Ohio State students needing money for the holiday season have plenty of opportunities for temporary employment in the central Ohio area.

Many local restaurants, retail stores and warehouses are actively seeking college students for employment during the busy weeks that surround Christmas.

The Limited clothing store at Columbus City Center is one of many local stores in need of seasonal workers. Antoinette Richard, the store manager, said she is looking for part-time employees who can help during weekends and evenings, the busiest time for holiday shopping.

“The next two months are going to be critical for us,” Richard said. “We’re going to have huge sales, and we need more staff.”

Openings for cashiers and sales workers are two of the positions needing to be filled, she said.

J. D. Null, human resources manager at Gap Inc. Direct, the warehouse center for Gap, Banana Republic and Old Navy clothing stores, said this time of the year is the busiest time for the company, as well as the most profitable.

“(The holiday season) makes up a minimum of 75 percent of our profit during the year, so we need many seasonal employees because, well, it’s a madhouse,” Null said.

The company, located about 15 miles southwest from Ohio State in Grove City, is looking for OSU students to fill customer service positions and to work on the warehouse floor.

Both Richard and Null said the best part about working for their respective companies was not the competitive salaries but the employee discounts. The Limited employees are offered a 30 percent discount on store merchandise, while Gap Inc. Direct employees are given a 20 to 50 percent discount. This can especially come in handy when the time comes to decide what to buy friends and family for holiday gifts.

“My whole family has gotten Limited clothes as gifts for the past 10 years,” Richard said.

Gap Inc. Direct and The Limited also offer opportunities for the best and brightest workers to hang on after the hectic season ends.

“After the holidays are over, we re-evaluate all employees and ask ourselves who have been the hardest working,” Null said.

But for those students who are aren’t so thrilled with the thought of having to deal with fussy holiday shoppers, there are also non-traditional holiday job opportunities available.

The Light Before Christmas is looking for students to install and take down Christmas lights for Columbus-area homes. The company creates artistic and custom-made light decorations for those too busy to worry about it themselves.

“Almost all of our employees are OSU students,” said Dan Friedman, president of the company. He said he asks his employees to be creative and love the outdoors.

“When we interview, we let them know that it will be cold outside,” Friedman said. “But most enjoy having the opportunity to be creative and to be a part of the holiday season.”

Friedman said the company will decorate and dismantle Christmas lights on roughly 700 area homes during the season.

For students who don’t want to travel outside of the campus area, the OSU Office of Student Employment and Federal Work Study is expecting to post seasonal job opportunities on its Web site later in the quarter.

Brenda Stearns, associate director at Student Employment, said it is too early into the season to know how many job openings there will be at this time.