All I want for Christmas is…work experience!
With Christmas only a few months away, it’s time for Michael Bublé and Mariah Carey to start popping up on your “for you” page. It’s also time to start applying for “Christmas casual” or seasonal jobs to make the most of the university break by adding work experience to your resume.
These predominately retail, casual opportunities are a great way to build key transferrable skills such as communication, teamwork and interpersonal skills, which are invaluable to any resume and help you stand out from other applicants.
Here are some tips for acing your Christmas casual applications.
Be prepared and start applying early!
Opportunities are listed online well before the silly season kicks off, with a start date in October/November for a lot of roles. For a list of Christmas casual opportunities available in Sydney, NSW check out:
Like Santa, check everything twice
Make sure you proof-read your resume and all online application forms before submitting.
If you don’t have a resume, use our Resume & Cover Letter Workbook to get you started and then upload to Rate My Resume to gain instant feedback and tips to improve. Page 20 of the Resume Sample Guide has a part time/casual resume sample you can use to help structure your resume.
As an avid Christmas lover, as much as it pains me to write, I do understand not everyone is counting down the days and weekends until December 25th. Working in retail might not be for everyone either.
Another idea for adding skills and experience to your resume is to complete a virtual experience or internship. Virtual experiences are online tasks that closely mirror the day-to-day work at the partnering organisation.
You can complete as many virtual experiences as you like in your own time. Commonwealth Bank’s Careers in Tech and MECCA Brands’ Business Analyst programs are just two of the virtual experiences you’ll find on the Forage and Prosple sites.
While it might be enticing to spend your university break relaxing and unwinding from the crazy year that was 2021, think about your future self and give yourself the gift of work experience this Christmas. Start searching for opportunities today!
Featured image courtesy of Unsplash
Featured gifs courtesy of giphy
Rowena Pierags
Operations Manager
Rowena has over 9 years’ experience working in operations, projects and event management and is currently the Operations Manager at UTS Careers. She loves finding new ways of working smarter, not harder, and sharing these “work hacks” with the team.
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