Possibly the Best Job Interview Ever (she said)
by Heather 4 Mar 2011
Dawn over the Beav
Folks keep asking me how I got my job as a ski instructor at the Beaver Creek Ski and Snowboard School. Today, I had a student ask me if I actually got paid to ski. In a word, yes!
In December of 2009, we worked as volunteer course workers on the Birds of Prey World Cup race. The following March, we returned for a spring ski trip and I went to my best job interview – ever. In fact, it might be one of the best job interviews that anybody has ever had.
Through well-connected friends, Susan and Greg, I arranged for free lift tickets and an informal interview with the Director of the Ski and Snowboard School, Jim Kercher, during our spring ski trip. To say that the Ski School was generous does not do it justice. I brushed up on my ski instructor credentials (I’d taught skiing for about 10 years at Bryce Resort in Virginia), waxed my skis, and headed back out West in March of 2010 for a ‘working’ vacation.
The morning of my job interview didn’t dawn clear and bright, a great sign! A storm completely socked in the mountain, heaving great dry flakes onto the slopes. I met my potential new boss that morning, and we caught some of the first chairs up the hill. Huge swaths of powder remained untouched across the slopes. About 8 inches of the fluffiest stuff on earth covered an excellent base, with tracks filling in from the snow still falling. The head of Ski School took us (Kent simultaneously interviewed with the head of the Race Department) to some favorite stashes and conducted what he called a ‘chairlift interview’.
On the chairlift ride up, he asked about my teaching philosophy, experience, and how I relate to clients. I quickly realized that the ski school had a similar philosophy to mine, offering a relaxed atmosphere where guests can learn and learn to love skiing.
White Ecstasy
Descending, I floated down the hill. The 8 inches made the world disappear into something that felt like a slow-motion dream. My motions relaxed as my core tightened while sounds muffled and the whole world became soft and fuzzy. What a huge adrenaline rush! Skiing that powder, I experienced a zen-like exuberance. I skied in a solitary space, alone with the mountain, with gravity, and with snow. It was a quiet, white ecstasy.
We rode up a few more times, talking about the details of employment, life in the ski town, and the family feeling of the employees on the hill. On the way down, we hit more pockets of fresh, lovely powder.
The most amazing thing was that the entire experience was a job interview! People pay thousands of dollars to experience my job interview. And guess what? Those slopes are now my office!
Jim (my boss) writes … “I almost feel guilty for being able to conduct job interviews like that but it definitely shows the very best of what we are all about.”