How to Find Cool Seasonal Jobs (in 2025)

Benefits of Landing a Seasonal Job

Seasonal jobs aren’t just a stopgap; they can be a smart and strategic choice for various types of workers. Whether you're a student looking for summer income, a retiree seeking a part-time role, or a professional exploring new career paths, seasonal work offers unique advantages beyond just a paycheck.

To help you decide whether landing a seasonal job is right for you, check out some of its top benefits:

Flexible and short-term commitments

Seasonal roles are ideal if you need a job with a defined start and end date. Many employers offer flexible hours, making it easier to balance work with school, travel, or family commitments.

Great for: Students, parents, travelers, and anyone seeking work that fits around other priorities.

Fast hiring and quick income

Businesses often need to hire quickly during peak seasons, to keep up with the high stream of customers these seasons bring in, like people spending time at the mall during summer or winter holiday gift shopping. Because seasonal workers are in high-demand, the application and interview process tends to be shorter and more straightforward. 

A big pro is that with quicker hiring, you can start earning money quickly for holiday expenses, summer trips, or bridging a gap between jobs.

Entry-level friendly roles

Most seasonal positions don’t require extensive experience or formal education. Employers often focus more on attitude, availability, and reliability than on formal qualifications. The usual low-stakes of part time seasonal jobs, makes these roles incredibly accessible to a wide range of job seekers, such as:

• First-time job seekers
• Career changers testing a new industry
• Workers reentering the job market

Skill building and resume boosts

Seasonal roles can help you build valuable transferable skills such as:

• Customer service
• Teamwork and communication
• Problem-solving in fast-paced environments
• Time management

Even if the work is temporary, seasonal job experience can strengthen your resume—especially if you land seasonal retail jobs or gigs in hospitality, events, or tourism.

If you’re already feeling convinced that a seasonal job is the right next step for you, it’s time to update your resume. With in-demand skills and attention-grabbing accomplishments tailored to your role and experience level, our Resume Builder is the best tool for writing a resume for a seasonal job.

Exploring new industries or roles

If you're curious about a different field but don’t want to commit long-term, seasonal work is a low-risk way to “test drive” industries like:

• Travel and tourism
• Outdoor recreation
• Event planning
• Agriculture or logistics

Seasonal jobs can help you discover what you enjoy and what you don’t before making a bigger career move.

Networking and long-term potential

Even if you’re strictly looking for a full-time role, a seasonal part-time job can still be a good option. Many employers use seasonal hiring as a pipeline for permanent roles. If you perform well, you may be:

• Invited back for future seasons
• Offered full-time employment
• Referred to other roles within the company

Seasonal work can also open doors if you're looking to grow with a brand or company over time. If you’re a college student, applying for seasonal jobs between semesters can be a great way to meet students with similar goals and interests. 

These professional relationships can become the foundation of your professional future, so take advantage of their potential.

Travel and adventure opportunities

Looking to explore new places while earning money? Seasonal summer jobs often take you to exciting locations, from national parks to beach towns and cruise ships. These jobs let you:

• Work in beautiful destinations
• Meet people from around the world
• Combine travel with steady income (win-win!)

Top Industries That Hire for Seasonal Jobs

If a seasonal job is starting to sound like a good idea, we’ll help you target your job search to the roles that you’ll likely find and hear back from.

Although many industries can offer seasonal jobs, these are the ones where you’ll consistently find job openings. 

Whether you're looking for customer service roles, outdoor work, remote seasonal jobs, or something more hands-on, there’s likely a job opportunity that matches your skills and schedule.

Retail

Peak seasons: November–January (holiday shopping), August–September (back-to-school)

Retail is one of the biggest drivers of seasonal hiring, especially around major shopping periods like the holidays. Stores need extra staff to handle increased foot traffic, restocking, and season-specific work tasks like gift wrapping and special events.

These are some of the most common retail seasonal jobs:

• Sales associate
• Cashier
• Stockroom worker
• Visual merchandiser

PRO TIP

Big-box stores like Target, Walmart, and Best Buy regularly hire thousands of temporary workers during Black Friday and the winter holidays. Be on the lookout for these a month or two before the start of the season, so you can land one of these coveted roles.

Tourism and hospitality

Peak seasons: Summer (June–August), Winter (December–March for ski resorts)

The tourism industry runs on high seasons in the summer and winter, so you’ll likely find a wide variety of job opportunities working for hotels, resorts, cruises, and businesses that depend on tourists, such as travel tour agencies, restaurants, bars, and many more.

Some of the seasonal jobs you should be targeting if you want to work in hospitality are:

• Hotel front desk receptionist
• Housekeeper
• Tour guide
• Restaurant server
• Host
• Cruise ship crew member

Outdoor and recreation

Peak seasons: Spring through early fall (March–October)

If you love the outdoors, look for seasonal jobs in parks, camps, or adventure tourism companies. The outdoor and recreation industry offers lots of seasonal jobs during summer break, particularly when people have more availability to visit national parks and the weather is perfect for enjoying time in nature. 

These roles are a great fit for people who enjoy physical activity and working in nature. They also allow you to explore different areas of interest, such as environmental studies, species conservation, and travel. In addition, you’ll be interacting with visitors and coworkers, developing strong collaboration and communication skills.

Some of the most popular outdoor and recreation seasonal jobs are:

• Camp counselors
• Lifeguards
• Zipline or rafting guides
• Park maintenance workers

Events and festivals

Peak seasons: Spring–Fall, plus major holidays and sporting seasons

Events and festivals offer seasonal job seekers short-term opportunities that are fast-paced and require hard work, but can also be a lot of fun. From music festivals and cultural fairs to sporting events and holiday markets, these occasions generate a significant number of seasonal jobs, usually for a very short time window.

