You’ve reached John’s cell phone, please leave a message and I’ll call you back as soon as possible.” Additionally, if you’ve got an email address that’s more about your interest, you might open another (they’re free) that’s more professional sounding, such as yournamepianolessons@gmail.com.
- You may or may not want to include fees, depending on your business. Talk with your parents, neighbors and friends to make sure your pricing is realistic.
- References upon request – this is important for potential clients who don’t know you. Create a list of 3 adults, with phone numbers, whom you’ve spoken to and who are willing to talk to a potential client to vouch for your reliability.
- Then, distribute your fliers door-to-door (but don’t put them in mailboxes – it’s against the law) or hang them up in bookstores or coffee shops that have bulletin boards. You may even want to create the “hula skirt” flier (the one where the contact info is on little tear off strips running vertically to the main message that runs horizontally). Give your fliers to your parents to hand out to friends and co-workers (if they’re okay with doing that).
The Traditional Job Market
The first jobs that come to mind are those at retail stores – being a sales associate for the holiday season. But here are some others you may not have thought about:
- Customer service – the behind-the-scenes customer service jobs, such as telephone assistance, that all businesses have nowadays. If your computer tech savvy, you could be an online customer service representative, for example. With some businesses, you may even work from home.
- Shipping – UPS, Fed-X and mailing stores all hire additional employees for the holidays.
- Coffee shops – the increase in traffic during the holiday season and the opportunities for families and friends to spend more time together in coffee shops, increases the traffic and the need for cashiers or baristas.
- Restaurants – host/hostess, bus person, kitchen help, waitress, delivery person.
- Try to think of businesses in your area that might have increased traffic over the holidays and then contact them.
Regardless of which route you go – self-employed or the traditional job market, you must do the following if you to stand out from the crowd and land the job(s).
- Dress appropriately – As tempting as it may be to wear your jeans and a sweatshirt to fill out an application or drop off your fliers, DON’T. Even though the dress code may be casual in a particular business, when applying for a job, dress appropriately. For men, that’s slacks and a nice long-sleeved shirt. For women, that’s nice slacks or skirt and a blouse (think your mother’s blouse). Make sure your shoes are also conservative and clean. Leave the jewelry and piercings at home.
- Professional-looking Resume – Have someone proof your resume. You can use the free My First Resume on the Career Kids' website to help you get started.
- Practice Potential Interview Questions – And watch your body language. You don’t want to slouch, give one word answers or look blank when asked a question. Firm handshake – practice, practice, practice. It’s absolutely amazing how many limp handshakes there are out there and that is often an employer’s first impression (along with how you dress). So, get a grip – not a crush and not a limp toss – it could be a deal breaker!
To beat the rush, apply now with the large amount of companies that allow online applications. Start dropping off resumes and filling out job applications now. Then, follow up with a phone call or email a few days later.
Keep this up until you get the job. Don't get discouraged.
Copyright 2008 Career Kids, LLC