relationships education & training housing & shelter health & emotions money jobs get active rights help

Working Abroad Job Vacancies Job Hunting Guide Voluntary Work Working Part-time and Temping Useful Job Hunting Resources Working in Somerset Wages and Employment Rights Tourist Attraction Workers in Somerset CLCI: GAX CRCI: MC A thousand or more Somerset people work at tourist attractions but there’s no such thing as a typical tourist attraction job. Jobs include being a guide, working in the shop, serving in the restaurant, repairing equipment, gardening, operating rides, running activities, cleaning and answering enquiries. In bigger organisations there can be management, personnel, training, marketing and finance jobs. To find out more look under the above CLCI/CRCI headings in your careers or Connexions library THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT TOURIST ATTRACTION WORKERS IN SOMERSET Tourism is a major industry in Somerset. Over two million tourists visit the county every year and they spend more than £300 million when they are here. 25,000 local jobs are wholly - or partly – dependent on tourism. Some are employed at tourist attractions. The "Somerset – Things to See and Do" leaflet (which you can get from tourist information centres) lists over forty attractions including museums, working farms, wildlife parks, amusement parks and visitor attractions. There are also National Trust and English Heritage sites in the county HOW DO I GET STARTED?   Get work experience when at school to see if it’s the career for you   Get a part-time or seasonal job at weekends or in the holidays   Go to college/sixth form full-time for a tourism course or to get extra qualifications in general   Find a job as an apprentice or trainee at 16 or 17 (this is quite unusual) USEFUL QUALIFICATIONS   Qualifications vary between jobs. For most tourism jobs GCSEs in English, maths and other subjects are helpful   A levels and/or tourism qualifications can be useful for management and specialist jobs   Specialist tourism qualifications include BTECs, vocational A levels and NVQs   Business administration, catering, customer service and other qualifications can help for certain jobs More about qualifications, courses and training can be found in Moving On (published by Connexions Somerset) DO YOU KNOW? For information about tourism in Somerset go to www.somerset.gov.uk/celebratingsomerset WHAT IS THE PAY LIKE? Around £80 per week (maybe more) if starting as a new employed trainee or apprentice (but this is unusual). Most tourist attraction workers are paid around the minimum wage. Earnings can be higher for specialist, permanent and management jobs FINDING A JOB   Connexions centres   Job centres   Through applying for work apprenticeships   School and college careers notice boards   Speculative letters/visits/emails   Newspaper and industry publications adverts   Adverts displayed at premises and on industry/company websites   Job offer after work experience   Word of mouth   A Guide to Job Hunting gives tips on CVs, interviews and job letters. To view click here OTHER THINGS TO CONSIDER ABOUT THIS WORK   The work is often seasonal. Some attractions are open throughout the year; others only during the summer months (eg Easter to October or for a shorter time).   Jobs can be permanent or temporary; full-time (eg 40 hours a week) or part time (eg 5, 10, 20 hours a week)   Most jobs need common sense, team work skills and the ability to be good with the public   You often need to muck in and take on different duties. Some days can be much busier than others   Hours depend on when the attraction is open. This normally includes weekends   Working with the public can be fun especially at holiday times (but you’ll also need to deal with awkward customers)   For some people it’s important to distinguish between this work as a career or as something to do for a short while (such as the college holidays) WHO DOES THE WORK? Sanjay (20) is currently at university but works most summers at an amusement park operating rides, selling ice creams and tidying up. He does this to earn money and get experience for an eventual career in tourism management Debs (22) lives near Yeovil and works all the year round at a museum. Most of the time she is on reception greeting visitors, taking money and answering enquiries. Other times she works in the museum’s shop or helps in the office More Info: A-Z Careers Careers information dates rapidly. Every effort has been made to ensure information is accurate but please check details before making firm decisions. Make text larger Make text smaller Text Only Display Privacy Policy/Terms of Use