Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
once you get your foot in the door you will be away. Sometimes you just need to look to
some of the smaller resorts for your first job, gain some experience and then apply to the
big glamour resorts.
“When writing your CV, adapt it to the business; your people skills and your presentation
will be as important as the number of A levels. Such things as previous experience of teach-
ing the local kids football team
etc
will be good to show you are a 'people person'.”
Make sure you write a good covering letter with your CV. This is particularly important for
jobs overseas where an interview might not be practical.
If you do have an interview, make sure you ask about the things that matter to you - terms
and conditions of service, accommodation, feeding arrangements, insurance and equipment
requirements, days off, daily routine, annual leave, flights home,
etc
. And don't forget
about money - how do you get paid? Are what are the career opportunities? Is there a job
specification available?
Our friends at Oyster point out that there are some ski instructor courses that you can sign
up for, safe in the knowledge that you will have a guaranteed job for the rest of the season,
such as their course in the Canadian resort of Whistler.
“On arrival, you take a four-week course to gain your CSIA Level 1 instructor qualification
and then begin working for Whistler Kids as an instructor for the rest of the season,” they
told us.
“This is not any old job, it's a job that comes with enormous responsibility - looking after
other people's children on a mountain! This not helps with your own personal development
but also shows future employers a lot about you as well.”
For more information on this course, have a look at:
Work permits are snapped up very quickly though, so make sure you apply 12 months in
advance!
Volunteering as a sports coach
There are hundreds of sports-based volunteer programmes available, from coaching cricket
to underprivileged children in India to coaching football in inner cities in the UK.
Gap-years can be spent doing practically every sport you can think of, from hockey to net-
ball and from basketball to football. There's also a range of countries you can go to. The
benefits are obvious, says Anne Smellie of Oyster Worldwide:
“You can coach your favourite sports, from football to rugby, from netball to hockey and
from cricket to swimming to deserving kids in some of the world's poorest areas. We all
saw the documentaries on television during the 2014 World Cup about the amazing sports
