Royal Mail is looking to hire casual staff for depots across England and Wales in the run-up to Christmas. The new recruitment campaign is to help with the expected increase in parcels and letters during the festivities. 

Available roles include both full and part-time indoor sorting positions on early, late and night shifts at centres across the UK. 

Typical work duties involve unloading mail and moving large volumes of mail in trolleys, as well as sorting the mountains of festive parcels and letters. 

M&S has launched a similar recruitment drive at its East Midlands distribution centre, with the aim of creating 1000 jobs in time for the expected annual rush in Christmas orders. 

Many other businesses across England and Wales are also hiring, with the number of job opportunities available expected to peak this month and next. 

Last year many companies finalised their Christmas work rosters earlier than in previous years – this means job seekers waiting until November or December to look for a Christmas job are unlikely to land the best roles.  

So right now is the time to be looking online, especially in the three most popular Christmas job sectors. 

Retail 

Selfridges opened its Christmas shop in London’s Oxford Street this month making it, once again, the first in the world to unveil its festive section. 

The shelves are already packed with tinsel, glitter and decorations. 

While not all stores will specialise in bells and baubles, now is certainly the time to capitalise on the opportunities created by the demand for seasonal retail staff, with roles as Stock Assistants and Sales Assistants especially popular. 

There are vacancies on offer right across the UK. Among them are temporary and part-time positions to help cope with the festive rush, while others can lead to permanent jobs – which means you may have the chance to enjoy an exciting new career come New Year. 

Hospitality 

It’s no secret restaurants, hotels and bars have already begun advertising their Christmas menus and party nights. 

From bartenders to baristas and waiting staff to wannabe gourmet chefs, ’tis the season when this sector is especially vibrant and new staff are in hot demand. 

The hours can be long – it is party season, after all – but in hospitality you get to demonstrate your people skills and creativity. 

In front-of-house roles you’ll get to welcome locals and people from all over the world, sharing your culinary expertise or  local knowledge to ensure they get the most out of their dining experience or Christmas holiday. 

Customer Service 

Customer service jobs come in all shapes and sizes and some of the most important are seasonal jobs. 

This is the time of year when many people seem to be suffering from Christmas fever: symptoms include panic buying, uncontrollable use of elbows to jump queues and over-excited enquiries about gifts that haven’t turned up.  

Working on the customer help desk, hotel reception or in a call or contact centre in this atmosphere is not for the faint-hearted. Sometimes it takes nerves of steel and saintly patience to help solve problems.  

But this is also a time to shine, showing resolve and a can-do attitude that might well lead to a permanent position. 

And, if you land a role as a Christmas Elf or even Santa Claus himself, meeting and greeting shoppers, hotel guests or party diners, there’s no more fun way to kick start a career in customer service. 

You can find out more about the many opportunities offered by Christmas roles online.