Yippee! Summer break is right around the corner, and that means lots of time to rest, play and enjoy the holiday season!
But you know what else summer breaks are perfect for? Giving your career a leg up with some casual work!
And now is THE best time to get those applications out there. Dozens of employers are looking for the perfect casual staff to help them make it through the busiest time of the year.
Whether you’re into hospitality, retail, customer service, or tourism – there’s something for everyone to get stuck into, boost their career readiness, and have a lot of fun this summer!
3 Ways Casual Work Boosts Your Employability
You might simply see casual work as a way to make extra money and use up the spare time you have on your hands, but it’s beneficial in loads of other ways too!
Here are three ways casual work can help boost your employability for future opportunities:
- Helps you develop core employability skills: Not that there’s anything wrong with using examples from school to demonstrate your skills, but having some casual work experience under your belt gives you lots of relevant examples you can use in future job applications and interviews to showcase your talents!
- Boosts your teamwork skills in the workplace: Pairing up with your mates to work on a group project is one thing but collaborating with a team of people from all walks of life is another! Successfully building teamwork skills means being able to work successfully with anyone – casual work will help you do this!
- Demonstrates you can work well under pressure: There’s nothing like chucking yourself into the deep-end of the silliest season of the year and working hard to deliver excellent customer service time and again. The next time someone asks you if you can handle pressure, you’ll be able to say “sure, I worked in retail during Christmas” – enough said!
7 Top Tips to Help You Find Your Perfect Summer Job
One of the good things about seasonal casual work is that you rarely need a heap of experience to get hired – it’s all about your attitude!
Here are our top seven tips to help you on your way:
- Set Your Expectations: Remember this is a casual job, it’s supposed to be fun, a bit full-on, and a great way to start building your employability. This isn’t the job you’ll have for life – it’s an opportunity to grow. Ensure you aren’t setting your expectations too high (or too low).
- Look for Local Employers: When it comes to casual work for the holiday season, focus on the main employers who see a big increase in customers. Think retail, hospitality, tourism providers, hotels, cafes, and leisure centres – these are the places to focus your search efforts.
- Consider Your Current Skills: If you’re a keen swimmer, perhaps on the swimming team at school, why not drop your resume into local pools and hotels to see if they need some poolside assistants during busy times? If you’re working towards a childcare qualification, ask around at play centres, community centres and school holiday camps.
- Prep Your Resume: Although casual, you’ll still need a resume. Make sure you have one prepped and ready to go. It doesn’t need to be more than a page long, but make sure it’s up-to-date, easy to read and free from spelling mistakes!
- Do a Retail Walk: Do a walk around your local main retail and restaurant areas and see who’s got signs in the window advertising for staff – you might be surprised how many are hiring, and it will also help you identify small, local businesses who might not put an ad online.
- Ask Your Network: Let friends, family and teachers know you’re looking for some casual work over the summer and to keep you in mind if they see or hear about any opportunities. Having a network keeping their ears and eyes out for you will help grow your reach of potential opportunities!
- Check Your Attitude: Employers constantly tell us they would much rather hire someone with the right positive attitude than someone with loads of experience who isn’t enthusiastic. Even if the job is only for a couple of months, make sure you present positively, with commitment and motivation and keep showing up this way! If an employer has a great impression of you, they’ll be much more likely to want to take you on the next time they have casual vacancies – future you will thank you for it!
Find Out More
We are one step ahead of you here at Explore Careers!
If you’re keen to start uncovering some fantastic jobs from our employer partners, look no further than our dedicated Jobs Page – which is live now and filling up quickly with great opportunities.
Finding casual work can take a bit of time and patience, but stay committed, stay positive and keep applying – something will come your way before you know it!
