A dive into the seasonal work lifestyle; things to consider, positions you’ll encounter, tips, and more!
Think Seasonal Work Is For You?
Have you ever considered seasonal work? Has the thought of living and working in your favorite ski town ever crossed your mind? While seasonal employment can be a foreign concept to some and unrealistic to most, the unorthodox lifestyle presents exclusive benefits found only in the field, along with some unforeseen factors worth considering. In this segment, we will explore the many attributes associated with these lines of work while sharing personal experiences, suggestions, and insider knowledge to navigate the ever-growing industry.
What Is Seasonal Work?
Seasonal work is a short-term employment role, typically lasting 6 months or less, in a field related to specific demands of a particular time of year. Across vacation-driven regions, employers rely on an influx of short-term (seasonal) workers to meet the needs of these peak periods. With tourism acting as one of the largest industries in the world, especially in regions where seasonal ski resorts operate, the efforts to provide employment for locals while enticing newcomers too relocate to prospective regions is a constant challenge. These lines of work are often overlooked as they typically act as a short-term stepping stone in the early stages of one’s career and business world. Still, if explored strategically, seasonal work can grant extraordinary benefits to propel you in any desired direction while attaining desired skills to carry into future job fronts.
With countless career paths across various lines of work, seasonal employment opportunities can be discovered anywhere. The barrier of entry for most positions is typically low, granting entry-level opportunities for most while providing real-world experience to propel or inspire your career journey. While seasonal work can be found in city settings, this segment focuses on the employment opportunities you will encounter in mountainous regions while outlining personal experiences across the different lines of work, primarily related to the ski industry and other aligning outlets.
Positions You’ll Encounter
From up close and personal, behind the scenes and on the front lines of operations, there are countless jobs you’ll encounter around ski towns, both on and off their respective resorts. Most positions are directly related to customer service and require a general understanding of a combination of interpersonal and communication skills, with certain outlets requiring previous experience and others providing on-job training with room for growth and development. Below is a general list of some of the popular positions you will encounter in and around ski towns:
Winter Positions:
- Ski/ Snowboard Instructor
- Ski Patrol
- Rental/Repair shops
- Retail
- Lift Operations
- Park Crew
- Grooming
- Snowmaking
Year-Round Positions:
- Groundskeeper
- Golf Course Attendant (Summer)
- Guest Services
- Hospitality
- Food and Beverage
- General Maintenance/ Logistics
- Transportation/ Shuttle Services
- Marketing/
- Sales
- IT
- Human Resources
- Management Across All Departments
The Benefits Of Seasonal Work:
There are some unique perks related to the seasonal work world; we will investigate and uncover some commonly overlooked benefits you’ll encounter.
Freedom/Travel
Since my early experiences with seasonal work, I’ve been able to traverse the ski industry across multiple channels over a decade. From coaching snowboarding to holding various positions across the restaurant/ service industries, both on and off resorts, along with several odd jobs and personal endeavors sprinkled in the mix. These experiences have granted me an unconventional yet lively lifestyle, especially compared to the norms associated with city life and an urban upbringing. Over the years of working, playing, and experiencing a once thought unobtainable lifestyle, I have been welcomed with lifelong friendships, unforgettable experiences, and a unique outlook on life.
Short-term employment allows countless pathways to be explored, especially for those undecided on future endeavors, seeking a monetary buffer to pursue the many work opportunities to fund future ventures or pivot in other occupational directions. The appeal of short-term employment is usually felt within the demographic of outdoor enthusiasts, adventure seekers, and travel-driven crowds because of its extensive break periods that grant extra leisure time. The time between busy seasons offers multi-week-long transitional periods that become opportune travel windows before business ramps back up. In an ever-changing industry thriving on vacation-goers, you begin to think in a similar scope. By constantly surrounding yourself with travelers and industry professionals, tremendous knowledge can be obtained in discovering optimal travel techniques and methods to maximize downtime.
