Top Job Thursday

The Best-Paying Seasonal Jobs

This year, retailers expect to hire 700,000 seasonal workers. Companies like Wal-Mart, Macy’s, Target, JCPenney and Kohl’s will each fill about 80,000 temporary holiday positions. In addition to major retailers, hundreds of holiday-related businesses–greeting card makers, decorating and design firms, caterers and travel services–will also staff up to meet the season’s increased demand. Hiring managers report that this year’s holiday job market will be the best it’s been in the last five years.

“A lot of people don’t realize that seasonal hiring includes good-paying professional jobs,” says Sara Sutton Fell, the CEO of FlexJobs, a service that helps job seekers find flexible professional positions. “There’s much more out there beyond low-level sales work.”Sutton Fell says companies are increasingly hiring seasonal professionals, meaning contractors and temporary part-time or full-time workers, in lieu of salaried workers because it keeps their costs down while also meeting the holiday rush. Workers benefit from the flexible scheduling and the visibility among potential employers. “It’s a fantastic way to get your foot in the door,” she says. “If you perform well and make good contacts, you might be able to convert that into something long-term.”

Holiday hiring begins in late October and really picks up throughout November, Sutton Fell says, while the employment period lasts until early January or slightly longer. Most seasonal positions are related to the uptick in holiday shopping, which creates a broad and deep impact on the economy. This year, the National Retail Federation forecasts $586 billion in holiday spending in the U.S., a 4.1% increase from 2011.

When it’s boom-time for retailers, it’s also crunch time for marketers, who organize seasonal advertising campaigns and brand-building events. One of the best-paying yuletide jobs is marketing coordinator. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the position earns a median of $52 an hour to develop and execute marketing strategies and lead marketing events.

Companies also ramp up their efforts on social media during the holidays to advertise products and deals and monitor consumer feedback. A social media assistant earns approximately $17 an hour to support the brand’s digital outreach. And with more people in stores, it’s also a good time to analyze consumer trends. A seasonal marketing research surveyor earns about $17 per hour to collect and evaluate consumer demographics and data.

Increased shopping also means businesses need to field more customer questions and complaints. Sutton Fell says companies like Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus hire customer service representatives en masse during the holidays. They earn a median of $15 an hour to process customer requests and handle questions by phone and email. Also, somewhat ironically, seasonal recruiters are in demand during the fall and winter months to help with the hiring influx. They earn a healthy median of $25 per hour.

Other top-paying seasonal jobs include decorators, who design holiday window displays and building decor; production designers, who lay out holiday cards and party invitations; and photographers, who take family photos for holiday cards and photograph events.

Those looking to secure a holiday job should start today, says recruiting and job search expert Alison Doyle. If you’ve identified a company you’d like to work for, she recommends going directly to the career section of its website to search for openings. If not, she suggests searching keywords like “seasonal,” “holiday” and “temporary” and your location on job search sites like Simply Hired and Indeed.

“It’s important to apply for these jobs as carefully as full-time positions,” Doyle warns. Hand in a perfect resume, attach a cover letter if possible, have references ready and present yourself professionally on the interview. “Sometimes employers use these jobs as a way to screen employees. You may have a chance of getting a permanent position.”

Top 10

1. Marketing Coordinator - avg $52/ hr
2. Seasonal Recruiter - avg. $25/ hr
3. Production Designer - avg. $21/ hr
4. Tax Site Manager - avg. $19/ hr
5. Marketing Research Surveyor - avg. $17/ hr
6. Social Media Assistant - avg. $17/ hr
7. Seasonal Operations Professional - avg. $17/ hr
8. Customer Service Representative - avg. $15/ hr
9. Sales Photographer - avg. $14/ hr
10. Decorator - avg. $14/ hr

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