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It’s surprising how many people stumble at the first hurdle of getting a seasonal job.
Many winter seasons are started by lack of snow and summers seasons by wet and empty beaches in the spring.
Resorts are full of hopefuls spending their ever decreasing savings, uselessly shuffling around asking the wrong people for work. The "Giz’ us a job?" tactic rarely works especially with foreign employers who often wait till the last minute before trying to find someone to cook for 30, wash dishes, the clean up till 5am and then get up and cook breakfast and still expecting you to speak 5 European languages!
It’s demoralising spending weeks trying to find good cheap seasonal accommodation which is becoming increasingly hard to find while you suffer the local hostel owner locking the front door at 10pm and charging you a small fortune. Three weeks is all it takes for most to return home jobless and near penniless with little or no snow time or tan.
Sure you can live in a van in the ski lift car park or sleep in the woods behind the beach. But try holding down a job while washing in the local public toilets! Couch-surfing from one acquaintance to another is fun for a week or two but communal living in a tiny apartment piled high with 15 other people’s smelly clothes and un-washed dishes while tying to sleep so you can get up early while all around you party all the hours of the day, just isn’t really the season you promised yourself.
There seems to be a growing trend in people advertising seasonal accommodation at frankly extortionate rates, (what ever they say they’ll be adding a commission to your rent)!
The companies that legally employ you abroad through adverts on Gravity Recruitment site are duty bound to find you good accommodation as part of your pay package.
Use Gravity Recruitment’s “free to jobseekers service” to get you a legal and well paid job with accommodation before you go!
Take a good look at yourself……
Lets be honest most of the employers are fairly conservative and look for smart appearance and a happy disposition. Getting past the interview is not just a game but we’re constantly surprised by the many applicants that turn up knowing little or nothing of the jobs they applied for or the companies that they have travelled to see.
So read up, look at the web, do a little detective work and ask around! But don't sit with dread locked hair, tattoo’s on show and ripped jeans only to look dumbfounded when the smart interviewer in pearls and a cut glass accent asks if you have even looked at the website for "Chalet Islington" .
Ok we're joking here but we care about getting you the right job. Jobs differ but make yourself presentable. We’re not advocating a Saville Row suit or designer dress but look smart and sound smart. However much those jeans cost, most employers will mark you down for wearing them. Slogan t-shirts, wrist bands and excessive jewellery will do nothing for your chances. They’ll expect you to look smart for work but what you wear the rest of the time is your business as any bar in any resort will show.
Read the job description carefully! Sounds obvious but if you want a job as a nanny and don't have a drivers licence and the job description states that this is required then you just won't stand a chance. If they are asking for a qualified cook with experience and all you have is a quick cookery course and few dinner parties under your belt then you are just building your hopes up as they will soon find out the truth.
Sometimes companies will compromise with say a French speaker as a rep in a German/Swiss resort but this is very rare. If they ask for qualified Chef with checkable references Gravity Recruitment will only recommend those that meet the brief. We are not in the business of just sending anyone’s CV’s to recruitment departments as these only get rejected, and there are too many other websites that will do that.
Write and take a well prepared C.V.
It must be clear and concise. Though if you’re struggling with this Gravity Recruitment will happily assist you. It’s what we send to the companies and it’s what gets you through the interviewer's door.
Be who you are
Please have proof that you really did work at the ‘Ivy’ or nannied for the ‘Onasiss family’. Many companies expect us to check references and qualifications. When you go take your C.V. with you kept in a smart envelope to produce if asked. One or two pictures of you in chef’s whites or holding on to the last bundle of fun you pushed around for months will make you more interesting to the interviewer. That shot of you doing a huge switch misty 7 D-spin off that kicker you built last winter in Verbier will probably just make them think they'll flying you home a week after training with an insurance nightmare on their desk.
Talk easily about yourself
Interviewer's look for people who can talk about themselves and the jobs they have done with ease but not to "gush" forth with a mad babble of chat. Being able to converse easily is an indispensable skill in the service industry as you will inevitably be talking to guests be it behind a bar in Ibiza or while ski guiding them around the powder filled bowls of Val D’ Isere.
So show them now. Nothing shortens an interview quicker than an interviewer dragging out the information they want! Try to talk easily about yourself and your life and interests but don’t babble!
Be polite!
Don't mention politics, race or your latest great idea as to how to improve the western world etc. Please don't be suggestive or flirt in an interview!! And never ever swear!!! Gordon Ramsey has made a career out of the F Word but trust us you will not!!! It’s easy to fall into the trap of getting relaxed at an interview and then before you know it you’ve let slip an f word! Remember, your attitude and posture speaks volumes as well and sometimes means more than what you say. There is a massive difference between arrogance and confidence so if you’re unsure which one you are then ask around your family and friends for advice!
Try practising an interview first
Role playing an interview is invaluable experience and saying out loud your reply can often mean you won’t stutter and mumble at the real interview, even if your Granny or your flat mate ends up laughing at your replies! The reason that some people seem so good at speaking in public or to strangers is because they’ve practiced it first.
What employers want!
You may not be in the spring of youth, your accent may not get you a job as a news reader for the BBC but these are not reasons that will stop you from getting a job! What employers are looking for is someone they can trust to do the job in hand with as little supervision as possible, which they can get on with in a working relationship and are able to work as part of a team in the resort.
Race, education, age, nationality or disability are not reasons for refusing you a job
Your rights over these are protected by the UK government and any country that you might want to work in.
Visa's
These are sadly a fact of modern post 9/11 life and for non European visa holders we can advise and help with this. Contrary to popular belief Aussies and Kiwis can and do work in Europe legally. Many companies are keen to employ Aussie’s and Kiwi’s with their reputation for being sociable and working hard. People with ancestral visa’s of EU member state country’s will find it easier to get work with UK based companies aboard. However, all companies will expect to see and check that you have a legally obtained UK working visa and a UK National Insurance number.
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