Looking for a Job? Seasonal Positions are Still Available

Even with the state's bleak 9.1 unemployment rate, retailers gearing up for the holiday selling season — from Christmas tree purveyors to athletic gear retailers — say they still have jobs to fill. 

Patch did some investigating and it turns out that there a seasonal jobs to had, right here in Monmouth County. Big chains like Toys 'R Us, with locations in Hazlet and Eatontown, need people to stock shelves, work the overnight, help on the salesfloor and ring up customers at all those doorbuster sales.

The grocery giant Wegmans is beefing up staff at it's Manalapan and Ocean Township stores to handle all the holiday dinners shoppers are planning, if you are willing to travel a little. Wegmans is said to have very good benefits.

But the jobs aren't just at the box stores. The Mom and Pops of Main Street are looking to hire, too.

Check out flower shops that may be looking for extra people to deliver and make arrangements for the holiday rush of customers. Try , on Kings Highway East in Middletown. Or you could try the annual Christmas tree sales spot in front of , Route 35 in Middletown. 

At Starbucks, the holiday season begins with the Eggnog latte just before Thanksgiving, followed by crowds of shoppers who flock to businesses for their Christmas and Hannukah gifts. With all that buying for other people, shoppers want a little pick-me-up for themselves.

"For the holidays, we need as many people as we can get," said Melissa Roche a barista at the Red Bank shop. Roche said that  is hiring, too.

In the food service arena, check out on Route 35 in Middletown, across the highway from Spirits. 

And Bonefish Grill is opening at the Chapel Hill shopping center on Route 35 in Middletown this weekend; and management is accepting applications.

Teak, the asian fusion restaurant on Monmouth Street in Red Bank is looking for food runners, servers and bartenders. Manager Peter Yim says applicants should have three years of restaurant experience, preferably fine dining, and must have wine knowledge. He said with his busy season approaching he's needs people to work nights, weekends and also to cover shifts for current employees. "We have a very low turnover rate," Yim said, but with winter coming, "People are going to start getting sick." There's something to hope for in your job search, a mass outbreak of influenza.

Help wanted, later. 

If you're an active job seeker, you know the simple question, "Are you hiring?" isn't always met with a straightforward answer. Often a standard response is, "We're accepting applications." This could mean that yours will go into a file to be held for a year in case a need comes up. That's the case at in Middletown, as well as Marshalls in Shrewsbury, where applications are being held for after the New Year when new inventory comes in.

If you need a job now, you want to know who's hiring today. If you check the Web sites of local chains, like , or big box stores like Best Buy, you will see lots of job postings from early fall, they've just been filled already.

Here's where it's important to hit the pavement and find out personally who really has jobs open.

Patch did some of the work for you and here are a few more businesses hiring right now:

• Old Navy in Holmdel 
• Ulta in Holmdel
• in Middletown
• in Middletown

Apply in your jammies, interview in a tie

The majority of chain businesses want potential employees to apply online. One way to streamline your application process is to visit, Snagajob, an online job source for hourly and part-time workers, brings many of those applications right to your home office. It also gives you the chance to create an employee profile, as well as get job alerts from area businesses.

Just like the sites for big box stores that have out of date listings, there is no guarantee that the businesses have positions open today. When Patch did a search of the Red Bank area (which included listings as far away as Englishtown) the site came up with 1,328. When we narrowed our search to Red Bank we came up with 19 listings, one of which was Harmon on Route 35 in Shrewsbury.

We gave Harmon a call to double check and according to the store manager, the discount health and beauty shop needs full and part-time workers for cashier and stock positions.

Snagajob also offers some handy dandy tips about how to make yourself marketable, like changing your email address from slacker@stateU to just your name. The site even offers you a script for your follow-up call to the business.

And if you happen to get that job with a nice discount on espresso machines, just remember where you heard about it.