EMPLOYMENT

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Job Opportunities at the Adventure Ski & Snowboard School

IMPORTANT: We are looking for people who will definately be available to work a regular and consistent part-time (15+ hours per week) or full-time schedule through March 31. If you will be available to work throughout the entire season until the end of March, please read all of the information below and then submit your employment application.

The following information should help answer most general questions about employment qualifications, requirements, schedules, and benefits. This information will be covered in more detail at the employment information meeting at Adventure Ski & Snowboard Schools on Saturday, October 8, 2022 at 10:00 am., which you should plan to attend.

Positions Available

NOTE: While all of the details that follow are important, it is crucial to understand that we hire people who have excellent, refined and detailed communicative skills (similar to the detailed info below), and are able to patiently describe and instruct in clear detail the fine points of skiing and snowboarding in a variety of learning styles, and like to work with all ages. Often racers and the best experts at performing a sport forget what it is like to learn, and find it challenging to clearly describe and empathize with a first time beginner.

Approximately 5 part and full-time positions are available from late-October through March for ski & snowboard instructors who will also assist with most aspects of ski & snowboard lessons, sales, maintaining and running the school, and occasional special promotions, sometimes using our portable Simulators.
We prefer our staff to be experienced in, and able to teach BOTH skiing AND snowboarding. Those who are qualified in both, will earn more by having the opportunity to teach more lesson hours. If you have some teaching experience and/or certification to teach either skiing or snowboarding (not both) please continue to read the info below and complete our application form. Many applicants have an interest in teaching SNOWBOARDING only , which is at least half of our business, however, I really need/prefer people that can also (or at least used to) SKI, and teach BOTH sports. An exception is if you are currently PSIA /AASI certified level 2/3. Keep that in mind if you do apply. Thank you.

Employment Requirements

We want positive thinking people who are always wanting to, and working on how to teach a better lesson, no matter how much experience they have, and how effectively they can already teach!

You will need to have or quickly develop good movement analysis skills relative to skiing & snowboarding, including error recognition, diagnosis and correction. Salesperson skills and ability are almost as important as teaching skill. Strong interpersonal skills, presentation and public speaking ability, along with enthusiasm, articulation, etiquette, and communication skills are very important. You must excel in politely, yet positively and confidently expressing yourself "loud and clear" in a variety of ways. You also need a great deal of self-confidence and patience; you must be safety oriented, very observant, aware of your surroundings and good at remembering names; you need some ability in math, along with superior time management, organizational skills, and the ability to plan ahead; you need to be able to maintain your composure while performing two or more tasks at the same time; and you must enjoy working with people of all ages, personalities, and ability levels (mostly beginner) - including some with physical & / or mental disabilities. You must have strength, flexibility, quick reflexes, and the ability to make appropriate spontaneous decisions based on sound, solid knowledge supplemented by lots of regular reading. Drinking alcohol and smoking are not allowed at anytime prior to and during the workday. AND You must be able to wear your ski boots all day while working!!! (and snowboard instructors must be able to quickly change from ski to snowboard boots, and back to ski boots again as often as our daily lesson schedule requires.)

Schedules

Normally, busiest hours of operation are on weekdays from 3 to 9 p.m. and on weekends from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
We appreciate people who can flexible enough to be "on-call" so to speak, to be available to come in an hour or two earlier and/ or stay an hour or two later sometimes, especially during peak season when regular hours are all booked up and we have the opportunity to add new customers to our appt schedule.
Early and late season (October and March) hours are sparse! Yours first paycheck will be after November first. Consideration is being given to opening earlier on weekdays on a trial basis this season. As this is a seasonal business, you must be available a minimum of 15 hours per week on a consistent and regular basis throughout the ski season. Vacations, ski trips, family reunions, etc. are not often or easily approved from November through mid-March. Weekends and holiday periods are some of our busiest times and all staff must be available to work! We will close on Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, and New Years Day. Unless it is noted on your application and discussed and approved at the information meeting, everyone will be expected to be available on weekends and holiday periods.

Benefits

After approval to teach at Adventure Ski & Snowboard School by the school director, a first year instructor's pay can range from $10-$18 per hour, and can include many fringe benefits. For those who qualify to earn them these fringe benefits can include cash bonuses, free or discounted weekday lift tickets at Mountain High, Mammoth Mtn and Big Bear Resorts, equipment pro forms, discounts on some purchases at Hansen's, and possibly more.

