Help wanted: seasonal jobs for students

Jinkys+Caf%C3%A9+employees+Lauren+DeStefano%2C+left%2C+and+Matt+Rhodes%2C+right%2C+work+quickly+to+put+in+orders+from+the+Black+Friday+rush.+Many+businesses+like+Jinkys+are+hiring+seasonal+employees+to+compensate+for+the+increase+in+customer+demand.+Photo+credit%3A+Ash+Dondeti

Jinky’s Café employees Lauren DeStefano, left, and Matt Rhodes, right, work quickly to put in orders from the Black Friday rush. Many businesses like Jinky’s are hiring seasonal employees to compensate for the increase in customer demand. Photo credit: Ash Dondeti

By Ash Dondeti

The holiday season is approaching, and with the holidays comes shopping. Stores all around us are searching for seasonal employees in order to help keep up with the sudden increase in customers.

According to a survey done by Monster.com, a job search website, hiring for 2017 has been seeing 3.8% year-over-year increase from 2016, with 75,255 job ads for seasonal positions in September. The number of positions available will only increase as the holiday season continues.

Opportunities are most commonly found mid to late September at retail stores such as Target, Nordstrom, Kohls and Toys “R” Us, but also at places such as Michaels, See’s Candies and UPS.

When looking for new employees, what is most important seems to be availability and reliability according to Target Human Resources member Teresa Medina.

“We look for a fast, fun and friendly attitude but availability is key because if an applicant can’t work our busier hours then they can’t help us,” said Medina.

Stores cast their job search net wide when looking for seasonal employees by posting on search engines such as Monster, Indeed, Snagajob, and Glassdoor but applying in store is always a good option as well. Each store however seems to have their preferred method of applying.

“We [Target] strongly prefer applying online,” said Medina. “That way, all the paperwork is filled out and we just look at your availability and see what positions are best suited.”

On the food industry’s side, See’s Candies looks at both online and in-person applications when they hire due to their need of around 500 employees for their 200 plus stores.

“We are always looking for different ways to attract new candidates for our stores,” said Human Resources manager Angie Viteri. “We look for that friendly, out-going personality.”

When looking through applications, the biggest advantage seems to be having an open and available schedule but also having a positive, friendly attitude. Working during the holiday season can become stressful due to the large amount of customers for holiday shopping and getting time off from work or school. So, having that patient, friendly attitude is something stores search for in order to keep customers happy and operations running smoothly.

“Attitude,” said Carrie Martell, store manager at Michaels. “Anyone can be taught the mechanics as long as they have the right kind of attitude.”

Martell doesn’t like to look at availability and experience first because she believes that it doesn’t matter how available and experienced an applicant is if they aren’t the face the company wants to be represented under.

Going by experience alone does not seem to be as important when hiring as just being friendly and being ready to learn is. The most common thread seems to be that all seasonal hiring ends late December. Most locations have the 90-day probationary period where you, as a worker, get evaluated and are either chosen to continue working or are unfortunately let go.

Seasonal jobs are usually high energy and high stress, but can also be a great time to get in extra hours as an employee or test out a job you would possibly like to have. They can be very beneficial to employers and employees, such as students that want to fill some time between semesters.