Showing posts with label working. Show all posts
Showing posts with label working. Show all posts

Monday, October 31, 2011

JOB HUNT - Looking for the PERFECT JOB


Star Trek Enterprise Worm Hole w/Captain Kirk & Spock
  We took the Worm Hole escape route and immediately began our search for a new job. 
I had no problem landing a job with only one duty:  State the firm command, "Engage!"


Our next task was to find the perfect camp site for the night.  We did!... at Jetty Park for $32.  "Perfect" meant it was dry and the camper was free from flying black marsh fiends.  We slept like hibernating bears in the quiet, flood-free peace. 
Bob found the fishing more than adequate on the Jetty Pier.  He had the best time ever helping an old Korean man haul in 4-foot ribbon fish with teeth that could bite you to the bone!  I turned my attention to the cruise ships and their mobs of whooping, laughing, celebrating passengers.  They were offering $10 day cruises on the casino ships.  Should we join in?
Nah.  Being hard-core about finding a job, we went to Kennedy Space Center.  The Shuttle program has ended, so there's no jobs there....but we learned plans are still active for sending some of us on to Mars.  I signed up.

Camp Hosting on Mars....what have I gotten myself into!???
 
The newest rover.  This one has space suits attached to the back so you can slip in and out of them through a lock so you don't bring clinging space dust into your rover.  Clever.  Perhaps we should do that with our kids so their dirty clothes and muddy shoes never come inside. 

 Bob went for a more technical job...repairing the Hubble Space Telescope...yet another time...from the platform of the International Space Station.  Yes, even though the last Soyuz Rocket failed....(uh, blew up) we are still planning to send up more of our astronauts on these crowded Russian space ships.  We have too!  We have a 3-man crew stranded on the ISS and wanting to come home for Christmas... or sometime in their lives.

Well...we didn't enjoy living apart....so we agreed on a campground hosting position on the MOON.  If you've ever dealt with  Lunar Regolith  ...then you know you've got serious cleaning problems.  We already had enough cleaning problems back on earth.  Our camp site at Jetty Park (#91) had not been cleaned.  The grill was full of ashes and old charcoal and the ground was strewn with litter.  In fact, the entire park needed a lot of picking up and trimming.  I wrote to management and said we'd be happy to workamp for them and get the park in shape.     I got this reply from Ann Johnson within hours:  
Oct 28 - We did try campground hosts several years ago and it did not work out well at all. We will be doing some renovations this year and there are changes I think you will not only like but will enjoy.                                                                                                                               
Ann

WHAT??!!  We'd never heard anything negative about camp hosts before.  What happened?

We took the above litter-strewn path to the campground office.  We talked with the person who checked us into Jetty Park Campground and she knew nothing about problems with onery camp hosts, but she did say they had a job in maintenance for a free site.  Bob was not interested, as we'd heard so many bad/sad stories about "light maintenance".  It's a fact that any and everything can need fixing at any time, so the 20 hours for a site is really 24/7....you are full time.  Most camp hosts have mentally left behind full-time work and aren't suited to it anymore.  So let's keep looking for that perfect job!

Saturday, October 8, 2011

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!