Blog Post: Biz Beat: Warding off the “chill” in the 2008 seasonal employment outlook

It’s only a week until Thanksgiving and Americans are wondering what the holidays will bring in terms of improvements to the economy. Forecasts are for a dismal 2008 retail season, but not all corners of the economy are expected to be equally dim—discount retailers and online merchants may actually do OK.
For those who haven’t already thought about taking a part-time job for the holidays, now’s the time to kick things into high gear! While many job-seekers take on a second job during November and December to earn gift-buying cash, there are several other excellent reasons for taking a holiday job (as enumerated by the Get Rich Slowly blog, Families.com and Kiplinger.com):

•    Your extra cash from the part-time job can go farther during gift-giving season if you choose a job that offers a generous employee discount.

•    The extra cash can also be used to pay off debts, strengthening a job-hunter’s resolve and bargaining position in applications for full-time jobs (i.e., you will feel less desperate in final interview negotiating sessions if you’re saddled with less debt).

•    Retirees can make their portfolios go farther by earning enough to avoid withdrawals from already-battered investment accounts.

•    It can be a great place to network or test-drive a corporate culture if you are thinking about applying for full-time work with a holiday employer.

•    The typically flexible and unusual (beyond 9 to 5) hours of seasonal jobs often means that seasonal employees can craft a schedule that avoids child-care and other family dilemmas, if they can commit to a set of core hours.

If you’d like to take a look at who’s still hiring for seasonal jobs, visit ASU’s Sun Devil-centric job portal and type in “seasonal” in the keyword search box. And remember, the winter holiday period isn’t the only “seasonal” job market to which these ideas would apply—other periods of increased hiring in varying industries include Valentine’s Day, tax season (January-April), and summer.