Winter break is a great time to veg out, catch up on sleep, and spend time with family. However, you can also be more productive with your time out of school by getting a seasonal job. Hmm, work or relax? The choice seems pretty obvious! So why would anyone choose to work though the holiday season? Here are a few convincing reasons why:
As you get older, the pressure to give actual Christmas gifts—not “coupon books” for bear hugs, or home made cards, etc.— increases. And you’ll learn very soon that giving decent gifts requires a lot of money! A seasonal job will provide you with just the right amount of cash at exactly the right time. And, if you’re frugal, a little bit of extra money to spend on yourself or save for a rainy day.
Even if you don’t want a job right now, the time will come when you need one. Luckily for you, you’ll have a leg up compared to the rest of your peers—if you get a seasonal job! Even though it’s only for a short period of time, a job during the holidays will show future employers that you’re proactive and experienced—two great traits for an employee!
If you’re going to get a job, this is probably the best time to do it. Working during the semester gets pretty stressful. It becomes a matter of priorities, commitments, and balancing responsibilities. As long as you can avoid that, you should! So you’re left with summers and winter break, including a little bit of time before and after winter break begins and ends. Since summers can be such a competitive time to seek employment, I recommend looking for a job for winter break.
One good thing about a seasonal job is having a clear end in sight. In case you end up disliking your job or boss, you will be more willing to stick it out, knowing that once the holidays are over, you will be a free woman again!
Hopefully though, you won’t hate your job! If all goes well, you’ll love it and want to return some day. Assuming your manager likes you, too, working over winter break can help secure you a summer job down the road. When everyone is competing with empty resumes and no connections, you’ll have both and be practically guaranteed a job!
Even if you never want to work in, for example, a department store again, the experience can help you learn valuable skills that will help shape who you are. When you start working, you’ll have to do some grunt work—the jobs you never even knew about and definitely never wanted to do— which will humble you. Plus, you’ll learn useful people skills, cooperation, patience, and much more!
Don't forget one of the biggest perks of working in a store— discounts! When you're older, benefits are boring things like “health insurance" and "maternity leave”, but you get to enjoy the fun, free stuff at a seasonal job! Discounts come in handy at this time of year particularly because you can spread the joy; i.e. get discounted gifts for all of your friends and family!
So you see, getting a seasonal job isn't all bad! In fact, there are a lot of benefits to it! Have you ever worked a seasonal job? Why do you recommend it?