'Tis the Season for the Holiday Job Search

Hiring for holiday jobs starts as early as summer! Access a bevy of resources focused on seasonal work for students and hit the ground running with your search.

While the holidays may not be on your mind as you relax at the beach this summer, they’re on the mind of employers. In some industries, employers begin posting holiday job opportunities as early as July, making it more important than ever for students interested in seasonal work to get a jump on the application process. If you know you’ll need a job over winter break, how do you prepare and where do you look? We’ve pulled together a bevy of tips and resources on holiday jobs for students to help you beat out the competition and nab a great seasonal job.

Job search tips

The job search takes a little finessing to expedite it efficiently and with minimal stress. Use the tips below to make the process smoother and more successful.

Study the job ad

The best way to get a holiday job you enjoy is to study the job ad. Look at the required qualifications in the ad. If you meet them, take the time to personalize your application materials to showcase your relevant skills.

Build a great résumé

Even for students who may have limited (or no) work experience, creating a résumé is a critical first step in the search for seasonal work. There are many resources online that will teach you the basics of how to write a résumé. Or, if you’re pinched for time and want an easy-to-use tool to guide you through the necessary steps, a résumé builder can help.

Craft a cover letter

While not all seasonal jobs will require a cover letter, it’s always a good idea to include one if you have the opportunity to do so. Employers use cover letters to help them distinguish between candidates with similar qualifications and backgrounds, which means a well-written cover letter can help you beat the competition.

Related: How to Perfect the 5 Sections of a Cover Letter

Start your search early

Online job boards like Indeed and Snagajob.com have loads of temporary and holiday roles for students. Using these resources makes it super easy to apply to multiple positions, but time isn’t on your side. Since many employers have their seasonal hiring complete by the fall, you’ll want to get your applications out sooner rather than later.

Focus on a particular industry

While it might be tempting to apply for every available job, there are benefits to zeroing in on a particular industry. First, it will narrow your search and help you write stronger application materials if they’re industry specific. Second, they can help you get another job down the road. How? If you’re a college student studying Early Child Development to become a teacher, for example, a seasonal job as a kids’ ski instructor can be a great addition to your résumé, as it gives you exposure to teaching groups of children. Finding a holiday job in your industry can also create networking opportunities that will come in handy after you graduate.

Be clear on your expectations and availability

While seasonal work can be a great way to put some extra cash in your bank account, it can also be challenging. Working a seasonal job often means working on or around the holidays, which could affect your own holiday plans. Holiday jobs for students can also be hectic and stressful, with long hours and lots of interaction with the general public. Being clear on what you can handle and honest about your availability is critical when applying for—and accepting—a holiday position. After all, your goal is to create opportunities for yourself, not burn bridges.

Have a great attitude

When hiring seasonal workers, employers usually aren’t expecting you to have a lot of work experience, but they do expect you to have a positive attitude and the potential to learn. During the interview process and while on the job, the best way to make the most of the opportunity is to show up on time with a can-do attitude and a smile on your face. These qualities will go a long way with employers who may consider you for future work down the road if you do a great job.

Related: 5 Quick Tips for Finding Your First Job

Where to look for seasonal work

While this year’s seasonal hiring projections aren’t yet available, if recent years were any indication, this should be a banner year for holiday hiring. When it comes to seasonal jobs for students, here are some opportunities to consider as you begin your search.

Resorts

If you live to ski or snowboard, a resort job over the holidays might be perfect for you. From instructors to sales to food and beverage roles, there is something for everyone who wants to work at a ski resort, many of which are booming over the holidays. Check out CoolWorks.com for information about resort jobs in your area. 

Retail

If you want to work at a local retail business, chances are you’ll need to pound the pavement with your new résumé in hand to inquire about opportunities for seasonal work. However, if you’d like to work for a chain store, sites like Indeed are great resources for uncovering opportunities. If you have a specific company in mind, go directly to the job board on the company’s website to find out how to apply. Don’t enjoy sales? Large retailers like Target, Walmart, and Amazon often have a variety of opportunities for seasonal workers in distribution centers and fulfillment facilities.

