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* Child care: Between all those adult holiday parties and the time “Santa” needs to shop, the demand for child care during the holidays spikes like punch at a high school prom. Day-care centers and pre-schools also need extra help, especially since some open up on Saturdays to create extra holiday revenue, according to Ron Thomas, a director at Buck Consultants, an HR consultancy firm.
* Shipping and fulfillment: Companies such as FedEx and UPS ramp up operations during the holidays — and they need live bodies (not everything can be done by machine) to make it happen. Online retailers like Amazon also need additional staff in their fulfillment centers to package holiday orders. Just beware that these gigs can be physically strenuous and require quite a bit of heavy lifting.
* Web design: Almost every retailer has a Web site, and those Web sites have to be designed and updated for the holidays, “There’s a huge uptick in demand this time of year,” says Rebecca Cenni, CEO of Atrium staffing. And the jobs pay well. Depending on a Web designer or front-end developer’s expertise, pay runs from $18 to $65 an hour.
* University proctors: The holidays dovetail somewhat inconveniently with final exams. In order to keep the future leaders of America from degenerating into those cheating eggheads at Harvard, colleges are on the hunt for folks to supervise the December battery of tests, says Cenni.
* Registered nurse: In order to keep the holidays as tragedy-free as possible, event organizers often hire RNs for their parties, and hospitals, clinics and home health care agencies also tend to increase staff during this time. “If you have defined education and skills in the health care industry, there are opportunities out there,” says Dr. Tracey Wilen-Daugenti, an expert on education, technology and the workforce.
* Advertising agencies: The flood of ads that come with the season can stretch the limits of even the largest agencies. Cenni notes that temp copywriters, art directors and presentation designers are all in demand.
* Costume and set designers: “For every character that’s out there acting, somebody has to make that costume,” says Wilen-Daugenti. “You have the Thanksgiving parade. You have all these celebrations… You don’t realize it takes a lot of people to make these things come together.”
* Clerical work: “Companies have everyone taking their vacation,” Cenni says. “They need temps — receptionists, administrative clerical coverage and executive assistants to fill in.”
* Photographers: For photographers, the holiday season is like a six-week wedding. Events need roving photographers, while mall Santas need would-be Annie Leibovitzes to create the illusion that Little Johnny wasn’t squirming like a hooked worm on their laps.
* Event workers: It’s the party season, which means hotels, convention centers and special event locations need plenty of bodies to supplement their staffs. “They need every kind of help to support thousands of people,” says Wilen-Daugenti. “Everything from drivers to limo personnel to event planners to caterers to people to organize and guide (partygoers) from point A to point B.”