By Carol Tice

Leaves turning scarlet don't just herald the coming of fall – they signal the start of seasonal hiring for winter jobs. Recession or no, many businesses must staff up, either to maximize sales during the critical holiday selling season or to get their business off to a good start in 2010.

With unemployment high, it'll be a competitive hiring season this year, so start your search early. In a survey of more than 1,000 hiring managers conducted by Ipsos Public Affairs, only 58 percent said they planned to hire as many workers as last year.

On the bright side, those temp jobs stand a decent chance of turning into permanent hires if companies are pleased with workers' performance – in the survey, 51 percent said their temp hires could be asked to stay on, compared with 45 percent last year.

By Rachel Zupek, CareerBuilder.com writer

When job seekers hear the words "staffing firm," they tend to think three things: costly, part time and low wages. In most cases, staffing agencies are just the opposite. In fact, anyone can make their next career move by partnering with a staffing agency at no cost and for any position.

"Staffing agencies work with candidates for all types of positions at every level of organizations, from the face that greets you at the reception desk to the manager who is your main point of contact, right up to the CEO," says Loren King Shields, director of eBusiness strategy at Select Staffing, a California-based recruitment firm.