Mentally Reset
The time between seasons allows for restorative qualities, especially after hustling through peak periods. As a seasonal employee, you’ll be granted ample time to catch up on tasks and loose ends left undone over peak periods. During these months, efforts to pursue personal ventures can be freely performed, which is crucial for personal development, creativity, and overall well-being. Some outlets to consider during downtime include and are not limited to:
- Reading/ Writing/ Arts and Crafts/ Personal Projects
- Home Projects (General Home Improvement/ Gardening, Cleaning, etc)
- Outdoor Recreation/ Hobbies
- Vacationing/ Trip Planning
- Family Time
Flexibility
By not being locked into long-term agreements, seasonal work offers freedom an ordinary 9-5 will not generally cater to. You will have the flexibility that allows industry insiders to coordinate days to freely participate in personal pursuits. In the world of snowsports; the luxury of electing these prime days provides a quality first experience; reaping the rewards of a weekend spent hustling to enjoy resorts on unoccupied days, a delectable treat.
Who Is Seasonal Work For?
Seasonal work is undoubtedly a viable option for most anyone, but specific individuals often find these lines of work more suitable to their lifestyles than others.
Young Crowds
For younger individuals fresh out of school that are unsure which career path to pursue, acquiring a seasonal job allows time to explore a real-world work environment while offering the flexibility to pivot in any professional direction. “Real world” work experience is crucial in developing a societal identity, networking amongst peers, and advancing tangible skills for a successful future. For youngsters in the early phases of adulthood, the experience of jumping into the unknown can be a daunting task. Still, these attainable employment opportunities are a great foundation to build off.
Moving Out/ Living On Your Own
Fleeing the nest is a liberating feeling, especially when most seasonal resorts help aid the transitional periods. Many resorts coordinate room and board on-premise through housing incentives and often assist external housing efforts for new hires. Most vacation zones offer long-term housing rentals to get you through peak season and beyond. The leap into independence is an emancipating experience, especially for those new to self-sustained living.
Vagabonds
For the travel-bound crowd, regularly bouncing from place to place in search of adventure and solace, seasonal work is the perfect juncture to fund future ventures while providing a multi-month pit-stop in prospective areas to re-fuel (physically and financially) before setting sail to forthcoming destinations.
Meeting New/like-Minded People
In a workspace structured around aligned interests, making friends comes easy. Colleagues often participate in similar pre/post-work activities, making connecting with visitors and fellow industry enthusiasts a breeze! With countless positions across the expansive work-place spectrum, people of all ages, skill levels and backgrounds are encouraged to explore the world of seasonal work!
Drawbacks And Challenges Of Seasonal Work:
While I’ve mainly outlined the advantages of seasonal work, there are some drawbacks, challenges, and inconveniences to consider before committing to a seasonal work lifestyle.
Limited Family Time
Because peak work seasons revolve around holiday periods, you can expect to be extra busy during “standard” vacation times. You will likely miss family gatherings, weekends, and getaways to cater to the masses vacationing in your prospective resort town. Employers load up on staff to meet the demands of these high influx times. For some, working on weekends is not an issue, but there are some negative impacts these unorthodox work weeks can present, especially as they diverge with family and friends working around traditional schedules.
Frequent visitation is normality in these vacation-driven areas; friends and family from all over visit for weekend getaways. This is not a drawback. Rather, it presents challenges when aligning with seasonal work schedules. Because most of us are in the midst of our work weeks during the weekend, the ability to spend quality time with visitors can be limited.
Long-Term Potential
Seasonal work can often be an undesired venture for those seeking a long-term employment environment, paired with the benefits and stability provided by those positions. While some jobs have the potential to extend through the year, offering attractive benefits packages, most roles remain temporary/short-term. This can create challenges when pursuing realistic career goals, especially compared to long-term career ventures.
High Turn-Over Environments
Due to high turnover positions and Industry-standard staffing struggles, many departments require help retaining employees for a given season. This calls for an “all hands on deck” approach, often calling on workers across various departments to support the increased workflow. Fortunately, many resorts and seasonal workplaces have extrinsic plans for these struggles.
