New to Herschend Family Entertainment - Wild Adventures Water & Theme Park
WHERE ARE WE LOCATED
Wild Adventures is located in South Georgia off of interstate 75 and is located just 13 miles from the Florida boarder.
WILD ADVENTURE'S OPERATING SCHEDULE
Based on the local tourist traffic, we operate limited hours March, April, May, September, November and December. Our peak season is generally June, July and August. We are closed January, February and the first part of March. See calendar for exact dates and times of operation. Our operating schedule is subject to change.
Employment for Work Campers can begin as early as March.
INTERVIEWING PROCESS
Wild Adventures does conduct phone interviews for Work Campers. We understand that you are probably not in our area at the time you are making your summer plans. To begin the process, please complete the application and mail back to us. We will contact you as soon as we can. Please be aware that during the months of January, February, March and early April, we are recruiting. Please be prepared to play "phone tag" with us. Just be patient and we will make contact with all Work Campers who are interested.
In 2009, Wild Adventures will take part in the Georgia Certified Work Ready worker certification program. The worker certification program will assess real world skills and provide valuable job training to applicants and returning team members in the following positions: Ride Operator, Food Team Lead, and Ride Maintenance Technician. If you are applying for one of these three positions, whether you are hired or not will be contingent upon the successful completion of this test. Both Missouri and Tennessee offer the National Career Readiness Certificate (the same one that Georgia offers). You can contact the Career Center nearest you to take the test. Missouri offers a scholarship to cover the testing fee. If you take the test in Georgia, there is no fee.
WORK ENVIRONMENT
Almost all positions require that employees work in direct contact with Guests, answering questions, communicating policies and procedures and assisting with problems. Wild Adventures expects an extremely high level of customer service that includes coming to work with the correct attitude, communicating information in a friendly, warm tone and being helpful in stressful situations.
Due to the wide range of customers that visit Wild Adventures, all employees must be able to provide customer service to people of all ages ranging from very young children to senior adults.
PHYSICAL NATURE OF THE JOB
All positions require physical work of some nature. Attractions positions require that employees load people on and off boats and cars, move boats and cars and assist people if an evacuation of the ride is necessary. In many positions you must memorize extensive safety guidelines. Merchandise, Amusement and Ticket positions require that employees have strong cash handling skills and be able to assist people with packages, dust and clean the selling area and re-stock product when needed. Foods positions require that employees prepare food, serve food and clean. All positions require standing and walking for long periods of time.
STRESS OF THE JOB
Most positions are in areas of high noise and activity and require that employees deal with these issues in order to be successful. All jobs require that employees work at a fast pace to control lines while maintaining excellent customer service. Some positions allow for groups of employees to work together, but some require that employees work alone. All employees are empowered and encouraged to make decisions and solve guest issues.
SCHEDULING OF WORK CAMPERS
Wild Adventures management staff tries to schedule Work Camper couples on shifts as close as possible. However, we cannot guarantee that you will be scheduled exactly the same hours. We ask that Work Campers be flexible and understanding. One person may have to come in earlier than the other, and one may leave later than another. Under normal schedule circumstances, we can give Work Camper couples the same days off during the week.
Please be prepared to work both weekend days and have your scheduled time off during the week.
Due to the nature of our business, Wild Adventures does not guarantee a certain number of hours per week. During the spring and fall, Work Campers can expect to work an average of 15 hours per week. During the peak season this number increases dramatically.
The most successful Work Camper couples have picked two specific days of the week as their days off and were consistent in requesting these days off.
WHEN DO I BEGIN WORK?
Some positions at Wild Adventures will begin with training in February and working weekends in March and April, but more positions begin in late May or early June. You will be given an approximate start date when you are hired. This date will let us know when you are planning to arrive in the area and when to begin scheduling your training. This date is not a definite date and does not mean that you will begin working full-time at once.
ORIENTATION AND TRAINING
To prepare you for work at Wild Adventures; all new employees must complete the proper training. All employees go through a two-hour property-wide park training session. This class will also give you information regarding the company culture, policies and procedures. Additional training is provided in the areas of cash handling and cash register operation. Some teams offer their own "in-house" training such as On-The-Job Training in the Foods Team, Safety Training in the Attractions Team and Games Team Training in the Amusement Team.
LENGTH OF SHIFTS
The operating schedule directly affects the length of shifts and the number of days scheduled. Some teams schedule an average shift of 10-12 hours while others schedule much longer shifts, up to 12-15 hours per day. The Amusement Team and the Attractions Team generally schedule shifts of 10 to 12 hours per day and cannot shorten the shift. Please take this into consideration when requesting to work in these areas.
