In a previous article, we looked at the pros and cons of doing seasonal work. From earning extra cash and getting valuable experience of the workplace to maybe having to work long hours and not getting the same benefits as the permanent staff working for the same company as yourself.
If, for your particular situation, you have decided the pros far outweigh the cons and you would love to give seasonal work a try, then you might be surprised at the variety of part time seasonal work out there.
In this article, we’ll take a look at some of the types of seasonal jobs you might want to consider. Some are ideal for you if you are looking for entry level work whilst others might be perfect for those of you looking to get back into the workplace after a career break.
Not all seasonal jobs are entry level jobs. You can pick up on a previous trade or profession and some other types of seasonal jobs will give you the opportunity to go in at entry level and train to get some new qualifications that can improve your chances of work and better pay at a later date.
So, let’s take a look at some of the top seasonal job ideas out there.
Top Seasonal Job Ideas
Seasonal Retail Jobs
Retail jobs come in all shapes and sizes and can be ideal for people looking for entry level jobs to those of you who have retail leadership experience. Depending on the nature of the business, seasonal retail jobs can often be found for the busy Christmas period and summertime.
Retail jobs will suit those of you who enjoy meeting the general public and serving customers. You will need to be able to handle cash and electronic transactions if you are working at the checkout.
Other responsibilities in seasonal retail jobs could include shelf stacking, replacing stock and keeping the general retail space clean, safe and tidy for both other workers and customers.
Seasonal Hospitality Jobs
The hospitality sector encompasses a huge array of roles and lends itself really well to seasonal work. If you are interested in working in this sector, find more information about hospitality jobs.
Seasonal hospitality jobs could see you working in catering, as waiting on staff, working behind a bar, reception work, kitchen jobs such as kitchen porter or you could even gain some experience as a commis chef. Those with training and experience could find seasonal work as a chef.
Seasonal hospitality jobs can be in various venues and environments such as restaurants, hotels, pubs, cafes, exhibition centres and sports venues. You could also be working at outdoor summer festivals and events.
Seasonal Delivery Driver Jobs
Whether it’s driving a lorry, van or a car or it’s riding a bike, seasonal delivery driver jobs can be perfect for those of you who like to be out and about, rather than stuck in a building throughout your shift.
Delivery driver jobs come in all shapes and sizes and during busy times like summer and Christmas, there could be lots of opportunity for work. Some seasonal delivery driver jobs will require you to use your own transport whilst others will provide it, depending on the nature of the company.
Seasonal Customer Service Jobs
When busy times come for bigger companies, more customer service staff will be needed to deal with customer queries, complaints and other feedback. Seasonal customer service jobs could be good for those of you who have experience in this field but you don’t want to work year round.
Seasonal Warehouse Operative Jobs
Seasonal warehouse operative jobs are perfect for those of you who want to work different shifts and who are looking for entry level work. If you have a forklift truck driver’s licence, there could be even more opportunities and better pay, too.
With the increasing number of online shopping options, warehouse staff are often in demand, especially around busy periods such as summer and Christmas.
Depending on the nature of the company, you could be working with food, clothing, furniture, white goods – just about anything!
Because warehouses and distribution centres are often in out of town locations, seasonal jobs at these places will often require you to have your own transport. You will also need to be prepared to work long hours and do shift work, including working nights and weekends.
Seasonal Work From Home Jobs
Not looking for a job where you need to travel to the workplace? Well, it might be possible to land yourself seasonal jobs where you can work from home. These can be both entry level and also roles for those of you with professional qualifications or previous experience.
Some seasonal work from home jobs might be manual work such as packing parcels up ready for delivery.
Obviously, there are also lots of remote options these days for thoıse of you looking to work from home. Online work such as email marketing and other fıorms of digital marketing could be an option.
If you took a career break to start a family or for other commitments and your role could be done remotely, you could approach companies to see if they will be willing to let you help out during busy times by working from home.
Entry level seasonal jobs where you can work from home could be in fields such as social media (answering queries on Facebook pages and posting updates as instructed by the company you work for) or data entry for example.
Seasonal Personal Gift Shopper
Are you the sort of person who is always looking for any excuse to go shopping? If so, then why not get paid to do your favourite activity by applying for seasonal jobs as a personal gift shopper?
As well as excellent shopping skills, being a personal gift shopper means you will need good liğstening and communication skills. You will need to speak with your clients to work out exactly what it is they are looking for. As a personal giğft shopper, you might be shopping alone or you might have the client with you and you can advise them on the best options for gifts.