Solution: Visa Programs (J-1/H-2b)
Resorts across the country have increased efforts to utilize visa programs like J-1/ H-2B, where international workers and college students on work-travel (J-1) visas or long-term workers on (H-2B) visas come from foreign countries, filling voids in departments needing more employees across various tourist channels. These programs are intended to integrate these talented individuals into our workplaces and communities, lightening the load of peak periods while creating a cultural exchange for both sides to explore. For those looking to polish up on a new language and diversify their knowledge abroad while sharing local knowledge, this is an excellent opportunity to create a worldwide network of international companions.
Tips For Success In The Seasonal Work World:
- Service Industry: Serving/ bartending is a great way to maneuver the seasons while having a flexible work/play schedule. It’s about more than just the money; working in the service industry is a great way to maximize your time on the clock, network with restaurant goers, meet fellow locals, and fuel your fun, especially come ski season! Ski during the day, work at night, rinse, and repeat! You can even opt into working weekend days at a restaurant while the mountain is bustling and have your nights off to hang with visiting friends, or the opposite, keep your daytime hours available for skiing with friends and visitors. Either way, a service industry job’s flexibility is immense and a fantastic way to meet new people while integrating with the local community all while earning an honest wage.
- Hustle: Pick up as many shifts as possible during holidays and vacations, and grind! By having the flexibility to pick your days on the hill, you have the luxury of skiing and adventuring whenever your schedule allows. Avoid lift lines altogether during these times and stack hours, as busy stretches can very-well fund your next vacation! And if you’re a workaholic, you can even stack multiple jobs to keep yourself extra busy during these forgettable times. Most resort departments have an all-hands-on-deck approach during holidays, allowing individuals to dip into their overtime or stretch across multiple departments.
- Shoulder Season Travel: What is shoulder season, you ask? The transitional periods of the year before and after ‘peak operational periods. Typically between spring-summer and fall-winter. These month-long lulls are a great time to skip town and travel. One tremendous benefit of seasonal work is taking advantage of downtime when work hours are drastically dropped, or workplaces shut down operations altogether. Nothing screams a road trip like having five weeks off until you have to report to your next shift!
- Van Life: An optimal form of navigating the seasonal work lifestyle is to fully embrace the flexibility it allows. Skip house hunting, daily work commutes, and community living altogether. Many seasonal work “pros” opt into the nomadic lifestyle “van life” allows, combining the unique way of living with seasonal work to propel their adventure-seeking lifestyles!
Resources:
Jay Peak Resort
If this post piqued your interest, Jay Peak Resort in Northern Vermont is a great starting place to transcend your career path in a unique seasonal work environment across the resort’s wide variety of job offerings. With ample room for growth in the ever-growing ski industry, Jay’ holds seasonal job fairs across numerous resort-wide departments to match your workplace needs throughout the seasons. For more on Jay Peak’s career paths and the seasonal work lifestyle in a community-driven environment, check out their wide range of employment opportunities.
Vagajobs
If life on the road sounds like fun, our friends at Vagajobs will point you in the right direction! The crew of outdoor enthusiasts, vagabonds, and seasoned travel experts have thoughtfully created an easy-to-use platform for fellow travelers seeking seasonal work. Vagajobs is a valuable resource for those looking to travel, explore seasonal employment opportunities, and join a community of venture-seeking individuals. With their wide variety of job listings nationwide, from ski resorts, national parks, restaurants, and outdoor recreation centers, you will find a job in a fun and exciting work environment. Even if you’re just in search of travel tips, inspiration for your next venture, or stories from their team’s extensive travels!
Local LaVida
And for everything related to the Northern Vermont lifestyle, stay tuned for our future content! If you found this article helpful, continue to check back as our library grows, and be sure to view our previous posts! Feedback is also a great way to influence future topic ideas, so stay connected on our socials or reach out directly at Local LaVida!
Leonardo Cassanelli is a freelance writer, digital marketing specialist, and outdoor enthusiast living in northern Vermont. With over a decade’s experience in the ski industry and a background in kinesiology, Leo’ holds a great passion for the snowsports world and writing about all that revolves around it.
