Whether you’re looking for a side hustle or to dabble part-time in a new career, many companies are now on the hunt for extra help around the holidays.
To help views navigate the job hunt, Newswatch 16 turned to a pro who made it a career in helping others find the right fit.
Pandemic or not, the holiday shopping revving up, and the call for workers is going out.
"When it comes to 2020, what's really changed with seasonal work?" Ryan Leckey asked Christina Whitney, the Career Services Director at the University of Scranton.
She said, "It's a virtual environment, almost one hundred percent, a virtual environment. You're going to search for opportunities online. You're probably going to interview online. And then some of the work may actually be virtual or online as well. That's probably one of the biggest changes."
Whitney helps upcoming graduates and even recent alumni navigate the ever-changing job market, especially in this far from typical one during COVID-19.
"A lot of those big box stores, your Home Depot, your Lowes, because they've been really busy during COVID. You're also going to find a lot of virtual environments," explained Whitney. "So, you could be working for an organization that's across the country. Another group of organizations that are hiring, too, our nonprofits. Nonprofits have been very consistently hiring and looking for help and support all throughout the pandemic. We found a lot of people, I think, who are in need. A lot of disparity has been identified throughout the pandemic. So any organization that serves underrepresented populations or populations in need, their work must continue."
Here are some tips to game that job seasonal job search.
Whitney added, "Some really great sites that we are recommending to our young people is indeed that's the number one way Up, which is another one. That's way up for new grads and young people. And LinkedIn, LinkedIn is huge."
Whitney adds that seasonal work can also be a way for people to get their feet away in a new field.
"There's something new. It's called micro internships. They can learn about this from maybe their school or the university or their regional SBDC," she said. "These micro internships are five to 40-hour project based paid experiences where they could be working with an organization anywhere in the country to really build their portfolio, build their skill set and really try out some different things before they take that major leap."