Kaitlin Madden, CareerBuilder Writer
Job seekers, get out your seasonal cookie cutters and hunt down some eggnog, it’s time to prepare for the holidays.
OK, so maybe it’s a little early for the festive cookies and cocktails, but if you plan on looking for work during the holiday season, it’s high time you started preparing.
Although full-time hiring tends to dip in the final quarter of the year, many companies add temporary positions during the holidays, positions which they start hiring for now. Yes, it’s true that many seasonal jobs fall into the retail category, but the holidays are also a busy time for businesses in shipping and warehousing, accounting, travel and hospitality, and the nonprofit sector so job openings in a variety of functions within these industries aren’t uncommon, either.
If you don’t work in an industry that typically needs extra hands during the holidays, consider taking a job outside of your field — it can still be beneficial to your job search.
“A large number of the unemployed have been unemployed for six months or longer,” says Raina Fuentes, office manager at Momentum Specialized Staffing, a recruiting firm in Phoenix, Ariz. “Taking a seasonal position can help lessen the noticeable gap in employment on your résumé. It will also allow you to take a break from the monotony job seekers face these days and help you go into your 2012 job search with a freshened state of mind and outlook on the future.” Plus, seasonal hiring can provide job seekers with valuable networking opportunities and the chance to learn transferable skills.
To help you jumpstart your holiday job search, here’s a look at 15 employers that currently have seasonal openings.
1. Aeropostale
Industry: Retail, fashion
Holiday job openings: 2,000+
Sample job titles: District managers, store managers, assistant managers, retail associates / role models
Location: Nationwide and Canada
2. A.M. Castle & Co.
Industry: Metals distribution/industrial/manufacturing
Holiday job openings: 50+
Sample job titles: Territory manager, inside sales representative, director of strategic sourcing, warehouse operator
Location: Nationwide
3. ANN INC. (Ann Taylor/LOFT)
Industry: Retail
Holiday job openings: 3,000-5,000
Sample job titles: Sales associates
Location: Nationwide
4. APAC Customer Services
Industry: Customer service, telecom
Number of openings: 250
Sample job titles: Customer service representative
Location: Ariz., Iowa, Fla., N.Y., Texas, Wisc.
5. DialAmerica
Industry: Telemarketing
Holiday job openings: 1,000
Sample job titles: Customer service agents, contact center sales agents for health care, financial services and Sirius satellite radio programs, team leaders trainers
Location: Calif., Fla., Ga., Ill., Neb., N.J., N.Y., Ohio, Penn., S.C., Tenn., Texas
6. Diamond National Adjusting, LLC
Industry: Adjusting/appraising
Holiday job openings 50
Sample job titles: Insurance adjuster/ appraiser
Location: Ala., Ariz., Ark., Calif., Colo., Fla., Ill., Ind., Iowa, Kan., Ky., La., Mich., Mo., Neb., Nev., N.M., Ohio, Okla., Texas
7. Helzberg Diamonds
Industry: Retail
Holiday job openings: 100+
Sample job titles: Retail sales associate, part time kiosk sales
Location: Nationwide
8. Headway Workforce Solutions
Industry: Workforce Solutions
Holiday job openings: 11,000+
Sample job titles: Store sales associates, store managers, assistant store managers, warehouse (distribution), loss prevention, call center, regional area supervisors, and retail corporate level positions.
Location: Nationwide
9. Massage Envy
Industry: Health and wellness
Holiday job openings: 2,500
Sample job titles: Sales associate, massage therapist, esthetician, clinic manager
Location: Nationwide
10. Medcor, Inc.
Industry: Occupational health care, health care
Holiday job openings: 50
Sample job titles: Registered nurse, paramedic, licensed practical nurse, IT developer
Location: Ill., Texas, N.M.
11. The Men’s Wearhouse
Industry: Retail
Holiday job openings: 70+
Sample job titles: Sales consultant, sales manager
Location: Nationwide
12. Rue 21
Industry: Retail
Holiday job openings: 100+
Sample job titles: Retail: District manager, store manager, retail sales associate; Corporate: merchandising, marketing, finance, HR, recruiting
Location: Retail positions nationwide; Corporate positions in Pittsburgh
13. The Salvation Army
Industry: Non-profit
Holiday job openings: 80+
Sample job titles: Store manager, assistant store manager, production associate, retail clerk, cashier, associate counselor, resource development manager, intake coordinator
Locations: Nationwide
14. Sleepy’s, LLC
Industry: Retail, mattresses
Holiday job openings: 100+
Sample job titles: Sales professionals, sales assistants, call center representatives
Location: Conn., Del., Md., Mass., N.C., N.J., N.Y., Penn., R.I., Va.
