20 Questions You Should Ask Before Accepting a Host Job

NOTE:  These camp hosting questions apply whether you want a paid working RVer job or a volunteer workamper position.

Camp hosting questions about when you work:
1. How many hours will you be expected to work each week in exchange for the campsite?
2. Is that per couple or per person?
3. Will it be in a certain period of time, such as two full days? Or do you have to be there every day?
4. Can you get away...say for doctor appointments?
5. Will you work weekends and holidays?

Camp hosting questions about the work you'll do:
6. What are your job requirements?
7. Exactly, what does “light maintenance” include?
8. What does “some grounds work” really entail?
9. As a working camper, will you greet campers and assign them to their sites, and then just be there to keep an eye on things?
10. Or, will you also be expected to clean bathrooms, collect money, and solve problems?

Camp hosting questions about the campground or RV park:
11. Is the campground facility in a popular place with lots of visitors?
12. What does it cost to stay for one night?  (This is the market value of your host site.)
13. How far is it to shopping, gas, a post office, etc.?

Camp hosting questions about the social climate of the park:
14. Are there many organized activities or other recreational opportunities?
15. What's your guest population...adults, hunters, organized groups, young families....?
16. Are most of the guests overnighters or are they staying for the season?

Camp hosting questions about your pay or benefits:
17. How will you be compensated?
18. If you are working in exchange for a site, is it possible to work extra hours for a salary?
19. Is it mandatory that you work additional hours when the park is busy or staff numbers are down?
20. If free use of the facility’s amenities is included, what are those park amenities?

Asking these questions can help make your hosting experience rewarding for you and free from conflict with the park management. After receiving the answers, give it some thought. Is this really the camphost job that is right for you, or should you look for a different position? Make a realistic list of the pros and cons so you don't make an emotional decision.  Good luck!

JOB APPLICATIONS - How? Why? Why not?

Why not apply?  Just as other hosts had told us, applications did not work for us (at first).  It was much better to call...and best to visit in person about openings.  We applied at Workamper.com over a year ago and never heard a whisper.   And it was a great application!  We did run into some of their employees in a rock shop just outside Bryce Canyon.  They said they loved being Workampers and said to join the mailing list online.  We did, and still nothing.   The same thing happened with our online ap to Recreation Resource Management at Host Jobs .  If you want to see the online ap click here.  But when Bob CALLED he was able to talk to the Area Manager in Florida and find out everything we wanted to know about working in the campgrounds they managed.  The problem was...they had no current openings.
Why apply?  We found applications (written just the right way) really DO work...if you make a friendly call first.  Take lots of notes, listening carefully to what the position requires, and then specifically, enthusiastically write on your ap how your qualifications match the requirements.  Leave out all of the details of your life and experiences that don't match the job so your comments will be concise and your message clear:  YOU are the best person for the job!
How?  The next posts will detail how we got each job offer...and were we ever surprised by the number of offers.  It's well advertised that we baby boomers are flooding the market with our efforts to get that wonderful spot for our rig in the out-of-doors.  And it's true...you almost have to "douse yourself in gasoline and set yourself on fire" to get the attention of those filling campground positions.  They are SWAMPED with applications.  If you ever want to hire me to apply for you, just let me know.  We've been told our applications garnered a job offer for every opening in Florida.  Funny.