BREAKS AND MEAL BREAKS
The amount of break time allowed depends on the length of the shift worked and the number of breakers who are available. The meal break period is 30 minutes of which is un paid. Unfortunately, we cannot schedule Work Campers on the same meal breaks.
SMOKING POLICY
Wild Adventures has a very strict smoking policy. Employees cannot smoke in front of the Guests at any time and can only smoke in designated areas. Wild Adventures does not give smoke breaks, but employees can use their normal break periods for this activity.
WEATHER AND TEMPERATURES
The weather has a direct affect on staffing and the work environment. Employees can be "called off" of work due to inclement weather and low attendance. Employees can be asked to work extra shifts if attendance is higher than projection. Most employees work outside in the heat or cold. While most Work Campers are aware of the heat, many are surprised by the high humidity level and the amount of work that has to be performed outside.
CASH HANDLING
Merchandise positions require that employees learn to use our computer cash register system for all sales transactions. Foods and Amusement positions require cash handling for most positions. All cash handling positions require an extremely high level of accuracy and can require the use of credit card verification machine. Training is provided for all cash and handling positions.
IDENTIFICATION NEEDED TO WORK
The federal government requires that an I-9 form be completed by the employer on every new employee. Please be prepared to show two forms of ID. One ID must be from the federal/state government such as an original birth certificate or original social security card. (Sorry, we cannot accept copies of documents or metal social security cards.) The other form of ID must be a photo ID such as a state issued driver's license. Both IDs must be in the same name. Please be aware, according to federal law, employees cannot begin work without these two forms of ID.
WAGE AND WAGE INCREASES
Wild Adventures sets a standard wage for entry-level positions. Each year this wage is adjusted to the local area's competitive wage. Wage increases are given at the completion of the season and apply to the next season. Wage increases are based on employees' performance evaluation.
WARDROBE AND GROOMING STANDARDS
All positions require that employees Wear Company issued wardrobe. Wild Adventures provides one change of wardrobe for each employee however they may purchase additional items. To maintain grooming standards, Wild Adventures does not allow visible tattoos or visible body piercing.
CAMPGROUND SPACE
Long-term campground spaces are reserved in this area. Please do not delay in making your reservations. Please ask about accommodations such as size of camper, phone and cable access, distance to Wild Adventures. There is no public transportation in this area.
CARPOOLING
If need be, many Work Campers could coordinate a carpool with fellow Work Campers in their campground area. This eases the stress of scheduling and allows Work Campers the freedom to work additional hours.
UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION
The purpose of state administered unemployment compensation is to provide a safety net for employees who want to work but for whom no suitable work is available. Wild Adventures supports this concept. In fact, last year we paid almost $1 million in unemployment compensation to our seasonal employees. Wild Adventures believes that it is unfair and inappropriate to pay unemployment to people who choose not to work when suitable positions are available. For this reason, team members who voluntarily leave the Company when hours exist for the team member's Job classification (e.g. Food Specialist, Ride Attendant, Merchandise team members) will be classified as "resigned" rather than "laid off" on their clearance form. This classification will most likely cause the state to deny unemployment benefits.
A team member’s eligibility for unemployment compensation is not determined by a date to which he/she may have committed to work. Rather it is determined by the availability of suitable work (in the same job classification) when he/she chooses to leave. All employees at Wild Adventures are employed as “employees at will.” That means that every employee is hired for an indefinite time, until released from employment by Wild Adventures. For example, suppose a team member committed to work until October 31. If he/she chooses to leave on November 1 and hours for his/her job classifications were still available, he/she would be classified as "resigned, declined suitable work," rather than laid off. Wild Adventures will continue to sign up working team members for partial unemployment to ensure they will always earn more by working than not working.
Furthermore, while we encourage team members to work in any vacant position for which they are qualified, we do not require team members to work in a job classification that is different from what they worked during the regular season.
Example: Suppose, at Christmas, the position of Food team member was open, while there were no open positions for Attractions Ride attendants or Merchandise team members. Consider the following three regular season employees: Attraction Ride Attendant, Merchandise team member, Food team member. In this situation all three team members would be given the opportunity to work the open position. If anyone accepted the position, the other two would be laid off. If, however, no one accepted the position, the Food team member would be classified as resigned while the other employees would be cleared and laid off. For this reason, couples who leave at the same time but who work in different jobs may have different work classifications when leaving. One may be cleared as laid off, the other cleared as resigned.
Again, thanks for your interest in employment with Wild Adventures. Please feel free to contact us at any time regarding employment questions. We look forward to hearing from you soon.