All I want for Christmas is .. a job!

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Jobs 19.11.09 Santa

With just over a month until Christmas, there’s still time to grab a temporary job and earn extra cash before the big day.

Restaurants, hotels, concert halls and sports venues are preparing for the busiest few weeks in their calendars, meaning there are thousands of seasonal jobs available in areas such as waiting, bar and kitchen work, stewarding and customer service.

What’s more, some of these positions could even mean rubbing shoulders with the stars at some glamorous events.

Sarah El Doori, of job website hotrecruit.com, says: “Our hospitality clients are recruiting 30% more staff than usual this year, particularly bar and waiting staff, so we still have plenty of opportunities at Christmas events.

“You could find yourself working at a celebrity party or meeting and greeting people at an awards ceremony.

“Or, if you prefer to work behind the scenes, there are lots of kitchen jobs, from skilled chefs to bottle-washers.”

Festivities in the run-up to Christmas include sports matches to the switching on off festive lights.

HOSPITALITY

The Jobcentre Plus website has an average of more than 20,000 catering and hospitality jobs each month. Many at the moment are temporary Christmas jobs. Bar staff are needed at Aintree Racecourse, Cheshire’s Tatton Park and Knowsley Safari Park while Butlins in Bognor Regis is looking for Christmas team members. Visit www.jobcentreplus.gov.uk.

EMPLOYMENT4Students has almost 1,300 seasonal jobs including stewards at Wembley Arena, tourism hosts and sales people at Winter Wonderland in London’s Hyde Park and waiters and waitresses in Manchester’s top hotels. Go to www.e4s.co.uk.

247RECRUIT has more than 1,000 jobs in many areas including matchday stewards and hawkers at football grounds, such as Anfield, marshals at ice rinks in London and Surrey, assistants at Newmarket Racecourse and bar staff at Leeds Castle in Maidstone. Visit www.247recruit.com.

THERE are more than 3,000 temporary jobs posted on www.hotrecruit.com from waiting staff at premieres to bartenders at Tiger Tiger.

RETAIL

Supermarkets and other big stores began looking for staff earlier in the autumn and many still have vacancies. Sainsbury’s, which is taking on 20,000 extra people, still has jobs up for grabs while Argos, which is recruiting 12,000 temporary staff, says that individual stores are still looking for extra workers. So it’s well worth a quick visit to your local stores to find out if there are any openings available.

ENTERTAINMENT

OUR biggest venues are also in need of extra help. The NEC Group in Birmingham says it has an exceptionally busy Christmas season ahead with 85 events across its different venues, including the BBC Good Food Show, the Clothes Show Live as well as its new funfair, Funworld at the NEC.

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That means the NEC has a growing need for temporary staff who will work in teams including security, technical catering and sales. For further information check out www.necgroup.co.uk/careers.

Other large arenas and halls around the country have a similar need for staff, so contact your local venue or visit its website to find out more information.

TRANSPORT

THE extra parcels sent over the Christmas period create job opportunities. Express delivery company City Link is now looking for 300 extra support staff in its depots and 100 delivery drivers across the UK. For details visit www.city-link.co.uk.

TRAVEL

THERE’S one more person in need of extra help over Christmas – none other than Santa.

Andrew Bird, of 247recruitment.com, says: “They are struggling this year to find enough elves to work with Santa in Lapland. You can find out more about this job by searching for the word ‘elves’ on our website.”

The site says elves must be fun and enjoy working with kids.

They should also be used to the cold because as well as entertaining in hotels or airports and maintaining stock in the shop, their duties include “elf sightings”. This usually involves standing outside for short periods.

“No experience is necessary to become an elf,” says Andrew.

“The only requirement is that you are the right height. It’s difficult to be a convincing elf if you are more than 6ft tall.”

SARAH’S ADVICE

Sarah El Doori’s top tips for landing that Christmas job...

Wear a suit or smart outfit to the interview because presentation really matters.

Be flexible about working evenings and weekends.

Make sure you sound friendly and enthusiastic because personality counts with employers.

Research the company you are being interviewed by so that you show enthusiasm and can ask questions.