I’m seeing a lot of young rookie seasonaires being way too ambitious when it comes to securing their first winter job.
First some background information here.
18-21 year olds have a bad reputation in ski resorts at the moment. There’s been way too much partying, way too much absenteeism, and a complete lack of understanding about worker’s roles and responsibilities. Please see our Mutual Obligation post. On your working holiday, there’s working component and your employer does not owe you a holiday.
Seasonal employers are:
- Nervous about very young workers
- especially if they have never lived out of home before
- and have a limited work history.
Employers don’t care:
- about your passion for powder
- the subjects you took in high school
- or your personal growth journey.
The three most important qualities employers are looking for are:
- reliability
- team player
- willingness to learn. They can’t teach you these things.
Sorry, but rookies just don’t walk into roles like cocktail bartending for big tips, ski patrol, chalet hosts, or back country ski guiding. You have to prove you are worthy for these positions.
Let’s take the role of a chalet host as an example. Chalet management companies get thousands of chalet hosting applications. Your competitors will have hosting and/or professional cooking experience. They will have references. They will have worked previous seasons in winter resorts.
Instead of going for that chalet hosting role, apply for a house-keeping or resort rep position. If you have done a chalet cooking course, and a chalet host needs replacing due to injury, you’re in a great position to step into that role. If you do a season as a housekeeper and are reliable, a team player, and willing to learn, you’ve earned that promotion for the following season. Employers would much prefer hire in-house.
If you want to be a backcountry guide, do a season of instructing kids, do avalanche and advanced first aid courses, be reliable, and employers will notice.
Once you have a good reputation as a worker in a ski town, employers will start calling you.
You need to earn your stripes.