Now that the busy holiday season is long over, many students have said goodbye to their seasonal jobs. But considering how fast time flies, employers will once again be hiring seasonal positions, full- or part-time, for the summer.

Others may have already secured their seasonal jobs, but you're looking to move up from your seasonal retail position to a more permanent role. Former retail sales associate, Jamilee Abad, shares her story of how she advanced in retail from a seasonal employee to a permanent team member.

How it all started

Abad, who is now a registered dental hygienist, was only a 17-year old high school student starting her first retail job. She had applied for the position in early fall, hoping that the company would be hiring seasonal associates. She eventually was offered the part-time seasonal position and began working evening shifts.

Even though it was only a seasonal position, Abad was more than ecstatic to start working, like every other young teen would be. "On average, I would say most teenagers start their first jobs around this age, so I felt fortunate to be employed, even if [it was] just for the season."

The responsibilities

As soon as Abad was offered the seasonal position, one of the first things she learned was customer service. It was clear seasonal employees were responsible for socially accommodating the expected traffic in the store. "I would essentially need to create both a good initial impression of the company and leave a lasting one, resulting in returning customers."

Other day-to-day work responsibilities included: finding particular products, providing fashion advice for customers when needed, and maintaining a clean working environment. Especially during the holiday season, she was busy assisting and balancing multiple customers at one time.

Work gets quite busy and, amidst that, if the sales associate can still represent the company in a professional manner, it can be an indication of a good permanent candidate.

Since it was Abad's first job, it was all about working hard and constantly challenging her potential. As a young, working woman, she was not one to slack on any given task, which meant that her level of work performance would be no different. That was why management took notice of her excellent work ethic and knew she would be a valuable asset to permanently add to the company.

Moving up

After the holiday season was over, Abad was approached by management and got offered a permanent position.

"The company was happy when I fulfilled my responsibilities and, in turn, I'm happy I got to learn more, not only of my work ethic, but of myself," she says. "The management [team] recognized my driven mindset and, luckily, employment opportunities followed."

From there, as she continued to work for the retailer, that also meant additional responsibilities. Although most of her duties remained the same, there were a few more procedures to learn, which required working and focusing on different aspects of the store. Over time, the company taught her the duties of other employees just like her, which resulted in her interest to grow and learn more about the role as a sales associate.

Applying retail skills today

The skills and experience she gained from working in retail have been easily transferable and applied to her career today in dental because. It requires educating, communicating, and advocating.

"I leave the lasting impression on the patient as everything I teach them needs to motivate them to return for appointments. In parallel, I educated customers on the product, I communicated to fit their needs, and I advocated good quality customer service in hopes they'd return."

She advises future seasonal employees who want to move up within their company to have an open mind and take the opportunity. Even if the job starts off as a temporary one, she encourages that there's always an opportunity for permanent placements.

"Apply your experience for future opportunities and cater it to your career of choice," she says. "Whether or not there is a direct link to the place of experience and future endeavours is not important. Keep an open mind and you will have the potential to excel."

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