Every fall, beauty retailers hire thousands of seasonal employees for the holiday rush. If you've seen job listings for "Seasonal Beauty Advisor" at Ulta, Sephora, or department stores and wondered what you're actually signing up for, this guide covers it.
Seasonal work can be a smart entry point into beauty retail. It can also be a frustrating dead end if you don't know what to expect. Here's the honest reality.
What Seasonal Actually Means
Seasonal positions are temporary. Retailers hire extra staff to handle the surge of customers during the holiday shopping season, roughly from November through early January. After that, most seasonal workers are let go because the stores don't need as many people.
The exact timing varies by retailer. Some start seasonal hiring as early as September. The heavy hiring push usually happens in October. Most seasonal employees start in late October or early November and work through the end of December. After the holiday rush and the January return surge dies down, seasonal staffing contracts.
When you apply for a seasonal role, the expectation from the retailer's side is that this is a short-term position. You're there for the busy months. Whether you stay longer depends on store needs and your performance.
Why Retailers Hire Seasonal
The math is simple. A store that needs 15 employees during normal months might need 25 during holiday peak. They can't afford to keep 25 people year-round when they only need 15. Seasonal hiring fills the gap.
From the retailer's perspective, seasonal employees handle the extra customer traffic, restocking demands, and general chaos of holiday retail. They also provide a trial run for potential permanent employees. Seasonal periods let managers see who performs well under pressure, and those people sometimes get kept on.
When to Apply
Timing matters a lot for seasonal positions. If you wait until November, most spots are already filled.
The sweet spot for seasonal applications is September and early October. Major retailers typically open seasonal applications in September and hire through October. By late October, most positions are filled and training is underway.
Set a reminder if you're planning ahead. When September hits, start checking the careers pages for Ulta, Sephora, Macy's, and any other retailers you're interested in. Apply as soon as positions open.
If you miss the main window, it's still worth applying in November. Some stores have turnover or need additional people, and late applications occasionally get picked up. But your odds are much better if you're early.
What the Work Is Like
Seasonal retail during the holidays is intense. That's the honest answer. It's more customers, more pressure, and more hours than normal retail.
Customer Volume
You'll help more people per shift than at any other time of year. The Saturday before Christmas at a busy Ulta is controlled chaos. Gift sets, fragrance purchases, last-minute panics, and confused people buying for others are constant.
The pace is relentless during peak days. You'll go from customer to customer with minimal breaks. If you've never worked high-volume retail, it's an adjustment.
Shift Availability
The good news: there are lots of hours available during the holidays. The potentially bad news: you'll be expected to work many of them, including weekends and the days around Christmas.
When you're hired as seasonal, you're hired to work when the store is busiest. That means Black Friday, the weekends in December, Christmas Eve (if the store is open), and the week between Christmas and New Year's. Asking for those days off isn't realistic for seasonal staff.
If you have inflexible holiday plans, seasonal retail probably isn't the right choice. The whole point of the role is to be there when it's busy.
Tasks
Seasonal Beauty Advisors do the same things as regular Beauty Advisors: customer service, restocking, running registers, and maintaining the store. During the holidays, there's just more of all of it.
You'll learn fast because you have to. Training for seasonal employees is often compressed because stores need you on the floor quickly. You'll get the basics and then learn the rest while working.
The Physical Reality
Holiday retail is tiring. Long shifts on your feet, constant movement, and the mental energy of dealing with stressed holiday shoppers add up. By mid-December, most seasonal employees are exhausted.
Take care of yourself: comfortable shoes, stay hydrated, get sleep when you can. The season is finite, but you need to survive it.
Pay for Seasonal Positions
Seasonal Beauty Advisor positions typically pay the same hourly rate as regular Beauty Advisor positions at the same store. Don't expect a premium for the seasonal label.
That means $12-16/hour at Ulta, $15-19/hour at Sephora, depending on your location. The pay is the same; the difference is that the position is temporary and the hours are concentrated in a short period.
The hours availability is the financial upside. You can often work 30-40 hours per week during the holidays if you want them, compared to the 20-25 that's typical for part-time retail at other times. More hours means more money, even at the same rate.
Your Chances of Getting Kept On
This is the question everyone asks: can seasonal turn into permanent?
The honest answer: sometimes, but don't count on it.
Retailers do keep some seasonal employees after the holidays. These are typically the top performers who also happen to be available when the store has ongoing staffing needs. It's not just about being good; it's also about timing and luck.
If a store has 10 seasonal employees and only needs to keep 2 for permanent positions, 8 people are leaving regardless of performance. You might be great and still not get kept because there isn't a spot.
Rough estimate: most stores keep somewhere between 10-30% of their seasonal hires, depending on turnover and staffing needs. The percentage varies widely by store and year.
How to Maximize Your Chances
If you want to turn seasonal into permanent, you need to stand out. Here's what actually matters:
Be Reliable
Show up on time, every shift. Don't call out unless you're genuinely sick. Be available for the shifts the store needs covered most (weekends, peak holiday days). Reliability is the number one thing managers care about.
If you're flaky during the seasonal period, you will not be considered for permanent positions. Period.
Perform Well
Hit your sales metrics. Provide good customer service. Get positive feedback from customers and colleagues. Managers notice who's actually good at the job, not just who shows up.
During the holidays, there's enough work that strong performers are visible. Do good work and you'll be noticed.
Be Easy to Work With
Don't create drama. Don't complain constantly. Be helpful to your coworkers. Managers are looking for people they want to keep working with, not just people who can do the tasks.
Attitude matters. Someone slightly less skilled but positive and easy to manage is often preferred over someone more talented but difficult.
Express Interest
Tell your manager you'd like to stay on after the season if there's an opportunity. Don't assume they know. Some seasonal employees are just there for holiday cash and have no interest in permanent work. Make your interest clear.
Asking doesn't guarantee anything, but not asking means you might be overlooked for someone who did.
Build Relationships
Get to know the permanent staff and managers. When they're deciding who to keep, familiar faces who've proven themselves get priority over people they barely remember.
This doesn't mean being fake or political. Just be friendly, helpful, and present.
What If You Don't Get Kept On
If the season ends and you're not offered a permanent role, that's not the end of the world.
You now have retail beauty experience on your resume. You can apply to other locations or other retailers with more credibility than you had before. "Seasonal Beauty Advisor at Ulta" still counts as experience.
Some stores bring back former seasonal employees when positions open later in the year. If you left on good terms, you might get a call in spring or summer when there's turnover.
The experience itself has value. You've learned how beauty retail works, how to handle customers, and what the job involves. That makes your next application stronger wherever you apply.
Is Seasonal Worth It?
Seasonal work makes sense if you want to try beauty retail without committing long-term. It's a low-risk way to get experience and see if the work suits you.
It makes sense if you need extra income during the holidays. The hours are there if you want them, and even a temporary boost to your income can be helpful.
It makes sense if you're trying to break into beauty retail and haven't been able to land a permanent position. Seasonal hiring is less competitive, and once you're in the system, transitioning to permanent is easier than applying from outside.
It's less ideal if you need stable, ongoing employment. Seasonal is temporary by design. If you need certainty about your job after January, look for permanent positions instead.
It's also less ideal if you can't commit to working the holiday rush days. The whole point of seasonal is to have bodies during the busiest period. If you need those days off, it's not a match.
Getting Started
If seasonal beauty retail sounds right for you, mark your calendar for September. When seasonal applications open, apply quickly to multiple stores and locations. Be clear about your availability and enthusiasm.
Once hired, show up ready to work hard during the busiest retail season of the year. It's intense, but it's finite. And if you perform well, it might just turn into something longer.