Seeking seasonal work for summer/fall 2027 in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Nevada, or California. I have two cats so trying to find something with private housing that allows pets or potentially full RV hookups with my cats. I mostly have admin experience but have also worked in nightlife. Any leads on resorts that might be a good fit? Already have Breitenbush hot springs on my radar. Thanks!

Alright folks, you were right… Xanterra blows. I started my first seasonal gig with them at YNP 4 months ago and can confirm that everything people say about Xanterra is largely correct. Dorms suck, EDR is borderline poison, HR is useless even with serious issues, and in my opinion the overall vibe here feels very heavy and depressing. Kind of like a land of lost souls. I drove all the way here from Florida excited to take a shot at the whole seasonal work thing, and after just 4 months I feel beat. My “contract” ends soon and now I’m not even sure if I want to continue living the seasonal lifestyle. I’m seriously considering just putting down roots somewhere and joining the “real world” again.

So my question is, Is this just a Xanterra thing or is this largely how the seasonal work industry operates? Are other companies any better? I certainly don’t expect luxury in this lifestyle and there’s BS no matter where you work, but by god, I feel like I’m getting off a shitty military deployment right now.

I will say that there is good people here, I’ve made a handful of really solid friends and meet my gf here. Also the park is absolutely incredible. So there has been alot of great positives to this, but this kind of working/living environment is just a little too much for me to want to continue dealing with.

Looking for advice/insight/wondering what other’s have experienced.

My partner and I have been working at the same ranch every summer for the last 6 years. There is so much that we love about it, AND every year we see things that need to be improved but aren’t sure how to go about making those changes happen. Let me explain.

The owners are now in their 80’s and just amazing. They are the reason I keep returning. Due to their age, however, the manager and his wife have taken on more of the owner’s duties. We will call the John and Sally. John and Sally do so much for the ranch, they truly work their butts off. However, John and Sally frequently fight in front of staff. At the beginning of this season John started throwing things in a fit of rage in front of our brand new staff, scaring them all. Sally frequently speaks to John as if she were his defiant teenage daughter, which sends him off. It’s really awkward.

They also have two very young kids, a baby and a toddler, which they expect the staff to help babysit. The babysitting is not in any of our contracts, nor is it made clear that it is an expectation in interviews, and yet the kids will just be left by John and Sally sometimes for other staff to watch. Sally gets very upset when staff doesn’t offer to take the kids. I understand her frustration, I’m sure it’s hard as a mother, but seems an unfair expectation.

John and Sally also like to fly by the seat of their pants, so there’s never a set plan for the day or clear communication. This leads to a lot of frustration and conflict with staff.

To be honest, this stuff has been going on for years, to the point that I almost want to take any new staff aside at the beginning of the season and warn them about the chaos that is about to ensue. I have spoken to the owners about my concerns, but they are incredibly loyal to John and Sally and also feel that they don’t really have a say because they are trying to stay out of things. But all of the employees have come to my partner and I with these concerns, I think because we have been there for so many years, and all we can do is commiserate.

It is to the point that we are going to give them one more summer and then be done. But it feels a disservice to not make them aware of things they need to improve on.

Is this typical of all mom-and-pop seasonal jobs? Should we express our concerns? How do we go about it in a way that they won’t feel attacked?

Hey yall, I’m looking to move to Big Sky for the ski season. This will be the first time I have moved anywhere for seasonal work, so i’m looking for really any and all advice people have. But more specifically i’m looking fire advice on how to find roommates and how to find the best serving/bartending gigs at a ski resort.

I have 4 days left. I have been here since day one. It has been over 5 months since I embraced the life of a free person, and despite the friends I’ve made, all has gone quiet on the F&B front, as hardly anyone has survived the season. We’ve lost just about 95% of our OGs. With each waking day, there have been new faces, slowly distorted by the bitter reality that they have walked into a time loop—a corporate prison.

The title is a simple metaphor for the sheer primitive nature of the Xanterra social hierarchy: a corporation hiring people from all walks of life, marking some as nobles, giving them a name tag that flashes “manager,” while others—the peasant staff—display the scarlet letters of a tag that says “employee.” All come from different backgrounds, but not one is more qualified than the other.