Delivery services

The holidays are all about shopping, shopping, shopping, which means they are also all about deliveries. Companies like UPS and FedEx hire a considerable number of seasonal workers to help out with the increased demand for shipments during the holidays.

Related: How to Have a Productive High School Winter Break 

Finding work over the holidays is smart for your résumé and your wallet when you go back to school. Use this advice and these resources to prep for the job search to put yourself in a good spot.

Find more job search tips to help you land a great position in our Internships and Careers section.

Like what you’re reading?

Join the CollegeXpress community! Create a free account and we’ll notify you about new articles, scholarship deadlines, and more.

Join Now

Tags:

About LiveCareer

Since 2005, LiveCareer’s team of career coaches, certified résumé writers, and savvy technologists have been developing career tools that have helped over 10 million users build stronger résumés, write persuasive cover letters, and develop better interview skills. Land the job you want faster using our free résumé templates and résumé examples, writing guides, and an easy-to-use résumé builder.

 

Join our community of
over 5 million students!

CollegeXpress has everything you need to simplify your college search, get connected to schools, and find your perfect fit.

Join CollegeXpress

College Quick Connect

Swipe right to request information.
Swipe left if you're not interested.

Alabama State University

Montgomery, AL


Jenna

Jenna

High School Class of 2021

CollegeXpress has helped me greatly during my college search. I used their college search feature often and it helped in comparing schools I was looking at. Now that I’ve found a college the scholarship search feature is helping me find a way to find my college experience. CollegeXpress has many helpful features and resources for anyones college search, it truly is a wonderful tool for anyone entering college level!

Hannah Nelsen

Hannah Nelsen

High School Class of 2022

CollegeXpress has helped me look at colleges that fit my interests by taking my profile and matching it to colleges that have the programs I'm looking for. It has the ability to connect me to colleges so I can be contacted by them and look at them more in-depth to find what's right for me. Additionally, the scholarship database is super beneficial for getting scholarships for college. Not only does it help lift the financial burden of college but it shows all the opportunities available. Overall, CollegeXpress has been very helpful to me.

Melanie Kajy

Melanie Kajy

High School Class of 2021

CollegeXpress has helped me tremendously during my senior year of high school. I started off using the college search to find more information about the universities I was interested in. Just this tool alone gave me so much information about a particular school. It was my one-stop shop to learn about college. I was able to find information about college tuition, school rank, majors, and so much more that I can't list it all. The college search tool has helped me narrow down which college I want to attend, and it made a stressful process surprisingly not so stressful. I then moved to the scholarship search tool to find scholarships to apply for because I can't afford to pay for tuition myself. The search tool helped me find scholarships that I was eligible for. The tool gave me all the information I could ever need about a particular scholarship that was being offered. The CollegeXpress scholarship search tool is so much better than other tools offered, like the Chegg scholarship search. Thanks to CollegeXpress, I was able to apply to tons of scholarships in a relatively easy way!

Nikole Dixon

Nikole Dixon

$500 Refer-a-Friend Scholarship Winner

Toward the beginning of last year, I was searching for scholarships to apply to through my school, town, websites online, and anything else I could find. I asked tons of questions [online] about scholarships and the best places to find them because I was desperate and needed as many as I could find. I came across a ton of bogus websites, but as soon as I found CollegeXpress, I knew I had to tell other people about it. It was definitely the most helpful site I came across, so I told my friends about it. CollegeXpress is definitely a website worth giving as a source.

Kamal

Kamal

Student, University of the People

I registered with CollegeXpress and filled all my necessary and relevant information as well as the course I wished to study. A few days later, an email was sent to me with a list of schools offering the course; amongst them was the University of the People, the school I got admitted to.