Has anyone's DC done a season?

[dontcallmemam]

DS2 is very keen. Currently in Y12 but thinks he'd like to go after A2s.
In principle I have no objection, provided he has a confirmed Uni or equivalent place for the following year. He has a part time & has been saving.
He thinks he can do a fancy pants cookery course & then land a job.
He loves to ski, is very sociable & says he doesn't mind cleaning loos etc.
I'm not sure Chalet Companies hire green 18 year olds straight from school.
Any opinions or advice?

I did season when I was 18 and lived it. Not much money but a great experience. I was a resort rep rather than working in a chalet as I didn't fancy cleaning

Loved it

I suspect he'd have great time. How did you find the job? His French isn't great, he's not a bad cook, suspect his cleaning would be adequate but he'd be fantastic at partying

He could always try USA / Canada then he wouldn't have the language problems. They don't have chalet boys / girls so much but do employ tons of young people, I'm just never sure how much ski time they fit in ( there is lots of partying but check the drinking age!)

I think at 18 he may struggle to get a reasonable company to employ him.

My DS (30+) works in the industry, in France, full time permanent position, & they don't tend to employ seasonnaires under the age of 21.

Some of the conditions & employment demands are horrific.

magi thanks, that's rather what I thought. I've never been in a Chalet with staff under 21.

I should have said that the employment conditions etc are horrific with the companies who do employ the under 21s.

He certainly won't get a job as a cook without the relevant hyegine/ safety certificates & probably not without experience.

However, they do take a lot of post university people, who want a year out then to mull things over.

And in the ;last couple of years the average age has been rising from 21/22 to 26+ as employment is harder to get in UK.

He's got a friend whose sister did an intensive cookery course and the company had links with one of the chalet firms and can almost guarantee them a job.
It does sound rather unlikely and , like you say, who knows what the conditions are like. I rather suspect that these mythical teens have been very propped up financially, which wouldn't be the case for my DS.
thanks for the input.

He's quite good with older ones, not so great with littlies (not much experience). Its a thought, although I'd imagine they'd want people with qualifications.
thanks.

what sports / youth work experience does he have, childcare workers are often younger than chalet hosts. SOME companies will take on young men who have experience working with older children as well as those with nursery experience.

There is bar work and ski tech work in some places. but with out being old enough to drive a mini bus/ van he may be passed over.

Get him to do it in Japan

Uni he had done a 'young leader' qualification & has helped out at a Youth club as voluntary work.

In that case OP He may wan to focus on that experience in his applications. Working with school age kids is quite different to working with babies and preschoolers. A " nanny" for older kids will be taking them to and from ski school, making a simple lunch, washing up and organizing an active afternoon for a bunch of 5- 12 year olds.

DS really liked having a "manny" while we skied last year, was a bit miffed that this year their nanny was a young lass, tho as she was quite good at snow balls and sledging too he got over it. AFAIK she would go and "help" another nanny who had a horde of tinies in one chalet to look after while our big kids were in ski school. Just the way it worked out, she had been assigned two chalets where none of the kids were under 6 that week.

Thanks uni, he would be great at taking older ones to ski school & playing out in the snow, making tea etc.
I might get him to look at Esprit & Mark Warner.
I hadn't even thought of it.

Family Ski have ski school helpers who are often having a year out before taking up places at University - would that suit him?

Has he considered Ski le gap? It's a conpany that run a course in Canada where you pay to learn to become a ski instructor, it's a lot of fun and get a qualification out of it too.
It is expensive but you say he's been saving.
Hope he does his season, I wish I'd done one.

Has he thought about working for a holiday chain like powder byrne, crystal or mark warner. I was a kids holiday rep but we had cooks/housekeeping/office jobs in the hotels.

Ski nannies need a level 3 in childcare and I wouldn't recommend doing it. The chalet skivvies seemed to have much more fun and free time.

I did four ski seasons working in chalets and plenty of 18 year old boys are working in the alps. The bigger companies like mark warner will probably take them as pot washers in the chalet hotels for example, plus as someone else said there's bar work/ski hire shops etc etc. If he works for a chalet company he'd need next to no French if in a big resort, although would be good for him to try and pick a bit up! Ski shop he'd probably need a bit more. Bars in resorts like val d'isere etc are almost entirely staffed by Brits and they will usually provide accommodation etc. Chalet work gives the most skiing time. He might well find a cooking job with a middle of the road company if he does a course.

I did a ski season when I was 26. Most of the chalet hosts were 18-20 years old. Most had done some kind of cookery course, but not all. I think you'd have to be confident to cook six mains and six puddings to a decent standard, but depending on which company you worked for it wouldn't necessarily need to be cordon bleu!

His lack of decent French is also irrelevant - most chalet hosts never need to speak any French (or German/Italian) anyway. Their guests will be English, the company deals with all the logistics of the chalet and they go shopping once a week with the chalet manager usually, so a bit of holiday French is the most they need. My French was pretty basic and I got a job as a rep in France. It wasn't an issue.

So if he wants to do it, I say 'Go for it'. The main things he'll need are a nice, friendly attitude to his guests, a willingness to work hard for pretty rubbish money, and an ability to make beds, cook and wash up. The skiing and partying are optional

I haven't read all the replies so apologies if I repeat anything. DH did ski seasons before and after uni. So when he was 18 in Val and when he was 22 in St Anton.

He did both of them through Mark Warner. He was a KP (kitchen porter) the first time basically doing washing up, emptying bins etc. second time he was a ski guide. So it is def possible for an 18 year old to get a seasonnaire job. He got paid peanuts, think something like £40 a week. But they get food, accommodation, lift pass I think. So they only really need pocket money for drinking.

BIL did a season in Whistler and got a job driving a taxi. He earned amazing money, could work whatever hours he liked- usually afternoon to evening so skied all day and could still go out at night. But he was 21 or 22 when he did that.