Handy Tips When Planning to Work Abroad!

Working Abroad

There are many ways to work abroad, and you really have to think outside the box to get hold of that dream job. If you know where to look, there are dozens of jobs – retail, customer service, tourist-based, language, teaching, agricultural, cruise, coaching – waiting for you out there in the big old world.

First, however, you’ve got to decide what you want to do and where. I started with season jobs which cover both summer and winter but are usually only five months at a time. Would you like to jet off to some Mediterranean beach for a summer of watersports and sunbathing, or disappear up a mountain for five months of powder?

I first settled on a ski season, simply because it was the right time of year to apply; you have to remember that winter seasons start interviewing applicants in the summer, and summer seasons interview during the winter. Remember to plan ahead, or you’ll miss out!

For my first season I aimed for big companies; if you search the internet for ski packages and all-inclusive holidays they show up, and they often have a small ‘careers’ section somewhere on their webpage. You can apply to places like Crystal, Esprit, Club Med and so on. The jobs ranging from Chef, KP, Night Porter, Hotel Assistant, Cleaner, Waitress, and Bar Staff through to Ski Instructor if you’re already pretty slick on a pair of skis. I wasn’t, and spent five months as a Hotel Assistant in a huge hotel which catered for hundreds of clients and an equally enormous staff.

This year couldn’t be any more different. I’ve steered clear of the big corporations and I will be working in a tiny, family-run chalet in a small resort miles from anywhere. I’m exchanging a crazy season of clubbing, bars and a manic dawn-till-dusk lifestyle for something that, although it’s still hard work, is a tighter-knit community.

It’s entirely your own decision, whether you decide to go abroad with a big travel company or a small business. Both have their pros and cons, and sometimes you only realise this once you’ve been working with them a while!

Big Companies: 

+   They know what they’re doing, and you feel totally at ease. They organise everything for you, including your visa, tax, lift passes, and insurance. They usually have your travel all sorted, from A to B and back, so there’s no need to stress! Normally you travel with everyone else going to the same resort, so it’s a nice way to meet everyone you’ll be working with in the next few months.

-    Because they’re such a big corporation, and you don’t know the bosses on a first-name basis, it’s easy to fire you. Most of these companies have a policy that if you don’t work for a week or two (because of illness, or an injury), you’re out. The other downside is that if you don’t make it to the end of the season, you have to make your own way home. So if you break your leg or get the flu, you’re out in the snow in a foreign country with not a whole lot of money. Great. Also, another thing to watch out for is the pay – season jobs are usually pretty basic pay because you’re getting ski hire, season passes and insurance all for free – but before you say “yes!” to the first opportunity have a shop around and see what you can find. Finally, meals are usually ‘inclusive’, but quite often lunch isn’t part of the deal, and the meals provided are pretty basic – if you like surviving on a protein and nutrition-free diet that’s fine, and living on chips is ok for a while, but food is quite expensive up the mountain and if you’re not careful your entire wages go on meals!

Small Businesses: 

+  Small businesses are all about knowing your employer on a first-name basis. That makes it quite hard to fire you (unless you’re a complete incompetent) or to feed you really really badly. A definite plus. Also, (depending on the job) it changes the wage bracket completely, especially if you fall in with someone who owns their own chalet and hardly ever visits (queue images of Chalet Girl). Another bonus is that the tips are bigger, more frequent, and you get to keep them instead of sharing them between a huge staff.

-  A smaller staff also means (obviously depending on the size of the venue), more work. In some chalets there’s only one waitress, one cleaner, one chef and one KP. That means if something isn’t done, or isn’t done well, it’s totally and obviously your fault. Uh-oh. As well as all that, it’s quite hard to convince your boss that your underperformance is because of being ‘ill’ when he’s heard you coming home from the bar singing at 4am. Lastly, quite a few smaller businesses, although prepared to pay for your travel out to the mountain, leave it up to you to organise it. In a foreign country, by yourself, that can be quite scary, especially if you’re a first timer.

The choice is entirely yours, and hopefully I haven’t put you off doing a season! I won’t lie; being a seasonnaire is all about working hard – that’s without doubt, whatever the company. Work hard, play hard, that’s the seasonnaire motto! Whatever you decide, it’s well worth it to spend five months in another country, experiencing another culture and getting the opportunity to be a part of it instead of passing through. It’s a real band-of-brothers experience, and you tend to come out the other side with lifelong friends, some fantastic memories and a whole new way of looking at life.

Good luck, et bonne chance! 

By Emma Kearsey.

Want the chance to ski in the Alps? Invasion can provide a hassle-free snow-covered experience for low prices at Snowvasion! Or if you want the opportunity to work abroad, visit invasionjobs.com to find out more!