Working a ski season is one of the most fun things you can do in life and something that anyone who loves their skiing will highly recommend. There are pit falls - you have to work. Yes, work. Its not a holiday. It is hard work, a long season, a huge commitment so don't be flippant when considering working a winter.
We are a bonafide company who need staff to operate. If you love your skiing over partying, you realise Val is one of the best ski resorts in the world and you'd like to do a winter, take a look at our job descriptions.
Brexit has scuppered freedom of movement for United Kingdom of Great Britain citizens but not all is lost. With the right work authorisation from the French authorities that we apply for, a season is still feasible but not guranteed. Ideally we would like European passport holders but you still need a UK NI number and bank account to apply.
If you like any of our job descriptions and you fit the bill, please:
In order to work for us you must have the following:
1. UK National Insurance number and payment history. A temporary NI number is not acceptable.
2.UK bank account. You would need one and in order to get one you need a utility bill in your name. We are not legally allowed to pay anyone else on your behalf (i.e. in to another bank account).
3. A European or British passport.
4. A valid Global Health Card (GHIC) that following Brexit has replaced the old EHIC card. Applications can be made online at Apply for a UK Global Health Insurance Card (GHIC) - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Val d’Isere is always a popular destination for winter workers and that has to be a combination of the amazing skiing and the social life. We don’t deny that Val is as famous for its party atmosphere as it is for skiing.
The one advantage of working for Mountain Rooms & Chalets in Val d’Isere is the fact that you are guaranteed a job in the resort as we are specialists in Val only = no waiting for placements and ending up in a dead end ski resort with all your friends elsewhere.
So when you are thinking of working in Val, think about us carefully as there are more considerations than meet the eye!
If you are considering a winter in Val d’Isere and you have read our Job Descriptions and you want to contact us about a job, we expect you to know something about us. You should want to know about the company you want to work for too. So read the site, read About Us, read the home page and do your research.
We have developed a reputation over the years of truly looking after our staff. We are small enough to care and that means we take you on staff days out, we have a Christmas dinner together, we do Secret Santa and we have weekly staff meetings to discuss the positive parts of the week as well as what might have gone wrong and what to expect for the following week. Its all good. Communication is key and we encourage this and we motivate along the way. It’s a long season in Val, much longer than in other resorts so we ensure you enjoy it as you do your job.
There are so many things to think about when chosing where to work and who to work for. A few things people forget include:
Where is the company based?
Will you get allocated a resort on your start date or will you be guaranteed the resort of your choice? We are based and operate in Val so if you work for us, you will be doing a winter in Val d’Isere, France.
What are the staff apartments like?
This is a key question to any winter employee. How many people will you be sharing with, where is the accommodation located in relation to the company office and properties and if miles away, how are you expected to get to work or to your chalet? With us you will share accommodation that can be tight and in limited space but you live in town and we make it as comfortable as we possibly can for you.
How much support do I get from head office?
People never think about this until they are stuck in their chalet without their shopping or a guest has a broken leg and they expect you to know how to deal with it or if you are really unlucky, you have a very unhappy client on your hands and you feel very hard done by.
Well, we employ an Operations Manager who gives you as much support as you need. Not only that, I (Debbie, Owner/Operator) am in resort to deal with anything deemed necessary for me to get involved in. I am in the office daily and I get very involved. This means a huge amount to everyone on the team including the Ops Manager. No calling head office in London who are not there at weekends or waiting for an answer, if you need something or have forgotten to get something we are on the case immediately.
What is the company’s history of complaints?
This is an interesting question as it relates to so many parts of the holiday sold to the client. We hear of so many disgruntled clients for many reasons but one huge area of discontent is food and wine. So many companies have small food budgets not enabling any standard of cook to purchase anything decent and to serve good food. This makes a difference to the enjoyment of your job as well as the satisfaction of your clients. Same goes for the quality of wine.
We have one of the best budgets of all companies in Val d’Isere. Chefs and hosts can serve a very high standard of food and we purchase very good quality, wine. This means we very very rarely get complaints and clients leave very happy.
Delivering client expectation is also the basis for any complaint. We accurately advertise our properties and our photographs are not taken with wide angle lenses or with props that don’t exist in the property. We also ensure our properties are clean and ready for client arrivals. We deliver what we advertise and because of this, our clients are happy.
The most important person in our resort life! Organise, remember, manage everyone (clients and staff), customer service and more.
Work from our busy resort office, managing the logistics of arrivals/departures and staff rotas. Must be organised, happy in an office environment, customer service experience and French speaker preferable.
Hugely client facing, customer service paramount, right hand man to Head of Ops, lover of being out and about and not stuck at a desk.
Work from our busy resort office but very much an out and about role in addition to desk job. Client facing, customer service experience and French speaker preferable.
Commonly referred to in the industry as a Chalet Host. Somoene who can cook, loves to cook, we don't mean just done a week at a cooking school. A role not to be confused with helping a cook and hosting the clients. This is a hands-on, cooking/cleaning/running your property yourself job.
Can clean, will clean, happy to clean for 23 weeks, not 4 or 5 and realise it is hard work amongst the fun or skiing and doing a season. Breakfast service is also part of it with you making & serving breakfasts to clients along with making the odd cake for afternoon tea. Must, must, must have cleaning experience and clean to a high standard.
Resort Maintenance - fix things, clear snow, move bags, pick up provisions, runners, support to everyone, odd jobs makes you key members of the team.
Must have electrical or carpentry or plumbing and good general maintenance skills necessary and a good proven track record within a maintenance environment, Multi skilled!
A dream job for someone who has cleaned, can clean, has managed cleaning staff before and who has 'the eye' for checking cleaning and training those to do it properly. A cushion out of place, a kitchen cupboard untidy, a hair in a sink will not do in this job!
Suitable candidates will have done a ski season before, probably as a Chalet host or cleaner and will know what has to be done in a property to make it spotless for incoming guests and on a day to day basis.
Accounts Assistant
Office based, numeric as 90% accounts, methodical, loves a desk & excel. HAVE to be organised.
Fully bilingual written and spoken. Organised assistant to work in our front office. Join the team if you can parler francais!
Please do not apply if you can't speak or write French. Please please! So many do.