Required P.S.I.A. Affiliation And Ski & Snowboard Instruction

Employment at Adventure Ski & Snowboard Schools makes you eligible for membership in the Professional Ski Instructors of America (PSIA) and the American Association of Snowboard Instructors (AASI), the organization dedicated to training and certifying instructors. This association, and your membership in it, represents the highest level of dedication, training, performance, and professionalism to serve the skiing & snowboarding public in the best way possible. Benefits of membership are numerous, and include access to clinics, video-tapes and other PSIA / AASI publications, and instructor courtesy discounts on lift tickets at many PSIA / ASSI resorts. Your membership in the PSIA is encouraged, as is your participation in a minimum of one PSIA / ASSI on-snow clinic this season.

See info on PSIA/AASI website linke:
https://www.thesnowpros.org/BeaSkiorSnowboardInstructor.aspx

Additionally, your attendance at Adventure Ski & Snowboard Schools' staff clinics scheduled each month throughout the season is mandatory to remain employed. A lot of outside reading is required during the clinic and throughout the season. During the first week of the clinic, required reading includes Adventure Ski & Snowboard Schools' instructors manual and related handouts, AND the PSIA Alpine & AASI Snowboard Manuals, along with any other PSIA / ASSI instruction manuals, books, and videos you can locate in order to become familiar with the American Teaching System (ATS) as taught at Adventure Ski & Snowboard Schools and most mountain resort schools in this country. While the clinics will cover most aspects of the job, some advance knowledge of the ATS progression of skill development will be to your advantage. Suggested PSIA / ASSI publications and membership information will also be available at the clinic.

Instructor's Training Clinic

After reading this information and attending the meeting, if you are still interested in the job and selected to take our training clinic, you must dedicate October weeknight evenings (4-8:00 p.m.) and weekend days (10-5) to the mandatory instructor's training clinic starting Saturday,October 8, 2022 at 10:00 am.

The clinic will familiarize you with the similarities and differences between the revolving carpet and real snow, cover P.S.I.A. - A.T.S. teaching guidelines and progressions for skill development for the beginning and intermediate levels of ski and snowboard instruction, review the various learning and teaching styles, and will help to condition your leg muscles for the often lengthy sessions on the revolving carpet required of instructors. The revolving carpet is a great workout for instructors, as we must often ski & snowboard for several hours at a time. Please be prepared for good leg strengthening workouts in order to get the most out of the clinic. Rollerblading, cycling, and aerobics are examples of good preparation for clinic workouts, and the coming season. In addition, the clinic will cover many of the unique aspects of working at a dry-land ski & snowboard school, including skiing backwards, forward, sideways, and skiing on one ski; adjusting and maintaining our ski bindings; snowboarding, maintaining and adjusting the revolving carpet & machine; and sales, reservation procedures, record keeping, and telephone techniques. An employee of Adventure Ski & Snowboard Schools is much more than an instructor!

The clinic is open to selected applicants who as a minimum are advanced snowboarders (teaching experience preferred) with previous experience as recreational parallel skiers (advanced intermediate and above); current advanced skiers (teaching experience preferred); and also for those who have previous ski and snowboard instructing experience, who would like to become ski & snowboard instructors at Adventure Ski & Snowboard School.

For those with no verifiable PSIA alpine certified level 2 or above teaching experience, there is a minimal $275 fee charged for the clinic, $100 of which will be returned to those who are hired, join P.S.I.A., AND remain employed working a minimum of 15+ hours per week continuously throughout the entire season (until March 31).

Last, and not least, I want you to know that since 1977 most of the clinic participants, even those with previous teaching experience, have felt that they got a lot of value out of the clinic, and the instructors who have taught here agree it can be a fun and enjoyable job with many intrinsic benefits, great exercise, and the chance to work outdoors with people. If the time commitment or fee to the clinic is discouraging you from applying for employment, please come to the meeting and feel free to speak with me before making your final decision. The previous information is meant to impress upon you the high quality, dedicated, positive thinking person Adventure Ski & Snowboard School desires to have as part of our team.

If you have some other uniquesituation that merits discussion prior to the meeting, and are seriously interested in the position, submit your application and then call asap and at least before Fri., Oct. 7 leave a message on(760) 942-2188 . . I will return your call after I have reviewed your online application. Thank you.

Please read the following in order to be more familiar with our programs and with the concept of revolving carpet slope simulators (articles available at Ski & Snowboard School OR click on the NEWS page of our website):

Adventure Ski & Snowboard Schools, Inc. entire website and be sure to watch our streaming video.

SKI MAGAZINE, "Deck the Malls", by Stu Campbell, PSIA veteran director, clinician, author;

U.S.A. TODAY, Sports Section: "Tone Up For Downhill";

North County Time Health & Fitness Section: "Preparing Your Body For... Downhill Adventure";

San Diego Family Press: "Kids Learn On 'Magic Carpet' Before Hitting The Slopes";

SO YOU WANT TO BE A SKI & SNOWBOARD INSTRUCTOR?!?

