Venomena Alam

The leisure and recreation industry is constantly growing even during tough economic times. People seem to take refuge in the fun and pleasure that recreation and amusement attractions have to offer. Employment opportunities in the leisure and recreation industry are expected to grow as the public’s leisure time grows.

Amusement and theme parks, fairs, carnivals, exhibitions, bowling alleys, ski centers, skating rinks, clubs, and other sports facilities and tourist attractions are just some of the establishments that hire recreation and amusement attendants. These types of businesses are scattered all over the world. These jobs are sometimes full time but are usually seasonal or part-time.

Recreation and amusement attendants function in varying responsibilities such as maintenance, safety inspections, entertainment, guiding, and instructing. Larger amusement or recreation companies offer more positions. Some offer positions with greater responsibilities and higher pay and some places offer supervisory and managerial positions. Higher positions may require more experience and training. Organizational skills are also vital to move up in the industry.

Recreation and amusement attendants require patience, energy, and enthusiasm. The work is fairly easy but you will need to be courteous and amiable all the time. People skills are very important in this job. Attendants must have outgoing personalities and they must take pleasure in meeting and interacting with strangers. Recruiters will always look for these traits in potential employees.

Having skills in specific areas such as, skiing, baseball, or drama coaching, may be considered an asset for landing jobs at recreation and amusement establishments. But it will largely depend on the services they offer. It is not uncommon for these types of businesses to have coaching programs for sports, arts and crafts. Attendants should be responsible and reliable individuals because they are often left unsupervised.

Usually, these jobs require no education beyond high school. However, specialized training in a particular field, such as athletics, music, or first aid, can be an asset when seeking employment in the recreation and vacation industry.

Finding these jobs is rather easy. Just contact or go to any recreational and amusement place and apply. Have an updated resume and show enthusiasm. Display and emphasize your special skills. Mechanical troubleshooting, first-aid, and excellent people skills are good qualities and need to be emphasized in your resume and interview. It is best to inquire about positions at recreation departments or amusement parks well before the start of the peak season.

However if you want higher positions and want to make a lifelong career out of it, you might need to get a college degree or have some training. Specialized training, combined with experience in seasonal or part-time jobs, will improve a candidate’s chances for landing a full-time position.

It’s hard to expect financial security and job longevity in small establishments. Do not settle in local amusement parks, instead set your sights towards bigger commercial recreation enterprises. Furthermore, some amusement and recreational hubs such as, athletic clubs, camps, sports clinics, and popular amusement parks will most likely look to you when they need skilled full time employees.

Becoming a recreation and amusement attendant will surely turn out to offer some unique experiences. The responsibilities can vary in degree; from menial tasks to highly complex undertakings. To be happy in this career, you must have passion in giving service and delight to the public.

Conducting an employment check is necessary for any type of job and especially important for positions that allow time alone with your child.  We’ve all heard the national headlines of countless teachers who have mentally, physically, and sexually abused our children and got away with it for years.  Some of these people were able to remain in the school system even though they had a record.

How could this possibly happen?  Well, the background screening was insufficient.  Up until recently, many states have simply required a background check from the police department over the span of five years.  Other places may have done a more thorough background check within state’s records and vital statistics offices, but the check only covered that state.

Perhaps even more mind-blowing, employers don’t require the current employees to have continual employment checks, so someone who has worked at a school or recreational place may go without a screening for years.  Furthermore, employment-screening guidelines were virtually nonexistent 20 years ago compared to the type of national records databases available on the Internet today.

States like Florida have mandated strict criteria for anyone that encounters public schools under the Jessica Lunsford Act of 2005.  Laws were designed to severely punish sex offenders.  Since then, over 42 states have followed Florida’s footsteps with strict regulations for sex offenders.  The act includes guidelines for volunteering and employment screening in public schools.  Even if you are just refilling the vending machines, you must pass a thorough employment check and register it with the school board in order to be allowed on the school grounds.

However, what about the afterschool activities?  Is your little league coach or cheerleading coach screened for inappropriate behavior?  Sadly, this is not always the case.  Take the most recent allegations of swim coach Andy King in San Jose, California.  King was charged with inappropriate behavior on June of 2009 going all the way back to the 1970s.

What do you do to protect your child?  You ask the organization what kind of employment check they do on their employees and volunteers.  Find out if they have a policy about one adult left alone with the children.  See when they started doing background screenings and if they extend this to current employees.

If you don’t feel that the screening is good enough look somewhere else.  Otherwise, your best bet is to conduct your own employment check.