15. Spencer Gifts/Spirit Halloween Stores
Industry: Retail
A specific number of openings they expect to fill for the holidays: 20,000
Sample job titles: Costume designer, planning manager, assistant buyer, seasonal store manager, seasonal district sales manager, seasonal sales associates, seasonal assistant manager
Location: Nationwide
Whether they do it over the phone or with a webcam, today’s job candidates need to be prepared for the virtual interview. Many companies seeking to fill customer service and call center positions are conducting virtual interviews to help screen candidates and, in some cases, as the only form of interviewing. Nikki Trotter, a career coach and workforce consultant, says, “Virtual interviews are big cost-savers, especially for those who are geographically detached. They save time and money on travel expenses and are great screening tools.”
Once your resume has made it past the basic screening for requisite skills and qualifications, you’re on to the next round in the screening process. Here are some tips to help you nail the virtual interview.
1. Be yourself
“My number one piece of advice is just be yourself,” says Frank Steele, director of recruiting for FirstGroup America. He says that if you try to fake it, you’ll eventually be found out. “I fully appreciate the pressures of looking for a job. But you’ve got to be yourself and be genuine. I would approach a phone interview like a first date or a speed date. It’s the start of the relationship. During the course of the conversation, I ask myself, do I want to work with this person, do I like them?” Steel conducts a dozen or more phone screens every week with candidates seeking jobs with North America’s largest provider of transportation services.
2. Communicate clearly & concisely
“During the initial phone screen, we’re listening for the communication aspect. For contact center positions, what’s most important is the candidate’s competency on the phone,” says Tyson Bragg, group HR manager for Enterprise Holdings. He oversees the hiring process for the company’s two customer contact centers in St. Louis, Mo., and Eugene, Ore., and for its virtual workforce, who handle customer calls from home. “We are listening to their verbal communication skills, how well they manage their responses to questions and if their answers are succinct and well thought through,” adds Bragg.
3. Have an elevator speech
With an initial phone screen, Steele says you’ve got about three minutes to make an impression. He says many recruiters start with, “Tell me about yourself.” A phone screen is no different from the face-to-face interview when it comes to this question. You need to be prepared. Steel suggests, “Start with the understanding that individuals get hired to either save a company money or make them money. Think about what the company needs and plug in your competencies. You’ve got to talk to the company need, not your need.”
4. Avoid distractions
Bragg says that because they hire a number of team members who will be working virtually from a home office, “You’ve got to be able to manage your surroundings in a phone interview.” He says distractions are commonplace on phone interviews. “Surprisingly, some candidates don’t realize the importance of being able to manage distractions like a barking dog or having the TV on.”
5. Conduct a background check
If you are using a webcam, look behind you. “You need to see what is in the background when you’re using Skype. Test the camera view to make sure the interviewer won’t see your refrigerator full of magnets and school papers or a messy bookshelf,” says executive human resources consultant Mary Pierce, SPHR.
6. Pause before speaking
“Skype is wonderful technology, but there can be a slight delay in the voice transmission. It’s so easy to talk over the interviewer,” warns Pierce. She urges candidates to be patient and careful to pause before responding to a question.
7. Test the technology
Pierce and Trotter both suggest doing a test run to ensure you understand how the web cam and microphone work on your computer. “Test it out with a friend, your career coach or a trusted business associate in a mock interview to get comfortable with how you look and sound,” advises Pierce.
8. Remember: This is not a dress rehearsal
Pierce offers this final piece of advice, “Job candidates need to understand that this is just like a face-to-face interview. You must dress and act as professionally as if you were sitting in the interviewer’s office.”
With Enterprise, there are no dress rehearsals. In the past year, Bragg says Enterprise started doing everything over the phone and ceased doing face-to-face interviews for customer contact positions. When choosing the winning candidate, it comes down to “phone etiquette, communication skills …and resiliency,” concludes Bragg.
October is usually the month when you begin to think “Woah- where did the year go?” It’s like people start talking about the holidays and the New Year before you even realize summer ended.
But, just because 2011 is quickly winding down doesn’t mean your job search has to.
In fact, the next couple of months can actually be one of the best times to look for work. By October, most companies have regained speed after the summer lull, and many will be trying to make hiring decisions before the holiday vacation season begins in late November.
“Beginning the week of Thanksgiving, many companies’ hiring processes start coming to a slow grind, due in a large part to many people using the holidays as vacation time, adding extra days off to the holiday schedule,” says Dorothy Tannahill Moran, owner of Next Chapter, New Life, a career coaching firm. “For a job seeker … this means they need to be networking, conducting informational interviews and sending applications immediately so they can be focused on by the hiring company while a full staff is still available.”Looking for a job? It’s time to kick your search into high gear. To give you a jump start, here’s a list of 15 companies that are hiring new employees this month.
(more…)
