Grab these skills from your Christmas temp job

Posted by HRGO Recruitment on 23 Oct 2019

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Many employers are looking for extra temporary staff over the festive season (as well as the lead up to it) to help them cope with their busy periods.

These roles can give you some great experience to beef up your CV, as well as valuable competencies and skills to help you find a permanent job.

Whether you end up in the logistics sector, in a retail environment or even in a grotto as one of Santa’s elves, here are some of the transferable skills your Christmas job will leave you with.

Christmas skill: Thriving as part of a team

Being a good team player is a valuable skill you can learn from a temporary job. Even if it’s unlikely your co-workers will turn into life-long colleagues, it’s still important to be able to get on with them.

Chances are, your Christmas temp job will see you placed in a large team and to get on with everybody you’ll need to learn how to listen and communicate with different people. Being a good team player means learning how to find common ground with all types - even those you might not feel would be natural BFFs outside work.

Christmas skill: Working under pressure

How often have you read a job advert that asks for candidates who ‘keep cool under pressure’? Unless you’re blessed with a zen-like calm, staying collected when things are tough is a skill you’ll need to practice - and where better than in a Christmas temp job?

Many of the roles we recruit for at HR GO involve busy environments with a lot going on - where being able to work under pressure is all part of a day’s work. An ability to able to keep smiling and stay positive in a busy work environment will stand you in good stead, particularly if you’re in a customer-facing role (and we’re looking at you, potential Santa elves!)

Christmas skill: Proving your adaptability

Are you good at shifting focus if the situation (and your line manager) calls for it?

If you’re asked to take on a task that’s outside your comfort zone, how do you respond? And can you stay positive even in the face of a setback?

During the Christmas rush where priorities might change from one moment to the next, soft skills like adaptability are increasingly important. Adaptability and flexibility rank highly in the workplace in general, too - an analysis of job adverts on LinkedIn showed that it’s currently the fourth mentioned soft skill.

Going from Christmas temp to future perm

Do your job well and you might be asked to stay on and become a permanent member of the team (we’ve written before about our tips on how to be asked to come on board full-time after the festive season, here).

And if nothing else, you’ll have gained a valuable insight into what working in that sector is about - and whether that kind of job is for you or not. As well as some fantastic transferable skills to use in your job hunt...

Get in touch

We can’t promise shifts as one of Santa’s elves, but at HR GO we have plenty of temporary Christmas contracts up for grabs. Get in touch to find out more.