Seasonal Working
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by Jenny Ungless, Career Life Coach 
The nights are drawing in, it’s getting colder and Christmas is looming. This is the time of year when seasonal jobs are readily available, and seasonal working can be a great way to refresh your career or try out a possible change of direction. How can you use Christmas to help boost your career? Here are some ideas:
Many of the seasonal working opportunities will be in shops, hotels, bars and restaurants. So this can be a great opportunity to check out potential careers in retail management, hospitality or the food and drink sector. All the big department stores, retailers and bar and restaurant chains take on extra staff around Christmas, and this can be a great chance to get your foot in the door.
Seasonal working can also be a good way of refreshing yourself and getting a new perspective, even if you’re not planning a full-scale career change. For example, a temporary Saturday or evening job could help you to add to your skill set, especially in the areas of customer service, multi-tasking, working under pressure etc. It might just be your route to promotion in your current field.
Being in a completely different environment can help you to think more clearly about what you really want from your career. Have a go at doing something different and see what aspects of it you enjoy. What does that tell you about how you might take your career forward? It’s good to take time every now and again to focus on what you really want from your career – and your life – and how close you are to that ideal.
Of course, you don’t have to stay in the UK to get a seasonal job. Ski resorts, chalets and overseas holiday destinations all need extra staff over the Christmas and New Year period. Head to the other side of the world and you can get a sun tan at the same time!
There are other, more straightforward benefits to seasonal working, too. Not only are you likely to be in a fun and festive environment, but the perks can be extremely good – anything from generous tips from happy customers through to staff discounts and bonuses. A bit of extra work pre-Christmas can be a great way of helping to fund your own celebrations!
Finally, seasonal work is a great way of networking. Whether you’re looking to make contacts within a particular industry or company, or you simply want to widen your social circle a bit, working with other people in an environment which is fun and buzzy is a great way to do it.
If you’d like some support in planning to use the run-up to Christmas to boost your career, City Life Coaching can help. We are currently offering Monster clients a special discounted rate of £200 for a 2-hour career assessment session (normal rate £250). Simply email jenny@citylifecoaching.com quoting “November Monster offer”.
© City Life Coaching 2006
