Anyone used The Working Holiday Club?
Has anybody used the working holiday club before to go to Canada? Very interested in their customer service and how helpful they really are.
Hey mate,
Do you have a link?
I’ve never used them. Always organised my own visas - http://www.whpcanada.org.au
What would you need their help for? With enough planning, you should be able to sort out everything on your own. I’m guessing these guys would charge a bunch of money for their “help” which you could better spend on equipment and enjoying your season.
I’m interested to hear more though…
I still think it’s easier (and definitely cheaper) organising everything on your own. It’s really not hard to get a job with Whistler Blackcomb (or other resorts) if you are prepared, so I don’t see why you would need to spend considerable dollars getting someone to do it for you.
Which resort do you want to work at? Whistler Blackcomb?
1. Apply for a Canadian work visa now. http://www.whpcanada.org.au/
2. Make sure you have a well written resume.
3. Make sure you get to the resort you want to work at before their job fair.
I can understand why some people use companies like WHC but personally I see it as an unnecessary expense. You’re going to be travelling/living overseas; you’ll need all the extra money you can get. Save it for what’s really important.
Cheers rider just thought some one might have used them once on this forum..
Yeah heading to whistler hopefully for the foreseeable future which would be awesome. Any of your mates over there lifties or equipment maintenance wanting to know whether or not my skills would be useful.
Finney and marcab are lifties at Whistler. I will get them to check this thread. Finney and Marc both love being lifties. I’m sure they will tell you a bit about it.
Sweet as man heaps keen to get as much info from people about all the different jobs they’ve done and experiences.
hey wilm
yeah i was a lifty and lift maintenance at whistler. i did a few seasons here in aus with my fitter/turner ticket at perisher before heading over to whis. liftying it the best way to go if u want most ride time, first chair, most powder, and most time off, normally its a 4days on 3 days off deal, which means more ride time than some other jobs on or near the hill which are 5 on 2 off.
what were u thinking of doing? Lifty is the best thing to do, get ur foot in the door and then work out from there where u can go. if u do have a trade it isnt actually recognised over in canada, u have to convert it to a red seal, which means a bit of $$$$ and alotta time chasing paperwork and going to vancouver to do tests, not really worth doing unless ur looking at moving to canada permanently. i was in the motions of getting my trade converted and i was at yr2 over there.
dunno about the working holiday club, never really heard of them, but there are alotta “agency” style working holiday companies out there. my girlfriend did her first trip to canada with OWH.com.au. u pay them money and they pretty much just sort out a visa and then send out like a mass email to the resorts, she wanted to b a lift, was a lifty at perisher and they stuck her with a cleaning job, and ive heard alota similar stories. your really better keeping an eye out for the job fairs, look on the wb website, they host recruitment fairs in sydney once a year (i think their in like april, to get jobs starting in nov) not sure on dates, and then they host some in vancouver and up at whistler in october. thats the best place to get lifty jobs for sure. plus october is a good time to get to town, its dead season, so lotsa sales on gear and it when u can actually find housing. if u dont go till nov most stuff is gone and back up to full price.
umm think that covered most of it, let me know if u got any other questions and ill see what i do.
good luck
Hey thanks for the info marcab. Yeah I’m a fitter machinist too wouldn’t mind doing lifty and lift maintenance. I really want to use this as an opportunity to get a foot in the door to work full time for the resort or somewhere nearby.
Gah so many questions I want to ask. What did the typical day look like for you as a lifty? Sort of wanting a greater understanding of the job besides you put people on the lift.
What did you do for accommodation? I am going over with my wife and at least 1 other mate just wondering what the housing would be like.
Once again cheers marcab
Yeah marc has summed it up pretty well with his comment “most ride time, first chair, most powder, and most time off, normally its a 4 days on 3 days off deal, which means more ride time than some other jobs on or near the hill which are 5 on 2 off.”
