December 22, 2022, by mzyhe3
Funding Festivities – My Experience Working Over Christmas
By Hannah Evans, Cancer Sciences student blogger
If you’re anything like me then around the holiday season you’ll find you’ve got a lot more time and a lot less cash. So, holiday temp jobs are an absolute life saver! I’ve had a holiday temp job for a few years now, and honestly I can’t recommend them enough. So, I thought I’d tell you a bit about what I do, how you can get in on the holiday job action, and my best advice when getting festive temp jobs.
My holiday job
When I go home for the holidays, I have a job as a Waitress at Bearwood Lakes Gold Club. I’ve always been quite sociable and confident with talking to new people, so a job in customer service and hospitality was ideal for me. Working around Christmas means I mainly help at Christmas meals and parties (one I worked last year can be seen in the photo above).
I’m very lucky that my hours are so flexible. Usually in November, I text my manager to let her know when I’ll be back in the area. I also let her know if there are any days that I 100% cannot work – it’s only natural to have organised plans to meet up with friends for at least a day or two over Christmas. As I’m part time I only work 4 days a week, so I still have plenty of time for relaxing at home. Each week is different, working different days, at different hours, doing different things. To be honest I quite like that, it keeps the job interesting.
There are around seven of us all employed like this, who are at uni for most of the year but work as and when we come home during the busy periods of the holidays. This sort of job benefits both the company (as they need extra staff for Christmas meals and parties) and benefits us, as we get some extra money to help fund uni.
Where to find temporary work
Indeed – When I was first looking for a holiday job this was the first place I looked. Thousands of companies across the UK need more staff around Christmas to deal with the rush of customers, and many of them will advertise their vacancies on here. I’d recommend turning on alerts to make it easier to stay up to date with who needs what.
Unitemps – This is especially good if you’re not planning on going home for Christmas, so want a temp job up here in Nottingham. You can filter your search by area and by whether the job is permanent or temporary, and full time or part time.
High street – The way I found my job was by looking around in person. There was a board up at the post office near my house advertising vacancies in the area. I’ve seen other shops with posters on doors, in windows and at cashier’s desks. Going out and searching in person may help you find things that others who are just looking online at home will have missed.
My top tips
Pick somewhere you like
No amount of money will make up for the boredom of working in a shop you have no interest in. For example, if you hate sports, don’t work in a sports shop. Equally, if you don’t like talking to strangers, avoid front of house. As nice as it is to have a source of income, try your best to make it from something you genuinely enjoy.
Don’t overwork
Working more means more money, so people can fall into the trap of jumping for every shift they can get their hands on. But, your Christmas break is your time to wind down after a busy term. You need time to relax, and also to revise for January exams. So, although it seems tempting, don’t take on too many shifts.
Work bank holidays
My work is open every day except Christmas, but if you work a bank holiday like Christmas Eve or New Year’s Eve you get paid a bonus. So, if you don’t have any Christmas Eve plans, you might as well work that day. You can do the exact same job for a bit of extra dough, definitely sounds like a win to me.
For more information on how you can get a job over the Christmas Holidays, be sure to visit the webpage on work experience.
That’s all from me for the year. Enjoy your festive break!
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