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Seasonal work: Six tips for snagging that temporary job

When it comes to quickly adding hundreds of thousands of workers to payrolls, nothing does the trick quite like the holidays. Companies will add hundreds of thousands of workers in the run-up to Christmas. Here are six tips to help you get one of those temporary jobs:

3. Don't let a lack of experience stop you.

Jim Beckel/The Oklahoman/AP/File
Guy Peters, dressed as Santa Claus, waves to customers outside a store in northwest Oklahoma City on Christmas Eve 2011. Employers will overlook lack of experience if you're energetic and willing to work nontraditional hours.

  • By David Unger Correspondent

Employers are typically more willing to sacrifice prior experience for a holiday worker who is energetic, committed, and flexible.

"Seasonal employment is a great time to get your foot in the door if you don't have that retail experience, but you're willing to work nights and weekends," Ms. Moyer says.

If sales pick up, companies will hire more people.

"Look for many [companies] to start at last year's levels and hire additional workers only if strong sales early in the season warrant it," says John Challenger, the firm's chief executive officer, in a press release.

Target Corp., for example, has shown more caution. The company expects to hire between 80,000 and 90,000 seasonal workers, down from the 92,000 it hired a year ago.

Target attributes the decline to a number of factors, including current team members' availability and their level of demand for additional hours, Jessica Stevens, a spokeswoman for Target, wrote in an e-mail. Ms. Stevens also noted that 30 percent of last year's seasonal hires stayed with Target for year-round positions.

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Mark Sappenfield
Editor

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