Top Tips for your Ski Season Job Application

Ski Season Job Applications - Top Tips from an Industry Professional

"I want to do a season because it will be good for me."

Having worked as a recruitment advisor and consultant in the ski industry for over 10 years now, this sentence makes me cringe every time I read it. It is a shame that students attempt to be professional on their applications but fail miserably at the first hurdle - their CV! HR and job placement professionals need to assist students in understanding how to present themselves for ski season work. Here are a few of my top tips:-

A Professional Photo

So many CVs cross my desks with a photo of the applicant at a party, holding a drink, with a cheeky grin on their face. Now, while that may be your favourite photo, it is not one that the recruiter will find most useful in assessing you! It is true that you may have some fun on a ski season, but you are not being recruited just to have fun, a recruiter's first reason to hire you is to do a good job - the job they are going to pay you to do.

Your photo needs to be a smiling head shot. It can be taken by anyone with a decent camera or smartphone camera. It needs to show the face you will be showing the ski season clients you will be serving. Save the cheeky smiles for the late night parties and show your professional smile in your photo.

Your Personal Statement

At the beginning of your CV, you should write a paragraph to summarise yourself and your current skills, experience and attitude towards work. You should include:

- The skills & experience you will bring to the job – why you are really a good recruit for the company

- Why you want to do a ski season at this time in your life. Be certain to mention why you can do a good job - what you are offering the company in terms of your attitude and skills.You can mention that you would like to work a ski season because of the benefits it will bring you - e.g. teamwork, experience, etc. but do not mention that you are doing a ski season "because it is good for me." There needs to be mutual benefit for both the ski company and you and this is what you are trying to get across.

- Give a quick one sentence summary of the most relevant experience you have had to the type of work you want to do while working for a ski season (e.g. waiting tables, working in a kitchen, waitressing, any customer service work that involves working with the public)

Relevant Experience and Qualifications

If you are a professional looking to take a late gap year to work a ski season, this section is of particular importance.

This section should include work experience and any qualifications relevant to working in the ski industry. You should pull out of your CV this information and put it on the first page ideally towards the top – before the reader loses interest in who you are and what you have done. Be sure to include:-

- Relevant work experience to working a ski season (waitressing, waitering, bar tending, coaching athletic teams, management, customer service work)

- Teamwork Experience (Being in a team or holding a position of team authority (e.g. captain))

- Sporting Experience (Running, Ruby, Hockey, Skiing / Snowboarding / Mountain sports etc)

- Cooking Experience (Professional or domestic experience, how much you cook, for whom)

- Qualifications (e.g. Cookery Course to be completed on xx/xx/xx, Food Hygiene Level 2, etc)

And Finally...

Be sure you do a few important things like reduce the size of your photos and CV file that you send. Don't sent out 8MB pictures and CV files (Word or PDF). Simply use the photo editor in Word and compress your photos! It's that easy. If you need help, send me an e-mail and I'll talk you through it.

Good luck and have a great season!