With businesses rushing to boost sales over Christmas and impress their clients with festive marketing campaigns, lots of new job opportunities will start becoming available.

With everyone looking to make the most of the festive season there are lots of creative ways you can boost your employability this Christmas.

 

Temp Jobs

Lots of part-time, temporary jobs open up over the Christmas period moving into the New Year. Arm yourself with a crisp batch of (proofread!) CVs and do the rounds in your local high-street.

Quite often there is scope for these positions to turn into full-time work if you make a good impression, so turn up with enthusiasm and a smile on your face.

Even if the job isn’t in the career you envisioned for yourself, you will pick up plenty of transferrable skills, as well as earning yourself some extra money to finance the expensive Christmas season!

 

Work on a Blog

Whether you’re a fashionista, a whizz in the kitchen or really into your fitness, the Christmas period is a great time to work on a blog.

People are looking for inspiration for cooking and entertaining over the Christmas period, for clothes to wear at Christmas parties and ways to keep their figures in check during the season of indulgence. There is always room for new bloggers with great practical advice.

Look at the top bloggers of 2017 for inspiration. Practise taking attractive eye-catching shots and writing compelling copy. You’ll nail it!

 

Work on your Social Media

Social media skills are essential to nearly all businesses now, so impressing employees with your own presence is a must.

Twitter, Instagram and Facebook are particularly important, so think about how you can create a consistent look and voice across all three. You don’t want to mix your personal and professional life too much, so you might want to create a Facebook page to promote your blog and your interests, as well as having a personal profile.

Look at the social media accounts for the top businesses in the sector you want to get into and get an idea of the kind of message they’re getting across. Being able to talk about successful social media campaigns in interviews will be very attractive to a lot of employers.

 

Further your education

December and January are popular periods for applications to university courses to open up. If you’re set on a certain career path and you know that a specialised Master’s can help you achieve it, now is the time to think seriously about applying.

For many specialist jobs a master’s is almost an essential. Master’s degrees can be expensive so make sure you are fully committed before you start. See if you are eligible for any grants or scholarships to cover your fees before you apply.

 

Volunteer

In the lead up to Christmas, volunteering makes an enormous difference to people’s lives. Homelessness and poverty are rising problems in the UK and the freezing winter nights always claim many lives. For other people Christmas is a stressful time, with the added pressure of buying presents and cooking a nice dinner adding to their already overstretched budget.

Donating to or helping out at a foodbank will make a huge difference to a lot of vulnerable people, as will helping at a soup kitchen, or organising a donation of coats and blankets for those living on the streets.

If you can create and run your own charitable campaign on social media, you will be able to show off some very impressive and valuable skills, as well as doing something wonderful for people less fortunate this Christmas.

 

Amy Durant writes for Inspiring Interns, which specialises in sourcing candidates for internships and graduate jobs.