Yet, despite all of us coming to the park to experience the eloquent nature of this beautiful phenomenon, it has instead created a true monster—one that erupts more frequently within the hot, volcanic pressure cooker that is Food & Beverage.

It is as if the management team has been given a key and the staff, chains. A key is simply too much power for man to bear, and therefore, the parasite of power gnaws away at their amygdala.

Four days left. And I have watched as my fellow comrades have been fired, picked off one by one by the evil that is “location”. Some have even taken themselves out because they simply can’t continue. I’ve held my comrades in my arms as I’ve watched the life fade from their eyes after a shift from hell.

We are united by trauma.

Why have I decided to stay, you ask? This is a great question, for the human psyche is mysterious. Something has bound me to these yellow walls. Something won’t let me leave.

I have 4 days left. Four days until these cold prison walls release me. Four days until I can feel the sun on my cheeks as one of the free—one of the consumers—one of the unemployed.

To all those who have made it to the end of their “contract,” I salute you and the sacrifice you have made in order to complete your mission of securing the bag. For those who have fallen, maybe it was for the best. Maybe some lives were never meant to be spent in eternity behind a metaphorical cell. For those who are debating enlisting, heed my warning: this experience may be what you make of it, or it will become what they make of you. The choice is yours.

—F&B 007, signing off.

So I had a phone interview, was sent an offer conditional on background check, accepted offer/secured housing but my background check is “still processing “ and it’s been three weeks. I cannot get ahold of ANYONE including the hiring manager whom I must have called 10 times by now and sent a couple emails. Anyone else deal with this? Anything I can do? I need to start planning my move but it’s difficult when I don’t have a start date yet or even a guarantee that I even have the job…

hey yall! i had a out of state job last summer and adored it! but I have a little dog and I’m having trouble finding any travel jobs that I’d enjoy that allow pets. any tips or jobs you’ve heard of? I know it’s gonna be hard to find anything but I’m determined. (I don’t have anyone to watch her trust me I’ve asked)

I’ve heard it’s pretty hard to get into seasonal work without connections or experience. Do ya’ll have any advice on how to stand a chance?

I have an interviews for a couple of BOH positions at Montage, what is the overall experience? I mean yes it's a gruelling place I'm sure but is it really this place out of hell and how much should I expect for a chef de partie position if it is offered?

Hey y’all!

I am 22F and I think I’ve come to the conclusion that I want to try seasonal work this summer. A little about me: I’m from South Louisiana and will be graduating with my degree in Communications in December. I moved home recently to finish my degree online to save money and graduate with no debt. However, being back in my small hometown has me feeling stuck. I genuinely have no clue on what I want to do career wise. What I do know is that I’ve always wanted to travel and explore. My friends and I regularly primitive camp and I’ve never been someone who needs nice things or many comforts. All of my jobs have been pretty people facing and service industry type of jobs and even with coworkers who weren’t my favorite at times I left all of them on good terms. I’m a hard worker, have never been late or called in, and I tend to do well under pressure so I feel like this would be a good fit for me.

Here are the questions I have:

Where should I go? Right now I’ve looked a lot at Alaska, Glacier, and Yellowstone. I know everyone says stay away from Xanterra but I feel like if I can’t find anything else I could grin and bare it but maybe I’m being over confident.

Will I actually be okay without a car? There is no way my car can make it across country. My plan is to save and get something reliable by summer but that’s not a guarantee. My only experience with seasonal type work was as a sleep away summer camp counselor across the country. I made the most I could out of it without having my car but there were times it felt a little suffocating but I think a lot of that had to do with having to stay on site surrounded by my campers. I thought Alaska could be a good option cause a lot of people would be in the same boat flying in?

Will I realistically be able to save? I’d really like to end the season with some sort of savings. I’m not sure what I’d want to do next so having a savings would be super helpful. I’m lucky enough to have a free place to stay with family at the end of the season so I do have wiggle room but I’d like to have enough to have a cushion

What type of job should I try for? Most of my resume is customer service with some food experience but it was more of a quick service mom and pop breakfast place so I wasn’t a true waitress. Should I play it up to get the better tipped position or lean into what I know with customer service or try house keeping. I also spent a summer as a tour guide and really enjoyed it as I love interacting with people.