Some of the tasks you can expect as temporary staff for these events and festivals are helping with logistics, security, food service, and customer support.

If you want to work for a seasonal event or festival, these are the jobs to look out for:

• Event staff or ushers
• Ticketing and admissions agents
• Security guard
• Food vendor

PRO TIP

If event marketing or logistics are your areas of interest, a seasonable job in a large music festival like Coachella or Lollapalooza, or seasonal sports venues (like MLB or NFL stadiums) are a great way to expose yourself to how these teams work and gain relevant work experience.

Agriculture and harvest work

Peak seasons: Varies by crop and region (typically spring through fall)

Because crops must be planted and harvested at the right time to ensure quality and yield, this creates a predictable but urgent need for additional workers during certain months. Agricultural employers depend on seasonal labor to plant, maintain, and harvest crops. Although these jobs are usually physically demanding, they can be a reliable source of short-term income. 

Many farms don't have enough full-time staff to manage these peak workloads, so they bring on seasonal crews to plant and tend crops; sort, clean, and pack goods for sale or shipment; operate farm machinery; and maintain irrigation systems.

If a seasonal job in agriculture sounds like something you’d be interested in pursuing, check out job postings for these roles:

• Fruit and vegetable pickers
• Farmhands
• Vineyard workers
• Packers and sorters

How to Land a Seasonal Job

Seasonal jobs can be competitive, especially in popular industries or locations. However, with the right strategy, you can secure a role that fits your schedule and goals. Here are some tips to help you boost your chances of getting hired:

1. Start applying ahead of time.

Because seasonal jobs are only available for a short window of time, you must apply early to get ahead of the mass of applicants interested in the same roles.

Many companies begin hiring for seasonal roles weeks or even months before the season begins.

• Holiday retail jobs often start recruiting in September or October.
• Summer camp and tourism jobs may start posting in late winter or early spring.
• Ski resorts and winter hospitality begin looking in the fall.

PRO TIP

Set job alerts on sites like LinkedIn, Indeed, or our own LiveCareer job board to stay ahead of the rush.

2. Tailor your resume to seasonal jobs.

Your current resume might not be optimized for the seasonal job you’re targeting. If your resume is showing your entire work history or tailored to your professional career, follow these tips for updating your resume for a seasonal job.

• Emphasize soft skills like customer service, teamwork, and time management, which apply to a wide range of seasonal roles.
• Mention any relevant experience, even if it’s from volunteering, school, or unrelated jobs, that demonstrates you have the necessary skills to succeed.
• Share your goals and motivations with a career objective explaining why you’re applying to that particular seasonal job.

3. Write a focused cover letter.

A cover letter is an easy way to communicate your interest in a seasonal job, and share more relevant skills and experiences that signal you’re more than prepared.

You also want to emphasize your flexibility and availability, which are key requirements many employers look for in candidates to fill seasonal positions. A brief sentence stating the months or hours you’ll be available will make the recruiter’s job easier.

PRO TIP

Want to make sure the application process is as fast as possible? No worries! You don’t have to write the most elaborate letter of application. Check out our short cover letter examples, perfect for a seasonal job.

4. Apply to multiple positions.

Many companies and industries tend to hire in bulk for seasonal positions. You need to treat it like a numbers game. Increase your chances of getting an interview by applying to multiple roles.

Follow up if you don’t hear back within a week, and be ready for quick interviews by phone—some may hire on the spot!

PRO TIP

Want to brush up on your interview skills? Check out our resources blog for tips and guides on how to answer interview questions.

Where to Find Seasonal Jobs: Best Job Boards

Looking for the best places to find seasonal work? These top job boards specialize in short-term, adventure-based, and flexible employment. You’ll find open positions in unique places, from ski resorts and summer camps to cruise lines and international gigs.

Cool Works is a great site for job seekers, currently listing more than 75,000 job openings at national parks, amusement parks, resorts, cruise lines, camps, ranches, and other “cool” places.

SeasonalJobs.dol.gov is the federal government’s job board for seasonal work, where you’ll mostly find agricultural jobs but also some non-agricultural jobs like landscaping, food processors, and construction.

H2JobBoard is an employment platform connecting U.S. employers with both domestic and international workers for legal job opportunities. All job postings must comply with U.S. immigration and employment regulations, including USCIS requirements. 

Back Door Jobs is a guide to short-term adventures, internships, extraordinary experiences, seasonal jobs, and more—both in the U.S. and around the world. Includes sustainable living jobs, camp and ranch jobs, and resort and hospitality jobs.

JobMonkey is where job seekers can find seasonal or year-round jobs working for employers who can offer you unique opportunities to travel the world, have fun, and earn decent money doing it. Includes such categories of employers as Alaska fisheries, cruise lines, casinos, and gaming, land tours, the ski industry, and more.

MountainCareers is dedicated to bringing together mountain employers with high-quality job seekers. You can search for a wide variety of professional and unusual jobs and internships, and read company profiles to find the best fit.

ResortJobs is where you can go and search for jobs in resorts around the world. Search by location or keywords and post your resume for employers to view.

SeasonWorkers is a job site covering all aspects of worldwide working travel and seasonal recruitment, including winter seasonal jobs at ski resorts, summer resort jobs, outdoor jobs, and TEFL positions. Job seekers can search job postings (by job category and country) and then apply directly to whichever one interests you.

SnagAJob is where students (high school and college) can find part-time, summer, and seasonal jobs. Job seekers can search by location or job type and then apply for the jobs you’re interested in.

Summer Jobs is the job site where summer job seekers can search by keyword or location for short-term jobs during the summer.

Flexjobs is one of the top job boards for remote work, and you can find trustworthy, well-paying positions for peak seasons or short-term seasonal remote jobs.