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Olympics may offer job opportunities for high school students

With Whistler Secondary closed for the Olympics and the resort needing more staff than usual for the event it is a perfect time for students to get jobs.

With Whistler Secondary closed for the Olympics and the resort needing more staff than usual for the event it is a perfect time for students to get jobs.

With this in mind the Whistler Chamber of Commerce is launching a program aimed at training and hiring students during the Games period.

It is likely to run in late January and will be aimed at students learning about the Olympics and how to offer exceptional guest service. The chamber will also be encouraging businesses to hire these local student workers.

"There are approximately 210 high school students who can be a great resource as employees over the Games," said Chamber president Fiona Famulak.

"And we are very keen to work with Whistler Secondary to provide them with Spirit training in late January so that those students are ready to enter the workforce when the Games arrive."

Part of the discussions will centre on whether the Spirit training will take place in class time or after school.

Parents and students should talk about the opportunity. Those interested should think about the type of work they want to do and what it might be like to work in a hectic service-oriented environment.

Students should get their resumes up to date and add any relevant information like availability in February 2010.

Certain certifications might also help in getting a job such as Foodsafe, Customer Service Training, and First Aid.

Students should also be realistic about wage expectations.

Good ways to look for a job include checking out the chamber's website and looking in the local papers. Students can also sign up for job alerts on www.indeed .com. It might be a good idea to see if you can work at the Christmas break so that all the training is done by Games time.

Those hired for February will have to be flexible. Whistler will have up to 55,000 guests a day and it is likely that managers will have to adjust their planning depending on how the experience is going.

Under the Employment Standards Act students between 12 and 14 years old cannot be employed without the written consent of a parent or guardian. To download more guidelines go to www.labour.gov.bc.ca.