by coasterluver » Tue Feb 03, 2015 12:56 am
jscll did a pretty good job at explaining it all! To add a few things and my own personal thoughts...
1. Whats it like?
I personally loved the time I spent working at the park, with a few small exceptions. What department you work in will greatly change your experience. For example, I rarely ever found employees in foods who liked their jobs, but employees in Park Ops were pretty satisfied.
2. What are the general ages of people working there?
This is also department specific. jscll's answer of 16-25 is a pretty good park wide estimate, but some departments tend to hire older or younger employees. For example, a majority of the foods department are 14/15 year old (we would call them "red tags" because of the color of their nametags) because that is one of the only departments that will hire them, whereas Park Ops is mainly 18+, with a few 16/17 year olds (they can't operate rides, just attend, so they don't hire many "yellow tags (16/17year olds)" for rides. Water park is mostly 16-21 and the older folks tend to go towards Merchandise, Admissions, etc.
3. How do I get hired?
jscll explained that perfectly
4. I applied and a manager has reviewed my application.
Don't worry if they don't call back right away. They usually like to call back returning employees first before new employees. If you don't get a call soon, call the HR department. It will let them know your interested and make you more enticing.
5. What are the hours and pay?
jscll said it all basically. The only thing I want to add to what he said is that if you say you want to be "flex", make sure you mean it. It may be an extra $0.15 an hour but is it worth it to be at the parks beck and call all the time? Flex basically means you can be scheduled 9am-5pm, but end up working 9am-11pm, and you cannot say no, as it is a job requirement.
6.Promotions. Is it hard to get promoted?
Depends on your department, and your age. They don't like to hire minors as supervisors because supervisors are usually required to work long hours that minors can't work. If you are a non-minor, you chances increase majorly because any manager will hire a non-minor over a minor, no matter how much experience the minor has. For example, I know people in the department I worked in who got promoted less than a month of starting, just because she was 21 and everyone else who applied for the position were minors.
7. Uniforms?
Only thing to add to what jscll said is that uniforms are EXPENSIVE. They get deducted from your paycheck, and they usually won't tell you how much it is either. Whenever I asked, "how much is my shirt" I'd get the answer, "I have no idea", then see on my paycheck that it was $30 or something crazy like that. Expect to spend at least one full paycheck on uniforms.
8. International students. Are there any?
Yes, in some departments. Internationals usually will only work in the Operations division, and I rarely ever see them in cash handling positions. Internationals are one of the greatest parts of the job because you make so many great friends and learn so much from people from other countries.
Over the seasons, I have seen the good, the bad, the great, the fantastic, the horrible, and everything in between as have many other people on this site. So if you have any further questions, please let us know! I hope I helped you out! Thanks!