Arriving in resort
Your job will start a week or two before the first guests are due to arrive. This is pre-season and you could find it is as busy as it gets, with so much to sort out and arrange before the snow starts falling in earnest and skiers start filling the hotels and chalets. Getting everything organised at this point will save you many headaches later on. If it is your first season, make sure you know where and how to get hold of everything you need. You don't want lots of questions at the arrivals meeting, and not have a clue how to answer them, or for someone to get ill and not know the procedure for getting them the help they will expect from you. Chances are you will be able to speak the language of the country you are working in, as well as English. It isn't always listed as a must have for the position, but someone who does is likely to get the job ahead of you, all things being equal.
Changeover days
Arrival and departure days are often the stuff of nightmares because there can be more problems on this day than any other. It doesn't help that flights often rotate at unsociable hours, so expect an early start, or a late finish, or both! Once you have collected your guests and taken them back to resort, you will show them to their accommodation, hand out lift passes, tell them where to hire their ski or snowboard equipment, and where to get lessons. A lot of people wave to you after the welcome meeting and the next time you see them is on the bus back to the airport at the end of their holiday, but as the local expert, you will make yourself available for any advice or assistance they may need. Perhaps they want to know which restaurant you would recommend, or maybe they have injured themselves and need medical assistance. A rep's work is never done.
Ski Resort Rep Perks
Let's get on to the good bits of the job. A way to top up your salary (which is never going to be as big as it should be considering your position on the front line) is to sell extras. Not every company is the same, but quite often as a rep you will be expected to be a reasonable skier. You certainly won't be taking them anywhere challenging, but you may offer a half day ski safari including a mountain top meal. As well as a commission on each person who signs up to join you, it's almost certainly going to be a free feed. And the same thing goes for a bar crawl. In fact you ability to bring a high rolling hoard of hungry holiday makers into an establishment, could see you on very friendly terms with some of the bar and restaurant owners.
While technically always on call, and there will always be a fair bit of paper work to get through during the week, on the whole you can manage a fair bit of free time, especially on weeks where the guests are less demanding. An opportunity then to make the most of those all season lift passes that the company sorted out for you.
As you will have gathered, it isn't the type of ski job you take if you are looking to do a bit of work to subsidise a winter long party. But in return for working hard to make sure your guests enjoy their time in resort, you will get to meet lots of people, make some valuable contacts, and get the kind of management experience that is going to look fantastic on your CV.