Many of us could all use a little extra cash as we head into the holiday season. Luckily, this is the time of year when companies start hiring to handle holiday shoppers and travelers. But the competition will be tough this year for those seasonal jobs.
Just when shoppers hit stores for the holidays, The Workforce Center in Killeen fills up with holiday season job hunters like Lenore Lovely. Lenore started her search early. "Probably about the beginning of October, because I want to be first," she said.
Career Center Supervisor, Wendy Ann Damon says Lenore has the right idea. "You're completing with people truly want regular employment but have not been successful in finding that so they're looking for seasonal in the interim. You're competing with people aren't looking typically for jobs and are now just out there looking during this season," she said.
Retailers expect sales to ramp up this time of year, so stores like JcPenney are hiring right now to meet the demand.
"We started in October as we started getting ready for the November period so we're currently interviewing candidates right now," said Julio Banuelos, Manager for the JcPenney in Killeen.
The retail industry can pay up to $9 an hour. But if you're looking in the food industry, expect anywhere from minimum wage to $8.50 an hour.
Even hotels are looking to hire this time of year and depending on the job, you can get paid minimum wage or up to $12 an hour.
This is Lenore's first time searching for a holiday job, and she says it's even harder than looking for regular employment,"because so many people are applying for the same job at the same time," she said.
Wendy Ann says applying for a seasonal job is just like looking for a full time job. You can use the same tools to search for jobs like workintexas.org and even better, go into the stores to apply for the jobs.
