6 top retail jobs this holiday season and how to get them

6 top retail jobs this holiday season and how to get them As the weather gets colder, that means two things: the holidays are coming, and there will be a lot of seasonal retail jobs opening up. Whether you’re looking for a side gig to make extra money or a right-now job to get you through the holidays, retail is the place to be from October until January. The seasonal holiday job is a perennial classic opportunity for temporary work, or an experience-building job that can be your entry point to a longer career working in retail. Let’s look at six of the top retail job opportunities available this holiday season.Retail Sales AssociateThis is kind of the classic seasonal job. Brick and mortar stores are busier than ever around the holidays, and they need the kind of all-hands-on-deck staffs that will let them boost those crucial holiday sales while keeping the store running smoothly. Retail sales associates may be responsible for stocking shelves, merchandising, cashier-ing, or working directly with customers. They may also be b ehind the scenes, assisting with incoming shipments and helping to manage inventory.Holiday sales associates are usually expected to work long or late shifts to accommodate for expanded store hours, and potentially on holidays (especially as more and more stores creep their Black Friday specials into Thanksgiving Day). It’s a hectic pace and you may be expected to be on your feet for most of it, so it’s important to have the physical stamina to withstand the holiday rush. This job may also involved a certain amount of heavy lifting and reaching.To get started as a retail sales associate, the bigger retailers (think Target, WalMart, Kohl’s, Toys ‘R Us, etc.) are almost always hiring seasonal help, but also be sure to check out smaller stores, who may also need holiday associates.What you’ll need: A solid retail resume, for starters, and also a strong set of customer service skills. You’ll also need general retail skills like good organization, time management, the ability to work independently without constant oversight, and math skills. You’ll also need to be flexible on your availability to work.Customer Service RepresentativeMore customers means more customer needs, and many stores and companies bulk up their customer service departments for the holidays. In retail, that often means manning the phones, internet chat programs, or social media platforms to make sure that customer issues and complaints are being handled quickly and appropriately. Customer service representatives may also be tasked with giving information to customers, processing returns or refunds, escalating customer issues appropriately, and troubleshooting specific issues. Because customer service doesn’t necessarily coincide with a store’s hours (and even less so if a store does a brisk holiday business online), the shifts may be overnight, over weekends, or over holidays. This can be a good job for night owls, or someone who has daytime obligations.What you’ll need: A solid customer service resume. You’ll need customer service skills first and foremost, as well as tech skills like handling multi-line phones, recordkeeping software, and internet chat programs. You’ll also need strong problem solving skills, as much of your time may be spent helping to diagnose and resolve problems for customers.Holiday ActorMany malls and stores (especially department stores) have a holiday display with some kind of interactive component (like Santa visits and photos). If you resemble the jolly old head elf himself, all the better. But people of all shapes and sizes are often needed to help out with these displays, shepherding kids through, or acting as elves/reindeer/other holiday characters. You don’t need to have an Academy Award-winning resume, but if you’re interested in working in a retail store without being an associate on the floor, this can be an option. You may be assisting with photo setup, or working on crowd/line management. The name of this position may vary by store. For example, Macy’s calls their fleet of seasonal Santas and elves â€Å"Santaland Sales Associates.†What you’ll need: Great people skills, especially kid-friendly ones. If you’re interested in being Santa himself, there are actually schools for that. Otherwise, skills like organization and time management also serve you well, as stores are just as interested in having these customers spend money in the store as waiting in line to see the holiday display.Retail Housekeeping Associate/JanitorWith all of the holiday shopping chaos, stores can get cluttered and disorganized. Enter the housekeeping staff. Like just about every other retail department, stores often need extra help in the cleaning department as well. These associates may be responsible for cleaning the store before or after hours, maintaining clean public areas during business hours, restocking thing s like boxes and bags in checkout areas, and generally cleaning up messes that occur in all the holiday hubbub. The housekeeping staff helps the operations of a store run more smoothly.What you’ll need: Good time management and organizational skills, and the ability to work independently to do what needs to be done.Warehouse/Shipping AssociateWarehouse staff are more important than ever in the ecommerce boom, and are essential to more traditional retail stores as well. These associates keep products on shelves and arriving at customers’ doors, and during the holidays, companies hire more staff to accommodate the higher volume of orders. Warehouse associates may be responsible for assembling shipments, preparing shipments, processing outgoing and incoming shipments, tracking inventory, and using heavy equipment (Iike forklifts) to move goods and shipments around. Many companies (like Amazon) hire warehouse staff all around the country to make sure their warehouses and s hipping facilities are operating at peak capacity during the busy holiday season.Most companies hire seasonal warehouse associates on a part-time basis, but there may also be full-time opportunities available through the holiday season.What you’ll need: Good physical stamina, as this is often a very physical and demanding job. You may need to be on your feet for shifts, and may be required to perform heavy lifting or other physical tasks. You will likely also need to be flexible on scheduling, as many warehouse jobs have shifts around the clock to accommodate holiday volume.Loss Prevention/Asset Protection AssociateWith holiday crowds come holiday shoplifters, unfortunately, and stores are aware of the need to bring on more security staff than usual to keep an eye on shoppers. Loss prevention and asset protection associates (perhaps better known as security guards) are responsible for ensuring that employees and customers are stealing, and for ensuring the general safety and security of the store. These associates may be stationed at particular points in a mall or store, or may be tasked with circulating and monitoring potential threats. Security associates may also work behind the scenes, monitoring cameras or other surveillance equipment to maintain order and safety, and catch would-be criminals in the act. You may need to work with police or other law enforcement as necessary, and will likely receive on-the-job training about store safety and security procedures and best practices.What you’ll need: A high school degree or equivalent, and prior security experience is ideal. You may also need to pass a background check. And this job also requires strong people and customer service skills.Retail jobs can be pretty diverse, especially when it’s the holidays and stores need more people to do just about everything you can think of. If you feel at home out on the store floor in the holiday crowds, great- but if your skills lean more toward beh ind the scenes customer service, or maintaining the store’s logistical status quo, there are plenty of opportunities there as well. If you’re interested in finding a holiday retail job, the time to get started is now. Hiring is usually done in a fast and furious way to make sure all the staffing is in place before Black Friday ads start hitting the airwaves, so you need to be able to jump on opportunities as you find them.We’ve got all the tools you need to get started in retail, create your resume, and prep for the interview. Good luck, and happy holiday job hunting!

