5 Holiday Gigs People Regret Taking (According to Real Workers)
Written by
Cynthia Measom
Edited by
Jenna Klaverweiden
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It sounds like an easy and fun idea: picking up a holiday gig to earn some quick cash. But that’s not always the case.
Instead, you might be signing up for a side gig that required more than you bargained for, like long hours and high stress or doing tasks you weren’t expecting. Check out these real workers who regretted taking certain holiday side gigs.
1. Moderating Online Advertisements
Chris Lin, founder of Summit Breeze Tea, said he took a gig moderating online ads for a retail chain. He said that it seemed like fun at first but required 24/7 coverage running up through Christmas Eve.
Lin said he realized that not all quick wins are worth it. He explained that even though a holiday gig might appear lucrative, you should consider the sacrifices you might have to make before accepting.
2. Selling Merchandise at a Mall Kiosk
Gwenda Harmon, a resident hairstylist and beauty expert at Power Your Curls, said she applied to work at a temporary pop-up kiosk in a mall selling holiday gift sets.
“I thought it would be a breeze, just talking to people about skincare products, smiling at customers, maybe pushing around a few bottles of lotion,” she explained. “Yeah, right. Picture yourself on your feet for 10 hours, hustling to calm down last-minute panic shoppers, dodging screaming children, and getting blasted by overplayed top-40s music from every adjacent store. Zero airflow, artificial lighting and they provided … no stool.”
Harmon said that at the end of three weeks, she had a wrecked back and had made only $600. And to top it all off, she had to wear a branded Santa hat all day that she described as synthetic and itchy.
“If you are considering applying to a holiday kiosk job in the mall, think again,” she advised. “They are so easy to land, but they are grueling. Any commissions, if they pay any, are never worth the suffering. You can still find remote or flexible gigs to make a little cash during the holidays without the holiday burnout.”
3. Playing Live Music on a Retail Sales Floor
Cliff Beach, a musician with Cliff Beach Music, said he once took a holiday music gig playing live on the sales floor of a department store. He explained that the manager was very difficult to work with because she kept asking them to repeat the same song she liked over and over and wanted them to speed it up each time. He also said she complained about things that were completely out of their control, like instrument cables being visible.
“It stopped feeling like a performance and more like being micromanaged in real time,” Beach said.
He recommended knowing what you’re walking into before you say yes to a gig. He said he’s now very clear about his style and how he works when anyone wants to book him. “If a gig doesn’t fit what I do, I’m comfortable turning it down,” he said. “That has saved me a lot of frustration.”
4. Gift-Wrapping at the Mall
Vincent Carrié, CEO of Purple Media, said he once signed on as a mall gift-wrapper in December, complete with a folding table and a Santa hat that never sat right.
“I figured it would feel cheerful and pretty easy,” he said. “It was neither. Shoppers were oddly intense about everything, from which pattern I used to how tight the corners were. One man actually barked at me because I placed the bow on what he considered the ‘wrong’ edge of the box.”
He said that the money he made didn’t make it worth it either because tips were almost nonexistent, so the whole thing barely added up to minimum wage.
5. Working as a Holiday Ski Instructor
Brian Raffio, a senior travel specialist and coordinator for Climbing Kilimanjaro, said that one gig he regretted taking was a ski instructor position during the holiday season.
“I love skiing and being in the snow, trekking through mountains,” he explained. “However, what I did not realize was that you are not actually skiing as much as the people you are instructing — especially if you get stuck in the beginner’s course.”
He said that getting up early in the morning, working until late and maybe getting a couple of minutes on skis was not what he thought he was signing up for. “It’s hard work, decent pay, but not rewarding in the sense of exploring and using the slopes,” he said. “That is possibly my biggest regret, not having the chance to enjoy the mountain or the tracks.”
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