Mountain Métier
“Work is the refuge of people who have nothing better to do.”
Oscar Wilde might have visited Chamonix in 1892 but he definitely didn't stay for the season. Ski resorts are notoriously expensive and if you're still spending Sterling you can watch your bank balance go down quicker than Jean-Claude Killy on a pair of Salomon SL Labs. So if you haven't got a rich uncle then you'd better get yourself a job. With the UK unemployment rate the highest it's been in 7 years we wondered just how difficult it is to find gainful indenture in the resort. The Mountain Echo caught up with Bianca de Salis, a few hours before her first shift at Doudoune, to find out how she did it.
TME: So what made you choose Val d'Isere?
BdS: I was going to go to Verbier but my friend from home came out here.
TME: So Val was a last minute decision then. Did you try and look for work whilst back in the UK?
BdS: I had a look online but there wasn't much available. I applied for a nannying position but it didn't work out.
TME: Was that quite off putting?
BdS: Not really – I was applying quite late and the nannying was more about my age as opposed to anything else so I thought I'd just come out here and see how it works.
TME: How daunting was it getting on the plane, knowing that you'd be coming out here with no income?
BdS: Very. I was a bit worried 'cos I'd been out here for a week and a lot of the jobs seemed to go quite quickly. But it's worked out quite well.
TME: How did you get your current job?
BdS: I met the guy from Doudoune and I'd heard it had just opened so I made sure he took my CV and it just went from there.
TME: So it's who you know, not what you know?
BdS: Yeah, definitely.
TME: Have you had any problems with the whole English / French thing?
BdS: Well I'm working for Doudoune and it's all French but that didn't stop me getting the job. I think I'll be having a problem when my first shift starts in a couple of hours time.
TME: How many CV's did you hand out in total?
BdS: Ten
TME: Only ten – you didn't try very hard!
BdS: Well, maybe twelve. I only gave it to people who I thought could actually help me rather than just handing it out in every shop in town.
TME: More importantly, how many times have you been up the mountain?
BdS: None yet, but that'll change in a couple of weeks – I've got some friends coming out for a holiday and I'll have some money by then.
TME: So what's the one piece of advice you could give to any other ski-resort job-seekers?
BdS: It's who you know not what you know, so meet as many people as you can!
Working in the mountains
The famed French 35-hour week officially ended last July but any seasoned saisonnaire will tell you it hasn't existed in the mountains for a lot longer. The EU working time directive specifies that you can't work more than 48 hours a week, however this is calculated over a 12 month period so unless you're planning on staying throughout the summer then I wouldn't go grumbling to the bureaucrats in Brussels just yet.
Où est le plume de ma tante? You mum might have framed that G.C.S.E. certificate and proudly hung it on the wall back home but before you sign anything in French make sure you get it read through by a French person. Magritte would be turning in his grave if he knew what “Ceci n'est pas une pipe” can mean in French slang these days, particularly in Pigalle Place.
"The problem with the French is that they don't have a word for Entrepreneur." It pains me to admit that George W Bush didn't actually say the now infamous line but if he did he might have had a point if he was talking about the mountains. If you really can't find a job then think of something to do and see if it's worth anything to anyone. Whether it's making packed lunches, cleaning chalets, personal shopping or even just shovelling snow you might find it brings home enough bacon to hang around that bit longer. If you want some advice then call in to VSpot and talk to Ash or, better yet, buy one of his pies. If you're really stuck for something to do then you could even become a Mountain Echo freelancer, although the emphasis rests firmly on the "free".
Val D'Isère has the lowest unemployment rate in the whole of France. But that's only because anyone with the means or misfortune to be unemployed has a much simpler job title: ski bum. Wilde would've been proud.