Summers Job with DCKT in Door County = sailing, hiking, kayaking, kitesurfing, and relaxing on the beach, drive-in, hands on art studio, dancing, reading, exploring.
Summer Jobs Available for 2009 - Internships / Full Time / Part Time
Get College Credit! Internships are available for students and are usually given preference for hiring. Both positions require kayak guiding.
Communications Coordinator & Kayak Guide
3 Full Time(30-45 hrs week), Internships available
6 Full Time(30-45 hrs week), Internships available
Kayak Guide & Driver
-Naturalist
-Geologist
-Outdoor Recreation
-Photography
-Education
-Story Teller
-Confident
-Composed
Kayak Guide Time Frame
Full Time Position:
June 10 to August 15-30 or September 15
Priority is given to guides available till end of labor day or September 15
30-45 hours a week
Guide Benefits: Get Strong! Get Tan! Meet more people than you care to mention! Benefits include access to company kayaking gear on a space available basis (and according to skills), pro-deals on many brands of outdoor gear, free kayak trips for family, time to learn how to kayak, sail, kiteboard and the chance to work with a fun, passionate, creative group of individuals. Access to kayaks and equipment for pracitice, personal and family/friend use.
Kayak Guide Job Description: Must be self motivated and display confidence! You possess or have the potential to possess strong leadership abilities in outdoor situations. Most of this job will be unsupervised and we need people who can handle that responsibility. Full time guides will lead daily tours (see our Guide Duties) in the local Door County waters. Guides give paddling instruction, lead safe tours according to company guidlelines and provide interesting, funny and informative narratives.
6 hr. Shift Kayak Tour Guide Duties:
Arrive 1 Hour before Tour
Set up Van with Kayaks/Paddles/PFD's
Meet and Greet Guests, Remind them what they need to bring, bathroom location, etc.
Listen to local weather radio/web weather with guests and decide which location to paddle
Convey paddling iternary to Guests using Navigational Map
Entertain guests between, (bocce ball, juggling, team games inbetween activities
Facilitate ease of kayak setup with guests interaction, delve in with hands on approach
Give Lesson to Guests
Guide (Launch Kayaks / Give confidence to anxious guests / Create wonder, respect and excitement using Natural Environment)
Entertain kids with supersoakers, adults with geology / stories / jokes
Photograph guests during tour using waterproof camera
Pack up and return to headquarters
Put away / clean / replace PFD's / VHFs / Battery's / Camera and Guide Gear equipment
Walk guests through Kayak Pictures assisting them with Cd Burning or Photo Printing
Thank and ask customers to join us on another experience.
Log trip details on Blog
How to prepare for the Guide Position:
We realize that most of you do not have much kayak guiding experience or certifications. Past experience is not mandatory, but we will not hesitate to let you go if you are not confident of your abilities and confident in surprise scenarios of which you will engage in during training . Fear not, start studying/reading about outdoor education, specifically kayak related, and start playing in your school pool now! Our training program is intensive, the scenarios engage all your senses and any preparedness before will show during training. If invited to training, we will present you with some engaging readings, and ask you to bring something you love to share/teach at training.
Mandatory Preparations
First Aid / CPR Certifications by trainging.
Be legally able to work in the United States.
Read up on Door County and Kayaking Skills
Join our Facebook page.
PFD and Guide Gear
Kayak Guide Training:"Kayak Guide Training Camp ” takes place ~June 8 (exact date dependent on arrival of all guides) Training consists of sea kayak skills training, rescue training and trip leadership training, trailer driving, reception. We also spend time learning about the local area and ecology. Guides will demonstrate their skills at the end of the training. Our first camp will consist of getting to know the basics of Door County Kayak Tours and some basic kayaking rescue and navigation classes. During the time between training camps, guides are expected to join tours and use what they have learned to explore our tour locations with a partner or group of guides. The second camp will take place a week (TBA) to give time for practice and familiarize yourself with the surrounding waters.
Guide Training location:(TBA)
Guide Full time: Starting wage for a training guide is $8/hr + Tips for basic first year guiding. $1hr will be held until the end of your agreed seasonal contract. At the end of your contracted kayaking season a $1/hr. for the full season will be added to your summer paycheck.
Communications Coordinator & Kayak Guide
If you enjoy creative marketing, socializing and talking, then this position is for you.
Marketing & Communications Time Frame:
Full Time Position:
May 20th to labor Day
Internship Position:
This can be flexible, dependent on internship requirements and if you have another job. Priority for internship positions will be given to those applicants willing to fullfil full time work.
Marketing & Communications Requirements:
- A major or direction towards communications, sales, business, marketing, or advertising
- Enjoying updating online communities (Blog, Facebook, Email)
- Quick wits and humor is a must!.