The following are some thoughts you might find helpful in determining a realistic perception of what teaching entails, and what it takes to be eligible for the job.

WHEN I BEGIN TO INSTRUCT, I GET TO SKI & SNOWBOARD A LOT!

As an instructor, you spend most every working day of your season with your customers on the hill / carpet. You get to ski & snowboard...at the level of your students. It is important to realize that you spend relatively little of your teaching time at your level of competence. If you have a genuine interest in teaching, this will not be a de-motivator.

AM I TOO YOUNG, OR TOO OLD, TO TEACH

From 18 years of age on, you can expect to become responsible for conducting your own classes, provided you have satisfactorily completed the training program we provide in preparation for teaching at our school. Our oldest instructor has been near 50 years old and has done a fine job with all skiers, especially appreciated by older students who would often much rather be with someone closer to their own age.

WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FOR WHEN YOU SELECT INSTRUCTORS?

There are a number of qualities necessary to be an instructor. None of them alone will do the trick; a combination will generate the "magic" we are looking for:

You need to be a "POSITIVE" thinking and speaking person, always talking about and teaching people "what to do" without saying / showing what they did wrong. You need to be able to paint a picture with the words you use to describe a movement or action.

You need to have a GENUINE LIKING of people. That means that you must be a CONTACT HAPPY person, who LISTENS very well. You should be able to become enthusiastic with what is happening on the STUDENT'S LEVEL, and generously PARTAKE in the ups and downs of the student's experience. You must have the capacity to "step off the pedestal" and be a helper, rather than an authoritative teacher, or a showoff.

You must also be able to accept CHANGING YOURSELF, as insights generated through experience, reading, and training will allow you to see things in new perspectives. You must let yourself grow and change, much as you expect your students to do the same. Beyond the basic happiness you bring to the job, you must be well organized and plan your days and lessons. You must have the ability to be in control of a situation without dominating it. You must keep in mind that you are responsible for the safety, as well as the quality of your students experience. YOU WILL DETERMINE whether our guests think of skiing & snowboarding, and Adventure Ski & Snowboard School negatively, indifferently, or POSITIVELY, AND with ENTHUSIASM!

Though it is difficult at times, instructors must be able to work with EACH NEW STUDENT AS IF HE / SHE WERE THE FIRST and only one. This can be achieved through genuine interest in the student and his or her well-being, and not if he teacher is preoccupied with his or her own skiing or snowboarding.

Last, but not least, it is very important that you be able to model skills to students; that means that we expect as a skier, that you are a sound parallel skier or better with good fundamental skills, and snowboard instructors must have previously achieved a similar skiing ability, while currently snowboarding at an advanced intermediate level with good fundamental skills and the ability to link both skidded AND carved turns. Often it's the better skiers & snowboarders who do not stand out looking "flashy" or "hot". Much of our business is made up of new skiers & snowboarders, and children. Many new instructors find the BASIC fundamental skills quite challenging. Demonstrating to students is merely one of the forms of communication that we are looking for. Your ability to complete the package with a positive mental attitude and personality, charisma, and salesmanship are further qualifications that we are looking for. Please read the below pages for additional criteria.

The following information represents the hiring criteria that must be demonstrated in the Adventure Ski & Snowboard School Instructor Training Course and Hiring Clinic.

SKIING & SNOWBOARDING:
Free Skiing-Level F (Dynamic parallel turns)
Free Boarding-Smooth, linked turns without bar
Backwards skiing, and riding switch stance
Turning around 180 and 360 degrees
Adaptability
Safety
Trainability

TEACHING DESIRE:
Expressed desire to teach

BEHAVIOR & PERSONALITY:
On time
Dress/Grooming
Maturity
Manners
Charisma
Articulate-Easy to understand
P.M.A.=Positive Mental Attitude
Positive instructions of what & how "to do"
Sense of humor
Leads when appropriate
Follows when appropriate
Gets along-warm and friendly
Enthusiastic
Participation-into what's happening
Positive attitude towards others
Empathy-understanding others feelings
Establishes rapport quickly
Listens and understands
Eye contact-listening AND speaking
Voice-warm and clear enough
Presentation

AVAILABILITY: THROUGH MARCH 31^st
Full Time: 5-7 days per week
Part Time: 3+days (15+ hours) per week
ALL: Holiday Periods, weekends

If interested in a position with the Ski and Snowboard School in Encinitas, please fill out our Online Application Form, and then plan to attend the employment information meeting and interview on Saturday, October 8, 2022 at 10:00 am.

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