Congrats!
You landed your first (or second or third) seasonal job and you’re looking forward to a season of exploring a new place and earning some extra money. But seasonal jobs offer more than just money and adventure – they offer you real-world working experience and real resume building opportunities.
And that’s the secret to seasonal jobs. They are resume building blocks. Remember: resumes showcase your work experience and skillset; they are not meant to be a record of your entire employment history.
You might think that being a hostess at a beach bar in Maine for 4 months isn’t something you could put on your resume, but it is. A hostess does more than smile and walk people to their tables. She is a representative of the business, provides customer service, has to multitask and play politics with the servers (ask any hostess and she will tell you; she has the power to make or break a server’s daily tip-income). That’s a real job and those are real skills. Once they are set down on paper under the word “Resume” they help future employers see your fun adventure working beachside at a family restaurant for what it really is, your first step into the business world. As you mature in your career, your earlier jobs will begin to disappear from your resume, employers are less interested in who you worked for five years ago and more they interested in what your skill set is.
Remember, it might not feel like a seasonal job as a lifeguard, soccer coach, or cashier is “resume worthy,” but they are! How well you preformed a job and the talents you developed in a position are everything employers are looking for when they look at your resume.