- Ability to handle fast-paced environment
- Ability to prioritize and switch gears when needed
- Organized individual who is creative
- Forward thinking and takes initiative
- Prior PR and event experience a plus
- Good writing and researching skills are a must
- Be proactive, creative, intelligent, and persistent self-starters.
- Be hard working, have tenacity, enthusiasm, and honesty.
- Pay Per Click management a plus.
Marketing & Communications Benefits:
Benefits include access to company kayaking gear on a space available basis (and according to skills), pro-deals on many brands of outdoor gear, free kayak and zip line trips,improve your kayak, sail, kiteboard and the chance to work with a fun group of individuals. Access to kayaks and equipment for personal and family/friend use. Academic credit for those seeking internships. Online published writings.
Marketing & Communications Duties:
This position entails all aspects of booking/selling tours, from the second a potential customer finds out about our tours, to when they arrive back at their home and are thanked for coming out with us. The full time position will handle more of the day to day office administration and will work on advertising and marketing when time allows. The internship position will work on more advertising, marketing, networking, and events, if they show a mastery of the basics. The many details of this customer flow are detailed below.
Office administration:
Office staff will need to learn about the area and our program very quickly in order to sell our trips effectively. Behind the reservations desk, there are many detail orientated procedures. Telephone / online / walk-in reservation duties include providing program information and taking reservations with a simple phone script. Other office duties include word processing and other computer work, record keeping, brochure and photo mailings.You will need to be organized in order to keep the scheduling books in order and to make sure that no trips are overbooked or double booked. When time permits, we are working on a graphics / video's / and other creative projects with all our toys.
Field program support
Facilitate communication of weather and pickups, drop offs between guides and drivers.
Advertising / Marketing / Journalist
Develop and promote the domestic market (ie. locals and walk-in travellers) by maintaining public exposure to company literature (eg guerrilla marketing, posters, scheduled trip dates, and brochures) and by visiting local accommodation facilities (ie. guest houses, hotels, resorts) on a regular basis to inform new arrivals of trip options. Create content to update to webpage/facebook, work with web manager to update webpage daily. Maintain a personal logbook detailing work hours, guided day trips, events and any other pertinent information (e.g. weather conditions, stories, safety log). Host a trip blog, write stories for the local papers, submit entries to travel, adventure magazines, and newspapers. Develop ideas / programs to network with local ecological groups and nonprofits(Friends of Whitefish and Peninsula State Par, LNT, ACA).
Communications & Kayak Wage:Starting wage for a communications guide is $8/hr + tips for basic first year guiding. $1hr will be held until the end of your agreed seasonal contract. At the end of your contracted kayaking season a $1/hr. for the full season will be added to your summer paycheck.
Internship Positions
Internship positions may involve work in, education, environmental stewardship, marketing, advertising, journalism, photography, policy analysis ie.manual creation, environmental regulation, advocacy, Tourism, Hospitality and outdoor recreation.
We don't give meaningless tasks to interns! This internship is in indepth learning, experience, surprises, adventures and of coarse...school credit. If you need credit for an internship, but do not see it listed above, contact us, we are always looking for enthusiastic individuals with creative skills.
Opportunities for advancement
Wow, there is so much opportunity in this world! Dare I say, Do what you love and Dream Big, If you have the right qualities and can dream big, DCKT has a desire to expand with you into a global tourism business! Hard work awaits you, the reward is freedom.
How to Apply
Please contact us, we love to talk. We know many of you will not have the experience or qualifications coming in as a kayak guide, so please show us your enthusiasm and desire to be a guide through your interesting application and continual communication to us until the start date of your guide training. Fill out the form below or email your resume and a letter describing your experience and interest in being a sea kayak guide or any of the above mentioned job positions to: info@DoorCountyKayakTours.com
or Better yet....Do both to impress us!
Please do your best to answer with your initial thoughts!
Too windy to work...
Unpaid Internships for credit- If you cannot fulfill a fultime position.
Internship positions may involve work in, education, environmental stewardship, marketing, advertising, journalism, photography, policy analysis, environmental regulation, advocacy, Tourism, Hospitality and outdoor recreation. The work is very demanding. Basically, you sprint around the county with the boss and learn the inner workings of running a Seasonal Business. 20-40 Hour Internship workweek.. This internship is priceless, time spent over 20 hours is not monetarily compensated, but is compensated in indepth learning, experience, surprises, adventures and of coarse...school credit.
We are looking for enthusiastic, motivated people who are committed to our goal of providing every one of our clients with an exceptional experience.
In your time being, please educate yourself on Door County, Kayaking, local ecology and become prepared for a fun summer in the sun.
Colleges and universities frequently send us interns who are interested in pursuing a career as outdoor educators and/or administrators. Please let us and your education coordinator know if this opportunity interests you, but be aware that our internships require a firm time commitment and hard work!