There are various driving jobs available in resorts, from doing a bit of driving around resort for a chalet company or hotel, taking guests to and from the slopes each day, to being a dedicated airport transfer driver for a specialist company.
An airport transfer driver simply drives customers to and from the airport, to their accommodation in resort. Most transfer companies use minibuses that carry up to eight passengers, so you normally do not need a special licence to drive the vehicle.
Transfer companies differ; some are focused on specific resorts, so you would always be driving to similar places, whereas others cover a much larger area meaning you might end up driving to lots of different resorts and airports.
As the name suggests, the job mainly involves driving customers, so companies look for experienced, safe and reliable drivers first and foremost. It is also a customer facing role, as a driver you are quite often the first person that a customer sees on their holiday, so making a good first impression is important.
The nature of the job, means that you can expect to be very busy at peak times, usually on the weekends, but then very often get a good amount of time off during the week to really enjoy the season.
Driving is quite a sociable job where you get to meet a lot of different people, whether its customers that you are driving, or the many other drivers that you regularly meet in resort and at the airport.
It goes without saying that you are expected to take your work extremely seriously. You are responsible for the safety of your passengers and therefore turning up to work with a hangover is never going to be tolerated!
For those people who can manage their time well and take the opportunities to get on the mountain whenever they arise, and pick the times for a night out to not interfere with work, then working a season as a driver can be extremely enjoyable.
Transfer drivers are expected to be flexible. It is rare that you will know much in advance what your shifts are likely to be for any given day. This is because transfers are based on people’s flight times and so your working day is dictated by this.
This means that on one day you might have an extremely early morning start, or on others a very late finish. Also, the time that flights actually arrive in the winter is something that is out of anyone’s hands, so you can sometimes find that what you are doing changes significantly as the day progresses. This is a major part of why you would be expected to be flexible and be able to adapt to the changing circumstances.
The other factor that can significantly change your day is when heavy snow is falling in resort. This means that transfers are going to take longer than usual, you may be dealing with snow chains and you obviously have to be even more aware, as the conditions change you need to always be in full control.
Weekends you can expect to be busy and don’t expect to have any time for the mountain or nightlife. During the week things are generally much quieter, so even if you are working, you may only have one transfer, meaning you can still get out on the hill for the rest of the day.
Most companies will offer full-time or part-time driving positions, which can mean anything from 2 to 5 days off each week.
Most employers will be looking for a range of attributes in a prospective driver. The most obvious being previous experience in the same job.
However, if it is your first time applying for such a position then the most important skills to highlight include:
Your driving experience.
Have you experience of driving in the mountains, or in Europe, or in the snow? Have you
driven larger vehicles, or minibuses in the past? How long you have been driving and any
other relevant information.
To be honest, if you passed your test six months ago and have only ever driven a bit around the roads of the UK, then it is probably too early for you to be seriously applying to be a professional driver in the Alps in the winter.
Your customer service experience
You are the first person the customers meet on their holiday and you are the face of the
company you are representing. Employers will want to know about previous jobs where you
have dealt with the public face to face. Maybe where you have experience of dealing with a
disgruntled customer (people are often not too happy after a few hour flight delay!).
You will spend anything from an hour to several hours with a group of people, and they can come from a range of backgrounds, so the ability to keep the customers interested and informed is a major selling point and it can lead to you earning some good tips over the season.
Remember that employers will generally prefer applicants who are enthusiastic, reliable, hard working, can use their initiative and can be flexible. They will not be impressed to hear that your main reason for wanting to become a driver, is to simply provide the funds for a season long party – the two do not go together well and the best advice would be to look for a different job!
"You get to meet a lot of different people, whether its customers or the other drivers that you regularly meet..."
Written by Richard Smith of Ski Lifts, who provide airport transfers to resorts throughout the French Alps.