For several years, Sandy Brant, a media buyer based in Long Beach, N.Y., has had a healthy freelance business. But since a major client left earlier this year, business has been slow and she's been scouting for a more traditional job. While she looks, she's planning to answer a local newspaper ad for seasonal workers placed by Crate & Barrel, the home-furnishings chain store.

"With business slow I'm going stir crazy," she says. Working part-time would be a welcome outlet, plus with a big family to buy presents for, "an employee discount would come in handy."

The National Federation of Retailers estimates that retailers have plumped staffs by more than 3% during the past 10 holiday seasons. It isn't unusual for out-of-work professionals to take some of these jobs to pay the bills or to get out of their pajamas while they hunt for a "real" job. December also is a good month for picking up hours with restaurants, caterers and other businesses that experience a holiday rush.

Many unemployed professionals want to earn "streams of income" from doing several different things, says Bill Marrin, a general manager in Atlanta for DBM, an outplacement-counseling firm. Taking a holiday job "fits right into that," he says. For example, someone who's interested in fashion might apply for work at Nordstrom.

Finding a seasonal job you're interested in and allows you to keep searching isn't easy. But the right gig can have its own rewards: money, a social outlet to offset the solitude of job hunting and, sometimes, a segue to something new.

Where the Jobs Are

Returning to the kind of work that provided pocket money in your youth might not be appealing, but those table-waiting or sweater-folding skills, however rusty, are still your best bet, especially since you probably want to spend as little time as possible on this secondary job hunt.

For example, Edward Hughes, an environmental toxicologist by training, took a job last December at Restoration Hardware to stretch his unemployment benefits while he looked for work in the then-depressed environmental sector. Mr. Hughes hadn't held a retail job since he graduated from college more than 20 years earlier but, he says, "they were interested in that experience. Everything helps." He spent only one afternoon at the mall, filling out applications at three or four stores, to land his job.

A part-time job requires enough of your time that it should appeal to you on some level (Mr. Hughes liked helping customers with decorating), but you need to be realistic, too. The most desirable and best-paying restaurants and stores want experience -- and having frequented them as a customer probably won't count.

Avtar Walia, owner of Tamarind, an upscale Indian restaurant in New York City, expands his staff by at least a third over the holidays. Many out-of-work Wall Streeters have applied for jobs there during the past few seasons and, while those numbers are fewer now, he still expects to hire several this season.

"I like them, because they're smart and learn quickly and don't make mistakes," he says. "But in a restaurant like this, there's a right way to do everything, from opening the wine to clearing the table, and you have to know those things coming in." Individuals with no restaurant experience are typically hired for bar assistant and other lesser roles, rather than the higher-paying bartender spot they originally seek.

Don't Stop Hunting

If you've already started a seasonal job, you might be surprised by how much time and energy it eats up. Even though he'd worked in stores in the past, Mr. Hughes was frustrated by how little job hunting he was able to do while working at Restoration Hardware. Before starting that position, "I spent an hour and a half every day online, searching for postings and researching opportunities, but after being on my feet for eight hours, all I wanted to do was go home and go to bed," he says.

Other out-of-work professionals say they adjusted to the pace of retail but advise those considering this option to think about the demands of working part time and how they'll cope.

Charles Camiel, now the manager of U.S. sales operations for a British manufacturer, signed on for a 4 p.m. shift at a Franklin Covey store outside of Boston when he was between jobs. Working at night allowed him to continue doing consulting and job hunting during the day, when he was fresh. "I acclimated eventually, but my day was very full," he says.

Rita Brauneck, a consultant in Cleveland with outplacement firm Lee Hecht Harrison, urges clients to think about when and how they'll send resumes, return calls and go on interviews before agreeing to work certain hours.

Helene Friedman, now an account executive at a New York public-relations agency, lost her job as the director of public relations for a small marketing and PR firm last October. She fit her job hunt around a holiday stint as a hostess at a Manhattan restaurant, but it wasn't easy. "My cellphone bills were astonishingly huge because I wanted people to be able to reach me when I was at the restaurant in the afternoon," she says.

One recruiter who called wanted to meet her that very day. "I was honest and said, 'I'm at work and not dressed for an interview,' " the 30-year-old says. The recruiter asked her to come anyway and, when she got there, told her she looked fine. "But I knew I wasn't wearing what I would have wanted to in that situation, and it bothered me," she says.

Ms. Brauneck suggests that candidates working part time use e-mail to contact employers because it gives them more flexibility in getting back to people. So contacts know why they don't hear back from you immediately "tell [them] you're working part time while doing your job search, and there will be times you're unavailable," she adds.

Encountering Colleagues

Some job hunters take holiday jobs for the social outlet as much as for the money and actually enjoy them. For others, the work falls somewhere between tolerable and mortifying.

"People are afraid of having colleagues see them in this very different setting," says Ms. Brauneck. For example, although Ms. Brant says working in a store she likes "could be fun," she isn't applying at any near her town. "I know it's the wrong way to look at it, but I don't want to do it where people know me," she says.

If you're working locally, sooner or later you'll run into someone you know, perhaps a former colleague. When you do, resist the urge to hide, temp workers say. If you're really afraid of looking and sounding demoralized, be ready to explain why you're working part time, Ms. Brauneck says.

Also remember that working part time in the community can open up a new network for your job hunt. Jim Garrison, 52, now a national accounts manager for Yankin Majestic Paint in Columbus, Ohio, worked part time at a Dillard's department store while he was managing sales and customer-services operations at ICI Paints North America in Cleveland. After he lost that full-time job, he took on extra hours at the department store during the holiday season.

"I can't tell you how many leads I got by being here," he says. "One regular customer worked for MetroHealth Systems and set me up on interviews for jobs that had only been posted internally. A neighbor saw me there, too, and we got to talking, and I got another lead that way."

He also ran into former co-workers from ICI, "including some people I hired." He admits he felt a little awkward at first, "but they let me know what was going on back at the old company." Since employers often hire back former employees who were laid off, those updates were worth getting.

Be Open to New Things

"For some, holiday jobs are a way to stay connected or to make ends meet, but they can also be a segue to something else," Ms. Brauneck says. That point wasn't lost on Ms. Friedman. Some days, working at the restaurant was difficult, especially when she had to manage the coat-check. Others were more rewarding, such as the afternoons she came in early to help the chef with publicity and the owners with their advertising strategy.

"The restaurant world is very glamorous and exciting. It was a nice change of pace from the corporate world," she says. It was a welcome enough change that she began looking into opportunities in the hospitality sector, especially jobs that would combine her communications experience with something new. Soon after the holidays, however, freelance public-relations work started to come her way, and she used that to fund her job search instead of working at the restaurant.

While she ended up back in her old profession, Ms. Friedman says she doesn't regret her holiday job and would do it again, if necessary. "It was a good experience and gave me insight into how other people work and make money," she says. As a result, "I definitely tip more than I used to, and I always tip the coat-check girl."