Holiday jobs are usually temporary assignments that finish at the end of the holiday period. But don't be discouraged there are ways of turning seasonal jobs into permanent positions. You can prove your value to the company in the short period you are with them and make them see your long term potential. Follow these tips to ensure that you have a good chance of converting your holiday employment into something permanent.

Be 100% reliable and dependable

Make sure you work all the hours you have agreed to and more. Arrive early and leave late. Most temporary employees tend to be clock watchers, show the employer that you are willing to go the extra mile and work hard. Confirm that the time you take your lunch break is convenient and be back with time to spare. Let your employer know that you are available to work when and where needed - be as flexible as possible with your scheduling. In retail it is not uncommon for employees to miss their shift, be the first one the manager calls to fill in.

Look the part

Make sure you dress according to the company culture and you appear well groomed and neat. Pay attention to all aspects from your hair to your shoes. If you wear a uniform make sure it is clean and pressed, even if it means washing and ironing late at night!

Volunteer for extra tasks and duties

Show that you are not just there to work the bare minimum and make some holiday cash but that you are a committed and enthusiastic worker. Prove your value and versatility by going above and beyond what is asked of you. Be the first to volunteer for extra work. Pay close attention to everything and be prepared to learn new tasks. Be proactive about developing new skills and gaining valuable knowledge.

Have a positive attitude

Show confidence, enthusiasm and a strong work ethic. Be a problem-solver rather than the employee who moans and finds fault. Show that you are self motivated and proactive. Take care of problems and deal with issues as they arise. Speak up if you have a good idea. Don't miss an opportunity to show your ability to take the initiative.

Avoid office gossip

Avoid spending time gossiping with colleagues, especially about other workers, the managers and the company. This is always noticed by employers and is not what they want from future employees. Be friendly but keep your discussions positive and work-related as much as possible.

Display calmness under pressure

Demonstrate a cool head in busy and stressful situations. Try not to panic if you start to feel overloaded, just keep working steadily through it all. This will help you stand out from other holiday employees as a professional and calm employee.

Network within the company

Make sure you introduce yourself to all the managers and let them know you are interested in a permanent job. Once you have proven yourself ask them who you should talk to about putting in an application - human resources, management etc. The employer might naturally assume you intend to leave after the holidays if you don't indicate otherwise. Avoid waiting till the last minute to inquire about permanent jobs. You want the employer to consider you as a potential permanent staff member while you are still working there.

If you can't get hired at that point, stay in touch to take advantage of any opportunities that may come up later. Writing your holiday job employer a thank-you note is a good way of staying in the picture.

Focus on being a flexible, enthusiastic and hard working worker and turn holiday jobs into a permanent career move.

For a complete guide to getting customer service and retail jobs go to The Customer Service Job Interview.



Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Julia_Penny

If you are at all concerned about losing your job - and today who isn't - it might be time to conduct a personal skills inventory, and rethink not only your job but your career. During the month of November 2008, over 500,000 Americans lost their jobs, driving unemployment levels to the highest point in 14 years, almost 7% of the population. These are staggering numbers, and something that everybody who works for a living should be concerned about.

The recession that we're currently in is here to stay and is building up to full force and effect. Most financial experts agree that the recession is going to get a lot worse before it gets any better. For that reason, people need to be thinking now about their financial future, and how they're going to deal with the coming hard times. Before we even discuss or think about the concepts of wealth preservation and wealth creation however, we first need to consider how we intend to generate an income in these difficult economic times.

As you think about your personal situation, a logical place to start is to reevaluate what you do for a living, and the joy and satisfaction you get from it. Many people find themselves working in a career or at a job that they initially got into out of necessity, graduating from school, and taking the first thing they could find. Over the years, their career has grown but not necessarily in a direction that they would prefer, or that they want. This is the reason why so many people undergo a midlife crisis-they find themselves in a situation that they no longer enjoy, and that is not fulfilling their personal needs. Due to the amount of time that you spend at work on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis, it's important that you enjoy what you do for a living in addition to making the money that you need to live.

A skills inventory can help you assess what you do well, as well as what you enjoy. Start by writing down the things you're good at, and be detailed. Follow that list of skills with a list of the things that you enjoy doing. If financial conditions dictate that you change your job and that you find a new source of income, you might as well take the time now to align what you do for work with what you enjoy doing.

Ann Slater is a business coach and mentor based out of Morningside, Queensland, that assists serious entrepreneurs in building a profitable online business with multiple incomes streams. Ann and her team have assisted hundreds of people, from doctors and lawyers to high-school drop-outs and single parents in generating profits that exceed $250K or more in their first year. For more information and to contact Ann,

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ann_Slater

Many telecommuters like to come into the office occasionally to get a little bit of 'face-time' with their peers. But if you go into the office only to find your peers are all working from home that day, it can be a frustrating experience.

Companies that make it possible for many of their employees to telecommute are providing a great benefit to those employees, and also achieving the huge gains that I have written about in previous articles. However, when you find yourself in a team where more of your co-workers are working at home than at the office, it can be hard to find opportunities to get the face-time you're looking for.

In a very diverse team where there are people working from home, or scattered geographically in different parts of the country or world, there will always be a few people who, for whatever reason, prefer to work in the office than at home. However, when these people come in day after day and find themselves sitting in a sea of empty cubicles, even these die-hard office workers will eventually throw their hands up and join the ranks of the telecommuter.

However, these are the people you count on seeing on the few days you are organized enough to get showered and dressed first thing in the morning (as opposed to at 3pm), fight the commute, and get yourself into the office for some face-time. Eventually you find that even the few people left have stopped coming in and now you're the one sitting in that sea of empty cubicles.

This can be very frustrating as there truly is benefit to getting occasional direct contact with your team members. It helps strengthen relationships, provides opportunities to discuss work-related topics in a more spur-of-the-moment style, and provides you some social interaction to break up the days of sitting alone in your home office. Don't get me wrong, there are ways to overcome all these issues - but if you have the opportunity to meet with your team in person now and then, it's one valuable tool.

A simple way to solve this situation is just a little coordination. Raise the topic in your team meeting if your boss approves. Or just send out an email to your coworkers. Work with your team to pick one or two days per week that people will focus on coming into the office. That doesn't mean everyone has to come in on the agreed-upon day(s). But rather, if you're going to try to come in, that these days will be the ones you'll aim for.

Another option if you only have a few local people on your team is to just coordinate on a weekly basis with them. For instance, each Friday you could exchange email with those folks and ask how their schedule is looking and which days the following week they think they'll be coming in.

While telecommuting can be a huge boon, a cost and time saver, and a way to balance your personal and work demands, a little face-time can go a long way. So when you do plan to go into the office, make sure there are people there to make your trip worthwhile!

Nicole Bachelor, the "Master of Telecommuting Success" is the author of "How to Avoid Going to Work Without Quitting your Job". She specializes in teaching people how to effectively work from home. Nicole has been telecommuting exclusively for over 4 years, and has vast experience working with teams that are spread all over the world as well as working with teams in low-cost regions of the world.



Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Nicole_Bachelor