Santa’s Grotto
For a few weeks in the run up to Christmas, stores, garden centres and other venues will be recruiting seasonal staff to work in the Santa’s grotto. Whether you want to be an elf or you want to be Santa Claus himself, you will need to be full of energy, bright and cheerful, patient, fun loving and good at working under pressure.
Seasonal jobs in a Santa’s grotto can be incredibly rewarding and duties include greeting families, handing out gifts to children, being part of a family photos and speaking with the children.
Because you are in contact with children, you will need to have a DBS check for seasonal Santa’s Grotto jobs.
Live-In Seasonal Jobs
There are seasonal jobs out there where you can live away for a while and experience life in a different area of the UK. Live-in jobs mean your accommodation often comes along with the job or is heavily discounted. This means you can save your salary – and tips, if part of your role – and keep it for the part of the season when you might not be working.
Live-in jobs are often to be found in hotels, youth hostels, campsites and holiday parks and cruiser yachts that people might charter from the UK.
Live-in jobs are not just necessarily summer roles. Scotland also has ski resorts where you can do various roles such as working in hotels and chalets or working as an instructor.
As well as hospitality roles, live-in seasonal jobs in these types of places can be maintenance and gardening jobs.
Seasonal Agriculture & Fruit Picking Jobs
Seasonal jobs in the agriculture industry can be at any time of year depending on what is being harvested or planted at the time. Some seasonal jobs such as fruit picking can come with accommodation.
If you have farms close to where you live, you might be able to find some local seasonal work with them.
As well as being out in the fields or in fruit orchards, you might also be working in storage areas where the produce is kept and prepared before it moves on to its next destination.
If you are interested in this type of seasonal work, you can read more here about flexible farm jobs.
Finance Jobs
If you have experience of working in finance and you have been out of the workplace for sometime, you could do some seasonal work, helping out at busy periods such as the end of the financial year.
These could be office jobs or you might be able to work remotely. Seasonal finance jobs could get you permanent roles in the future or you could continue to do seasonal work if you want to pursue other interests.
Seasonal Events Jobs
Part time events jobs can be year round but you could also do seasonal work such as working during the festival season. These types of events jobs are suitable for those of you looking for entry level jobs and also roles that need previous knowledge or experience.
Entry level jobs might be working in catering trucks, cleaning, sales assistant roles or working as a marshall, checking tickets and directing traffic.
Seasonal events jobs that might require experience could be in stage rigging, lighting and specialist maintenance roles.
If you think you might like to do seasonal events jobs, you can find more information about roles and the types of people who do these roles, here.
Seasonal Tour Guide Jobs
If you love to meet people, you love a good walk and you have a passion for a particular subject that is an area of interest in your locality, then seasonal tour guide jobs could be for you.
Depending on where you are based, tour guide jobs might involve a tour of a particular building or you might be trooping around specific areas of a town or city. You’ll need great stoıry telling skills to keep your tourists interested. And you will also need a great memory for all the dates and names you will need to know as part of your narrative.
Don’t forget, lots of seasonal tour guide jobs are likely to be outdoors so you will need to be happy to work in all types of British summer weather. Read more about tour guide jobs to see if it might be a perfect seasonal job for you.
Activity Camps
Seasonal activity camp jobs come in all shapes and sizes. If you enjoy working with children then activity camp jobs could be perfect for you. Entry level roles are often available and you could get the chance to gain qualifications that will mean you can earn a higher salary for your next role.
There are also behind the scenes roles available at activity camps such as catering for the children and your fellow staff.
Whşlst some activity camp roles might be live-in jobs, you could also do seasonal work at day camps where you come and go for each shift.
Read more about working at activity centres and activity camps.
Seasonal Theme Park Jobs
All the fun of the fair – and lots of other types of entertainment besides. Each summer, millions of people head to one of the many theme parks across the UK and seasonal staff are in big demand to make sure the customers have lots of fun in a safe and secure environment.
As you might expect, there are lots of types of theme park jobs from entry level roles to those that require experience. Hospitality, retail, entertainment and engineering are all types of seasonal jobs you could be doing at theme parks, to name just a few.
Find out more about the types of theme park jobs you could be doing.
Applying For Seasonal Jobs
If you want to do seasonal jobs, once you have decided on the type of role you want to do, start to research recruitment dates. For many seasonal jobs, recruitment begins a few weeks or months before the actual start date so doın’t leave it too late or you could miss out. For Christmas jobs, for example, lots or companies will start to recruit in September. For summer roles, you might need to start looking for positions in winter.
Individual companies often have a dedicated section on their website for seasonal recruitment. For farm jobs and similar, you could ask around locally. Of course, you can also take a look to see if there are seasonal jobs to suit you in our listings.