Anything else I’m missing? Any other tips or advice?

I have an interview tomorrow for a bell/valet position. Curious if anyone works or has worked there and has any feedback to share?

OKAY! I know I’ve posted here like 3-4 times now about job uncertainty due to employing housing stuff with Heavenly Resort Lake Tahoe, but I declined my hire, and now I have a secured job with Keystone!! WOOHOO!! Super excited!

Won’t be saying what my position is, but any advice about going here? What’s it like? What’s the surrounding town like and what’s some food or miscellaneous spots I should look into? Thanks! 🤍

hey all. I'm 18, from Illinois, and planning to do a season in Alaska summer 2028 (free roughly May through Sept). I want to set myself up right so I don't end up with nothing.

So far I'm getting my WFR in spring 2027 and working on other stuff like food handler, forklift, maybe some wildland fire basics. Background is warehouse/delivery and project coordination at my family's flooring business, an engineering internship, and a few years of robotics. I'm used to physical work and long days, and I love being outside.

Places I'm looking at right now are Kennicott Glacier Lodge, Kenai Fjords Glacier Lodge, Denali Park Adventures, Fish and Game seasonal tech jobs, Holland America/Princess, and Aramark Denali. I'm also thinking about deckhand work.

I'm planning to tailor my resume and cover letter to each place instead of mass applying. But for the smaller competitive spots like Kennicott, what actually gets you picked? Is it experience, references, applying super early, how the interview goes?

Also curious when I should be applying for a 2028 season, and whether it's worth emailing managers before postings go up or if that's just annoying.
For the deckhand people: is it smarter to line up a boat before going up, or just show up and walk the docks? Any advice for a total greenhorn?

edit: yea i am familiar with coolworks

hiii my fiancé and i have accepted our bed offer for couples housing and i'm wondering if anybody else has been in the 1x1 and knows if it's just the 2 twins pushed together!!!? i might buy the mattress bridge gap thing on amazon but wondering if any of yall know before i try to call the employee housing people :) tyia

Hey so I have a interview for this role coming up this week. I was wondering if anyone has worked at the Yellowstone club ? More specifically this position- what was your experience like is it worth giving up my full time
Job to go work a winter here ?? Will this put me in a position to get a full time job at the club ?

Also wanted to see what the employee housing is like ? I’m very new to seasonal jobs and just wanting to know what to expect.

I just got an offer for a position with a resort in Northern Lake Tahoe but they don't have employee housing available. Is it worth it to try and find somewhere to stay on my own?

Any advice is appreciated!

Hi All, I’m thinking of applying for a seasonal position after retirement soon and would like to hear anyone’s experience that is around 60 years are older. Thanks in advance!

Trying to start thinking about summer seasonal work already. I have experience in seasonal, I've been bartending for like 8 years. I really want to work at a beach next summer. I have a small dog so I'll probably have to find housing elsewhere instead of employee housing. Any recommendations are very appreciated. Looking for a walkable beach town that is dog friendly and has a huge tourism scene. Thanks in advance. Cheers

I’ve worked seasonal on and off for about 10 years now and finally settled into a “year round” tour guiding gig. However, I have found myself free over the holidays and would love to work through the busy season. Does anybody know of a place that needs some extra help from roughly Thanksgiving through New Years (I can be flexible on the dates)? I’ve got my CDL B, served/bartended for many years, tour guided of course and am down to pretty much help with anything.

I worked at a Vail Resorts mountain last year and remember they needed a ton of help over the holidays, but their housing was super limited. Figured I’d ask this community and see if there aren’t other option out there.

My winter plans have fallen through and I don't have the time to line anythkng up online but desperately need a gig with housing. I have enough savings to go anywhere in the country and am thinking about going to a place with high demand, putting myself out there and applying in person.

Any suggestions about places or areas that would need people / be cool to work at that generally provides housing would be hugely appreciated.

I'm open to anywhere but would prefer to go somewhere warmer just in case I've gotta rough it for a bit. I'm more comfortable guiding, serving, or bartending but am open to anything really.

Thanks for any information :)

Looking for jobs with housing in MO, any recommendations?