Basically if you’re looking to use it as a way of getting your foot in the door then you can’t go wrong as you’ll have a lot of contact with lift and electrical maintenance on a daily basis when working in Lift Operations.
I’m here in Whistler doing my 4th season and still enjoy it on a daily basis, love being outdoors and the physical aspect of the work is great for staying in shape.
With accommodation I’d suggest getting your own place as compared to staff housing if you’re not interested in partying etc. Ideally if you get over here mid october at the latest and you shouldn’t have too much trouble finding a place, just be prepared to be spending up to 50% of your wages on a good place in a nice location. As expected it’s not the cheapest place to live and the wages aren’t exactly fantastic in your first year. Theres a lot of threads on here that have info on where to look etc once here and even beforehand.
A general day of work on Whistler involves starting at 630/715 and then after a short morning meeting heading up the mountain either via the village gondola or on the back of a sled with a supervisor. Once at your lift you’ll then construct the maze remove excess snow and input chairs if needed. Shortly after line check is completed you’ll get final clearance which will allow you to load members of the public. With the alpine lifts you have to wait for patrol clearance and avalanche control to be completed if it’s a big snow day. Once all thats done you’re already almost 2 hours into your day and then it’s all about the loading of people. From there on you just sort out your breaks with the guys you’re working with and go from there. All chairs will have 3 people working them but you only need 2 at any point in time so you essentially have an extra person which allows you to take ride breaks, lunch etc etc and you’ll do this until around an hour before you’re due to close which is when you’ll start preparing for shutdown, so packing up the maze etc etc. Basically just a reverse of the morning.
Any other questions just let us know and we’ll be more than happy to help out.
That sounds like a job i could very easily enjoy…
Hey all,
New to the forum here and I know this is an old topic. However, it seems that TWHC are the only option if I want to be lazy / have job security for the 2016/2017 season in Whistler.
The guys at the working holiday club are telling me that ALL jobs are already taken except for a handful of kitchen hand type jobs. i.e The recruiting agents have swept through Australia and handed out ALL available jobs. I am finding this a bit hard to believe.
Also, on their website, Whistler Blackcomb are still holding job fairs as late as September in various cities around Canada. Can anyone confirm what sort of jobs would be on offer during the September job fairs? I am more than happy to go to canada early, sort my own tax details and bank account no.s out as long as there’s still jobs on offer!
Thanks for your help
They do their hiring really early. When Wilmshurst used them a few years ago (and started this topic) he had a job in like March the year before.
At this point I wouldn’t bother. Anyone can get a dish bitch job because nobody wants them. So if you’re really set on Whistler, get there for the OCTOBER job fair unless you’ll already be in Canada for the September one (otherwise it’s a lot of money and time waiting…)
If you’re not 100% set on Whistler, apply to a lot of different resorts and get the job you want. It’s the people that make your Canadian experience and you can always move to Whistler in the Summer if you want to stay for another Winter and then get to know the people in charge. I personally worked at Fernie last winter (and will likely be going back) and I didn’t even apply till early September…
Check out the Canada MegaThread for a bit more info in the first few posts.
Daughter used them a couple of seasons ago.Got her where she wanted to be… i.e. a job and some security. Suited her then, but she wouldn’t do it again. But… if you have know knowledge or contacts, and are dead keen, i guess there’s a place for it. The job she got didn’t pay tips, was in the laundry, so it was a pretty gruesome first winter. Great contacts and friends made from the experience, and she reckons she’s mostly Canadian now.
Welcome to Boardworld, @Live the Dream.
I agree with TJ. TWHC does their hiring very early and spaces are limited so they fill up quickly. If you’re happy to get to Whistler early, then going to the job fair and sorted yourself out is a perfectly valid option (and you’ll save a bunch of money). All sorts of jobs are on offer at the job fairs: lift ops, retail, customer service, food and beverage, cleaning etc.
Get organised ahead of time and get to the job fair with an open mind and a smile on your face. You will be fine. I would aim to get in around mid-October for the final job fair.