What to Include in a Student Portfolio

What to Include in a Student Portfolio Student portfolios are educational tools teachers use to create alternative assessments in the classroom. Including the right items in student portfolios are important, but before you decide on the items, review the basic steps for getting started, creating student portfolios  as well as their  purpose. The Missouri Department of Elementary Secondary Education notes that portfolios should show student growth and change over time, develop student thinking skills, identify strengths and weaknesses and track the development of one or more products of performance, such as samples of student work, tests or papers. No-Fuss Portfolios To achieve these goals, allow students to be involved in creating the portfolios. This will help minimize your paper-gathering time and help students take ownership.  Jon Mueller, a psychology professor at North Central College in Illinois, says that portfolios can be easy to manage and offers some tips for items to include in what he calls no-fuss portfolios: Have students select a piece or two of their work over the course of a quarter, semester or year; at the time of each selection, have the student write a brief reflection on the item, as well as why she included it; and, at the end of the quarter, semester or school year, ask students to reflect again on each item. Sample Items The kinds of items you have students include in their portfolios will vary by age and abilities. But, this brief list may give you ideas to get started. A letter to the reader discussing portfolio itemsA reading logQuotations the student especially likesGraphic illustrations of information, such as charts, concept diagrams, timelines and photographsVideo recordings of readings or performances. You can film students reading or performing using a smartphone and then download the filmed version onto a computer.A sample paragraph showing mastery of specific writing techniquesSample essays of various types descriptive, narrative, explanatory, expository, persuasive, cause and effect, ​compare and contrast  or defining terms.Writing that students created in their other classes, such as reports, speech outlines, essays or projects.Research-related writing, including a description of procedures, instruments such as surveys, results, and productsAn explanation of literary terms using examples from what students are readingCreative writing, including stories, poems, songs and scripts Reflection Phase The Missouri Department of Elementary Secondary Education says that to make portfolios really useful, remember that their purpose is to serve as authentic assessments evaluations of real student work over a given time period. Unlike other forms of assessment, such as a timed test, students should be given time to reflect on their work, says the department. And, dont assume students simply will know how to reflect. As with other academic areas, you may need to teach students this skill and spend time helping them learn how to (reflect) through instruction, modeling, lots of practice and  feedback. When the portfolios are complete, take time to meet with students individually or in small groups to discuss all of this learning material they have created, collected and reflected on. These meetings will help students gain insights from their body of work and give you a clear look at their thinking process.

Navajo Music and Way of Life Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Navajo Music and Way of Life - Essay Example Traditionally, Navajo music was composed of male falsetto, yells, and percussion, but due to western influence, the situation has changed; as there is an integration of modernity into Navajo music. Navajo music has evolved tremendously to be where it is today. Traditionally, one could listen to a performance and forget it ever happened, as recording and storage of music were not known then. However, in the modern age, one can have a recorded performance and as well create stored samples of it for future reference. This has provided avenues for selling off the Navajo music, and the fans having an easier way of reviving their musical memories. In the activities of music, there are two parties that are the performers and listeners. In the performer's section, there are singers, dancers and those playing various musical instruments such as drums and flutes. Various bands are also formed depending on the ceremonies the songs are to be sung; which in most cases are the ritual ceremonies. T he Navajo music is also unique in its own way, being that anyone is free to attend the various musical concerts; except for those requiring membership of strictly men or women of the Navajo community, such as ritual songs. On social organization, blues celebrities were considered of low-status in the society when they arose. However, upon gaining popularity abroad, they gained respect and had a high social status. This enabled them to sell their music better and gain higher chances of playing at concerts.