What may very well be the ultimate temp job on the planet is pretty much for men only. (Oh look, see the HR compliance managers keeling over.)
Sure, there are a few Mrs. Clauses out there, but every kid knows Santa is a chubby guy with a white beard, ruddy cheeks, and a deep Ho, Ho, Ho.
What the kids don’t know — and not a lot of the rest of us either — is that the kindly shopping mall Santa can pull in $8-$12k for the six- or seven-week Christmas holiday season.
One of the best seasonal holiday jobs
CareerCast, which lists playing Santa as one of the best of the seasonal holiday jobs, says a few of the jobs can pay $100 an hour at the high end. Those who get on the corporate and social holiday circuit easily make that much, and sometimes much more, like up to a few grand per gig.
The downside? There’s no career advancement opportunities, it will never turn into a permanent job, and chances are good that some of the kids are going to throw up (or perhaps do something else) on you.
On the other hand, playing St. Nick beats working as one of Santa’s elves — a job CareerCast puts in its worst seasonal job category.