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Chalet girl in gap year?? - advice

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
I am currently in lower sixth form and I am planning to become a chalet girl during my gap year. I don't have much experience in cooking and cleaning but enjoy both. I was just wondering if anyone could give me advice. For example is it easy getting the job, what qualifications do you need, how much money do you need, is 18 to young, what tour operators to apply for and really anything that could help me make up my mind?
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Go and do a chalet host course and that will help companies take you more seriously as they will know you can cook/ clean/ serve clients to the required standard. Many courses also help you to find jobs. In Morzine the Chalet Host Company run courses in the summer and invite recruiters in to interview there and then.
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thank you but are you guaranteed a job if you do a chalet host course
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Quote:

are you guaranteed a job if you do a chalet host course

I wouldn't think so. You could do the course and still be a lazy person with no initiative, couldn't you? Twisted Evil

However, I'm sure you're not..... you're already thinking about what to do in a gap year. You could get some cleaning jobs in the meantime. My daughter did that, in the sixth form. She worked well and earned good money - much better than she'd have been paid in Tesco, for example.
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No but it helps demonstrate your capability if you haven't got hospitality experience @rose123, also you'll be going up against a lot of people who might have a bit more experience than you so you need to find a way to showcase/ stand out.
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What things could I do to stand out?
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@rose123, what do you think you could do...show your Initiative
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After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
my worries are spending a lot of money on a chalet host course and then putting it to waste by not being given a job, I don't believe I am a lazy person and Id really love to do a chalet host in the alps but I just fear about not being able to get a job
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@rose123, Welcome to Snowheads.

18 is not too young and you are thinking about this just at the right time. Firstly get a weekend shift or two at your local pub asap as a Kitchen assistant. This will give you some work experience when you apply.

Both my sons did winter seasons. One as a sous chef and one as a kitchen porter / night porter in chalet hotels. My recommendation would be to aim for a job in a chalet hotel. That way you work in a larger team and have a hotel manager that carries the responsibility. Running a chalet on your own is stressful for an 18 year-old.

They each did a cookery course too.

Think about applying in the May before the winter that you want to work.

Son #2 worked for Skiworld. He was treated very well and had a great time in Courhevel 1850.

In summary go for it. You will have an amazing experience.

All the best.
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thank you so much everyone this is really helpful
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would working at my local pub and doing a cookery course be enough?
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 And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
In addition my son's had done some volunteer work before they applied for their seasons.

Then a good interview, knowledge of the company, willingness to work hard (transfer days are veeery long for everybody on the team) and being a good team player will give you every chance.

If you get rejected at the beginning just keep going.
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rose123 wrote:
would working at my local pub and doing a cookery course be enough?


Real work experience is vital. There are no guarantees, but if you can get experience of working with people and cooking you would be in a very good position. Don't just rely on the course though, make sure you cook dinner as often as possible to get experience in as many recipes as possible (your family will love this:-) ). Make sure you can cook vegetarian, vegan and gluten free meals too, you'll be asked about these at an interview and you will need to do them regularly during a season.

Also consider other types of jobs, chalet hosting is very hard work especially if you are not an experienced cook. A lot of British travel companies run large chalet-hotels or regular hotels where they need staff to wait on tables, wash pots, do cleaning etc. The work is more mundane but it's a lot easier and you'll get more time to ski. You won't get paid as much, but you won't exactly get rich as a chalet host either.
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
I've doing my dofe and have done about 9 months of volunteering for a charity shop
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sah wrote:
rose123 wrote:
would working at my local pub and doing a cookery course be enough?


Real work experience is vital. There are no guarantees, but if you can get experience of working with people and cooking you would be in a very good position. Don't just rely on the course though, make sure you cook dinner as often as possible to get experience in as many recipes as possible (your family will love this:-) ). Make sure you can cook vegetarian, vegan and gluten free meals too, you'll be asked about these at an interview and you will need to do them regularly during a season.

Also consider other types of jobs, chalet hosting is very hard work especially if you are not an experienced cook. A lot of British travel companies run large chalet-hotels or regular hotels where they need staff to wait on tables, wash pots, do cleaning etc. The work is more mundane but it's a lot easier and you'll get more time to ski. You won't get paid as much, but you won't exactly get rich as a chalet host either.


