It’s something pretty much every snowsports instructor has been through at some point in their career – a summer of looking for that elusive teaching job the following winter. You’ve trained hard, passed your exams, updated your CV and applied for jobs across the world only to receive another email saying, sorry…not this year.

But there are jobs out there, so what can you do to make your CV stand out from the crowd? Here are five things that could help keep your application on the top of the pile:

1) Focus on your skills, and their relevance – be proud of what you can do and have achieved, particularly if those skills are relevant to the industry. Qualifications, languages, sales experience, second disciplines, coaching in another sport etc are exactly the qualities that will make your application memorable and should appear early in your CV.

2) Tailor your CV to the school – it can be time consuming, especially if you are applying to a lot of schools, but doing your research can make a world of difference. At New Generation we look for instructors who share our values and ethos and this is often the first opportunity to show that.

3) Make it easy to read – well formatted, clearly and concisely written – as well as making things easier for the employer, it also demonstrates an ability to communicate clearly.

4) Include a section on your career aims and goals – This doesn’t need to be long, but it gives the impression of a motivated and ambitious instructor – be honest and avoid repeating the standard lines everyone has on their CV.

5) Make it personal – break the mould and tailor your CV so it brings alive your personality. These days using pictures, links to a video of you skiing, or anything else that makes you standout can be perfectly acceptable and, if it helps you land your dream job, worth it!

Last, but by no means least Don’t give up! It doesn’t matter what the doubters say, ski instructing can be an amazingly rewarding career. So if things are not working out at first then put your head down, train for your next exam, spend a summer abroad learning another language and keep going because you will get there!

 

Written by Adam Whale, New Generation Ski School