Turning A Holiday Job into a Full-time One

Black Friday is almost here and that means seasonal job openings for the holiday season.  Willie Jolley, host of the Sirius XM Satellite Radio Show The Willie Jolley Wealthy Ways Radio Show, and author of the book Turn Setbacks into Greenbacks, says this is the greatest opportunity right now for the unemployed to get hired. 

He says it is estimated that 30% of companies will employ extra help for the holidays this year and he says many companies are still hiring right now.  Here are his tips on turning that seasonal holiday job into a full-time gig:

• Don’t let your pride poison your prosperity.  If you feel you are overqualified, don’t look at this job that you are better than it.  Instead, use your knowledge to bring ideas and suggestions to the table.  Really impress management with just how valuable you are and show them that they can’t afford to lose you once the holidays are over.
• See the seasonal opportunity as an audition for the bigger picture.  It’s the perfect opportunity because things never go as planned on Black Friday, so it’s the best time to showcase your problem solving abilities and people skills. 
• Everyone’s busy and the holidays are a crazy time for retail, so take initiative, be empowered, show you aren’t afraid to get your hands dirty, and prove you can take on a task with little direction.  If you finish your assigned duties early, volunteer to help your manager with something else.  It shows you are being a team player.
• Customer Service is king.  There are many people who are hard-working, but providing quality service isn’t something that comes easy for everyone.  Taking care of the little things that most people overlook is a great way to standout. Offer to help carry someone’s items to the car, to ship a package for a customer, and do everything you can to answer a customer’s question.
• Don’t just hope that you are offered a full-time job after the holiday season, make it known that’s what you want.  Let your manager or HR know that you want to be considered for full-time employment from the start.  That also means treating this job as if it’s the most important thing in the world to make sure you are offered full-time employment.