working holiday at ski resort in japan?

November 11, 2006 3:54 PM

How can I find a job at a ski resort in Japan? I have lots of customer service experience, but I don't speak Japanese.

I'd like to do a working holiday in Japan. I'm already a veteran of the ESL market, and would like a change. As a snowboarding enthusiast, I thought of the idea of working at a ski resort. I'm an English-speaking Canadian, but also speak French well.

Apparently it's not unheard of to have a live-in position at a ski resort, doing a low-level job (service-type) even if you don't speak Japanese. I cannot teach any snow sports. To date I've searched the web and found only exactly 2 such opportunities at GaijinPot.com.

Is this a pipe dream? Where can I find this type of job posting? How could I make this a reality?

Thanks!

posted by goseethesphinx to Travel & Transportation around Japan (6 answers total)

I think it's a pipe dream. You might have a shot if you already live in Japan and/or have a work visa, but otherwise a ski resort is unlikely to get you a visa just to do menial work. If you still want to try, go over on vacation, call in all your contacts and favors, and interview like mad. Maybe you can work it out on charisma alone. :)

If you are really interested in this over the long term, it's a lot easier to get work in Japan if you have a JLPT level 2 certificate. If you immerse yourself in Japanese and study hard, you could get one in 2 or 3 years, and you could probably get a serious job at a ski resort with it -- something long-term, and not just menial work. At the very least, you could get some other job that provides a work visa, and then a ski resort job would be a lot easier to get.

If you could speak French, English, and Japanese, the islands would be your oyster... you'd be sure to be able to land a good job with that combination.
posted by vorfeed at 6:22 PM on November 11, 2006

Well it's a little bit of a pipe dream right now for you.

If you can handle the thought of teaching for a little while longer then perhaps living in the area you might want to find this type of job in and then making direct contacts there while learning some Japanese might be a good plan.

In the last few years Niseko in Hokkaido has become a very popular destination for Australians to travel to - and Hokkaido is rarely a popular destination for English teachers. In a place with a lot of foreign visitors you might find it easier to make contacts and be able to offer something valuable to a potential employer.
posted by gomichild at 8:31 PM on November 11, 2006

I assume you can't teach snowboarding because you're not a certified instructor, right? I suggest you get at least your CASI Level 1 snowboarding instruction certificate, because frankly for gaijin it is difficult to get or to keep menial jobs in Asia, especially without speaking the language fluently. It's not so difficult to find a job which seems (correctly or not) to benefit from the expertise or cachet of a foreigner -- this would hold true for ski/snowboard instruction. If you're a reasonably strong skier/boarder, the Level 1 certificate should be a piece of cake. You just need $300 and a week to pass it.
posted by randomstriker at 10:47 PM on November 11, 2006

Hi there,
I'm actually working at a company now called boobooSKI - we offer all kinds of resort jobs (Ski, Beach, and Golf resorts) to foreigners in Japan...

If you don't speak any Japanese at all, it's going to be difficult to find a position for you, but not necessarily impossible - it all depends how much effort you can put in to learn Japanese in the next few months. We also offer short courses (about 10 weeks) for AUD$175, which guarantee you a position in one of the resorts, so if you did that, you could definitely get a job in a resort this season!

Otherwise, if you don't want to do a course, then just go to your local bookstore, buy a Japanese phrasebook etc., or go out drinking with some Japanese and learn as much as possible - and then once you register online, we can interview you, and hopefully find a job for you! As long as you at least know a few basic phrases, we can usually find a position for you...

Hope this helps! It really is a great alternative to Teaching English - I quit my English Teaching job about 1 year ago, and I've never looked back! It also made me realise that a lot of my complaints about Japan were because I just wasn't happy with my job - so now, I've found that I love this country! I never want to leave...

And the snow's FANTASTIC! Anyway, hope this helps.
posted by boobooski at 12:15 AM on September 6, 2007

Oops sorry! Forgot to post the link: http://www.boobooski.com

Hope to see on the slopes this year!
posted by boobooski at 12:18 AM on September 6, 2007

Sorry - this is my first time using this program - that link doesn't work when you click on it does it - how about this:
Find out more about our Ski Jobs in Japan - thanks!
Perfect - it worked!
posted by boobooski at 12:22 AM on September 6, 2007