There's some truth in this, but real work life experience isn't vital, it's just a good leg up. Plenty of chalet hosts I knew from previous seasons I worked did the same as you, either a gap year or straight from uni.

From May or June all tour operators start recruiting, so start applying then, and apply to a few. Definitely do the chalet course, people I've spoken to who have done similar courses say they benefited from it. At interview just make sure that you come across very chatty and confident and that you'd be good in front of guests.


Last edited by Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name: on Sat 13-02-16 16:30; edited 1 time in total
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
working for a chalet hotel sounds good! who would I apply to?
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
would you still need to do the course if you went for a chalet hotel?
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@rose123, a relevant foreign language, although not essential for the job in most places, will help to make you stand out from the crowd.
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Quote:

At interview just make sure that you come across very chatty and confident

but also that you listen carefully to the question being asked. And arm yourself with examples, real examples, of recent occasions when you've demonstrated the qualities they will be looking for (these will be set out in the person specification in the advertisement - working in teams, for example).
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You need to be resourceful such as conducting research yourself, i.e find Chalet Hotels and find out who operates them. I would think about the resorts you want to work in then start from there.
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Yes.

And there are literally thousands of companies who operate in the Alps, hundreds who are UK based. Decide if you want to work for a large company (Crystal, Neilson, SkiTotal, Inghams, Espirit are some of the biggest), medium sized who operate over just a few resorts, or small companies in only one resort.

Best to narrow down on what country you want to be in, then go from there.
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@rose123, That sounds good.

@sah makes a good case for working in a chalet hotel and not running a chalet on your own.

As far as cost goes: My sons had to pay to attend the interview in London, and pay to get to London for their transfer to the mountains.

The rest: transfer, ski pass, ski hire, accommodation, food was part of package. Pay was minimal plus a share of tips. They did not have to supplement their pay with any of their own money.
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
rose123 wrote:
would you still need to do the course if you went for a chalet hotel?


I'd say not. But bar/restaurant work experience would be hugely beneficial.
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cad99uk wrote:
@rose123, That sounds good.

@sah makes a good case for working in a chalet hotel and not running a chalet on your own.

As far as cost goes: My sons had to pay to attend the interview in London, and pay to get to London for their transfer to the mountains.

The rest: transfer, ski pass, ski hire, accommodation, food was part of package. Pay was minimal plus a share of tips. They did not have to supplement their pay with any of their own money.

This really needs stressing. Pay is dreadful for a lot of jobs in resort. You do get your travel and accommodation paid for (plus season lift pass, skis, insurance, plus breakfast and dinner for which you may eat with guests or you can have leftovers). But cash as wages will be terribly low, perhaps only £50 or £60 a week, pretty sure to be less than £100 a week. Which is why tips are so much needed.
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We've had this discussion before, but I don't think the total package is too bad. How many 18 year olds could earn enough to keep a roof over their heads, even in scruffy shared lodgings, eat, go skiing for a couple of days a week and still have £50 left over just to spend on frivolities, without relying on the bank of MaandPa?
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does anyone recommend any TO to work for on a gap year
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 And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
Side comment. I was at dinner with an employer a week or so ago. He commented about how he got recruiters to short list candidates down to a manageable size (30) for him to interview. He was asked for rejection criteria for those who passed the requirements given in the job specification, so he advised that CVs with spelling and grammar mistakes, and those showing the candidate had taken a gap year, should be rejected. There may have been other criteria, but those stuck in my mind. His prejudice against the gap year may be unusual, but he was very firm on it.
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the one that'll offer you a job.... wink

if you do a search on this forum there's quite a lot of discussion about working in the Alps

Look at natives.co.uk for lots of information and chat
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
@rose123, You'll need to try them all to be honest, or at least aim to contact as many as you can. Look on places like http://www.natives.co.uk/ and http://www.wheretoskiandsnowboard.com/directory/category/All_companies/ to get lists of companies.
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Some chalet companies don't recruit people under 21. I did my "gap year" somewhat older than you (40).
In general I'd say the smaller the chalet co, the less likely they will take an 18 year old to cook for them as they rely so much on repeat business and need someone ultra reliable, but they may be happy to employ someone as a general dogsbody. Here's an option-take a look at www.latania.co.uk -lots of uk run businesses who may be looking for someone,

