Work with us
Many thanks for your interest in working with us!
These pages aim to bring to life the day to day experience of working a season with Collett’s. It is essential you read everything thoroughly before making an application. Working in some of the world’s most spectacular alpine environments might turn out to be one of the most cherished experiences of your life, but only if you fully understand what we expect of you on a day to day basis.
Each year we recruit people to join our resort teams on a seasonal basis. We need teams for the following seasons:
- Spring in Tuscany (March – April).
- Summer in the Italian Dolomites, Austrian Alps and Swiss Alps (June to end of September).
- Autumn in Tuscany (September to end of October).
In each place we have small teams of two people (three in the Dolomites), so we generally prefer to employ pairs of friends or couples, and the occasional single in the Dolomites.
In Italy & Austria we need EU Nationals. We can also employ UK & other non-EU Nationals if they already have residency in the country, and all the accompanying paperwork which allows them to work there legally. For example, in Italy that would be a Permesso di Soggiorno & a Codice Fiscale.
In Switzerland we can only employ UK Nationals.
You must have a love of the outdoors and plenty of experience of hiking/walking in the hills and mountains with good navigational skills using an outdoor map. You need to have a genuine interest in (and enthusiasm for) exploring new areas. There is very little to do in the villages in which we are based unless you are an outdoor enthusiast. If you are looking for a lively nightlife, forget it!
A polite, sociable and obliging character is essential. Collett’s is justly proud of the outstanding quality of its past resort teams, and we owe much of our success to their hard work, attention to detail and, most of all, their friendly and engaging personalities. If you are the type of person who naturally contributes to a team environment, thrives on the company of others and enjoys looking after people, then read on.
To get the most out of this experience, we cannot over-exaggerate the importance of having a love for hiking/walking in the mountains.
Essential Requirements:
- Available for the full period of the season you are applying for.
- The right to work in the country in which you are applying for – see above
- We need outdoor enthusiasts with good hiking/hillwalking experience, and the ability to read and understand and navigate using an outdoor hiking map.
- Decent level of fitness.
- Excellent level of spoken & written English, as all our guests are English speaking.Skills, Experience & Personality
- Friendly & warm personality.
- Hard-working, focused and resourceful.
- Supportive and empathetic Team Player
A bonus but not always essential
- For Tuscany and the Dolomites only – A full Driving Licence with at least One Year’s driving experience accompanied by safe and sound driving skills.
- Any Outdoor Qualification, Mountain Leader Course etc.
We are happy to take applications for any season, and at the moment we are particularly interested in finding people for the following places:
Summer 2024
Italian Dolomites – Walk Advisers x 2 / Early June to late-September – a couple or pair of friends needed.
Swiss Alps – Walk Advisers x 1 / Mid-June to Mid-September – I female needed.
Autumn 2024
Tuscany – Walk Advisers x 2 / Mid-September to late October – a couple or pair of friends needed.
N.B. For jobs in Italy & Austria we can only consider people who have an EU passport, or UK or other Non-EU Nationals who have the right to work in through residency or work permit etc. In Switzerland we are looking for UK Nationals only.
An outline of the job we offer, the same for all locations.
Hiking Holiday Host (Walk Adviser)
Summer – Italian Dolomites, Austrian Alps, Swiss Alps
Spring & Autumn -Tuscany
A Typical Day/Week
Morning
The morning starts around 7am when you would have your breakfast in the staff apartment, then make your way to see your guests in their main accommodation. From 8am onwards you would make yourself available to your guests to give them last minute walking advice for the day.
Evening – Office Hour
From 5:00 pm until 7:30 pm you would host what we call ‘Office Hour’. In a very sociable atmosphere, over a drink before dinner, you would help your guests to make their hiking plans for the next day, using suggested routes and itineraries which Collett’s have put together. You would also be helping guests who may want to do other activities in the area, or visit places of interest nearby etc. You might have to find out information about costs etc., and sometimes make bookings on their behalf.
At Office Hour you will also field a host of other questions, requests, or problems which guests may have, such as: accommodation issues, problem with a hire car hire, information about local shops, pharmacies and doctor’s surgery opening times etc. On occasion you will accompany guests to the Doctors in the village if they have a health issue or injury, to give as much support as you can in what can be a stressful situation for them.
Airport Transfers (Dolomites & Tuscany Only).
At least once a week you would also be required to act as a representative on a coach to and from the airport. Dropping off and picking guests up to bring them back to the resort. This is a massively important task, as you will be turning a functional journey into the start of people’s holidays. On your return to the village, you would help your guests to settle in, and pass on essential information about their stay, and running Office Hour as normal with your teammates etc. These are long days, often departing on a coach around 6am and picking up around 3pm, with a potential return to resort at 6-7pm, after which you would still be helping to look after your guests.
Weekly Administration Tasks
Liaison with UK Office: You would liaise with our UK office on a weekly basis by phone and email. We would send you arrivals reports each week, with information about your guests, and their arrival times each week. You would also keep some weekly accounts for any purchases you have to make for food and other work-related costs.
Ongoing Route Description Updates
Throughout the season we will ask you to continue to check and amend the route descriptions we give to the guests for their walks. We might also ask you to check out new routes and write descriptions for these also.
Social Media Content
On a weekly basis, we require our staff teams to gather some simple photography and video ‘content’ for our social media platforms, using your smartphone or the Resort smartphone we supply you with.
Your Guests
Mainly from the UK, and all English speaking, the guests are generally a middle-aged crowd of ‘outdoor enthusiasts’ who love the mountains in all seasons. More than half of them will have been on a Collett’s holiday before, winter or summer. Their expectation of you, the team on the ground, will be that you are warm and engaging hosts, focused on their comfort and enjoyment, with a genuine interest in helping them get the best from their precious six days of walking in the mountains/hills. For many guests, regardless of the fantastic area in which they are in, it will be you and your teammates who make the holiday for them.
Wage and Package
- A competitive monthly wage.
- Shared accommodation and part board provided, in a shared room with one other person in a shared apartment for 2 or 4 people.
- One full day off a week.
- Training and orientation in resort before you start.
How to apply for seasonal work with Collett’s
Many thanks for your interest in working with us!
Before applying we invite you to read this site and the jobs that interest you thoroughly. Also please have a look through our main website colletts.co.uk – It is very important that you understand why customer care is a priority for Collett’s Mountain Holidays.
Once you feel you have read and understood what Collett’s has to offer and what is involved please fill in our Application Form below. We would be grateful if you could answer all of the questions, uploading your details, CV/Resume and a photo (which helps us to remember you better). If you would like to expand on any of the questions asked, please do. There is a maximum upload limit of 5MB.
If we feel you have the right experience and outlook, we will email you to arrange an intial chat over the phone. If that goes well, we would arrange an interview via skype.
N.B. For jobs in Italy & Austria we can only consider people who have an EU passport, or UK nationals who have the right to work in Italy or Austri through residency or work permit etc. In Switzerland we are looking for UK Nationals only.