Don't underestimate the hard work involved if you want to be the actual chalet host who cooks. Definitely do a chalet cookery course if you have never really cooked proper dinner parties and haven't got the relevant culinary skills. Some companies make you cook to their menu plan, others expect you to be able to design a menu and budget accordingly.
Working behind a bar or being on general staff in a chalet hotel is also an option worth considering. Ideally, once you get to 18 get a bar job or some work in hospitality- waitressing, hotel chambermaid.
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Some chalet companies don't recruit people under 21. I did my "gap year" somewhat older than you (40).
In general I'd say the smaller the chalet co, the less likely they will take an 18 year old to cook for them as they rely so much on repeat business and need someone ultra reliable, but they may be happy to employ someone as a general dogsbody. Here's an option-take a look at www.latania.co.uk-lots of uk run businesses who may be looking for someone,

Don't underestimate the hard work involved if you want to be the actual chalet host who cooks. Definitely do a chalet cookery course if you have never really cooked proper dinner parties and haven't got the relevant culinary skills. Some companies make you cook to their menu plan, others expect you to be able to design a menu and budget accordingly.
Working behind a bar or being on general staff in a chalet hotel is also an option worth considering. Ideally, once you get to 18 get a bar job or some work in hospitality- waitressing, hotel chambermaid.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
@Perty, I did my gap year (well, season anyway) at the age of 27, and went straight for the resort rep job - much less manual labour! I picked not only the country, but the resort - the country for the relevant foreign language I had, but the resort for an easy transfer, so as not to spend the whole of each transfer day on the road. For that job I had to demonstrate some management skills and people skills generally - that wouldn't have been possible at the age of 18.
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@achilles, that's an odd attitude. Does he not let his employees have holidays either? Or lunch breaks?

I got my first sensible job based solely on one of my in between year experiences.

If I was recruiting I would be preferentially targetting those with gap years as I know how some additional maturity would have helped me with the odd life choice.
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rose123 wrote:
does anyone recommend any TO to work for on a gap year


Yeah, the cheap ones!.

Two of our kids are currently on seasons, one on her second. One is with a mid-range company, the other is working for an upper end co. Both say that Crystal are actually one of the best co.s to work for.
I'd say not to bother with cooking, it's added work/pressure/hassle for little or no more money and often offers less snowtime. Snowtime is key, you're not out there for the money. My Daughter hosted last year and had a straight 7 hours of skiing every day, that's what you should be looking for.
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
"Gap year" is a silly expression, anyway. Means nothing really, does it? Might be at 18, might be at 40. Certainly nothing relevant to an employer. I did a lot of interviewing of graduates at the end of my career. When people spoke of having a "gap year" it was instructive to find out what they'd done with it. Sometimes it had been a worthwhile experience, sometimes not.

I did see quite a lot of people who had gone straight from school to university too. Sometimes they were great candidates, sometimes absolutely hopeless.

It's a pretty arbitrary way of sifting applicants. I prefer the suggestion of putting half the application forms into the shredder unread, on the basis that they're unlucky, and who wants to employ unlucky people? wink
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@pam w, as often, I am liking the cut of your jib.
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pam w wrote:
I prefer the suggestion of putting half the application forms into the shredder unread, on the basis that they're unlucky, and who wants to employ unlucky people? wink


Haha brilliant!!! Laughing


I so wish I'd done a season when I had the chance.


Last edited by Then you can post your own questions or snow reports... on Sat 13-02-16 21:14; edited 1 time in total
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Friend of mine's big brother did marketing for a major tabloid (Sun, Mirror, Star, something) which had one of those stupid postal competitions to win a holiday (you know, what is a silver dollar made of, how long is a mile, whatever). We had to sort the mail for right answers for the lucky dip winner. Apparently 50-70% went straight in the bin before it got to us, we just got the rest and the winner would be chosen from that.

@rose123, think about how those skills will transfer into other jobs later. Bar work is always wanted, so is waitressing. Foreign language is usually good. Hosting itself, I'm not so sure. Never had a gap year, but had various Saturday and summer jobs, then used those savings to fund a stay and an unpaid "traineeship" in a credible office for a few months to get a "real" reference (not sure if that is even legal now). Good luck.
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Take paracetamol. Take lots.
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Timberwolf wrote:
Take paracetamol. Take lots.

He means take lots with you, not take lots!
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