Living & Working in Great Places

Jobs for married couples?

38 and 41 year old couple looking for national parks job...in the forums I've read, it seems that a lot of the housing is suitable to single people only (dorms for either male or female).
Any ideas for jobs for couples who actually want to live in the same housing unit? We have Death Valley and Alaska in mind, but are open to other locations, too. (we have no kids)
Thanks!!

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Permalink Reply by Ben & Karen Anderson on March 15, 2008 at 2:36am: Very few seasonal park jobs will offer any type of insurance. We had it offered at the Grand Canyon South Rim after one month (I think) but it was ridiculously expensive and the coverage was a joke, so we opted to pass on it. We haven't had the option as seasonal employees anywhere else, but the "regulars" for the companies always seem to have the option, we just haven't yet stuck around that long at any one place. As for the housing for couples, there always seems to be the option, but the quality of housing can vary greatly from place to place. Some places we have been have really good employee housing, and others have downright shameful employee housing. If we didn't have our own RV we would really be asking a lot of questions about the company housing to the HR people before we agreed to go anywhere.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Vicki on March 15, 2008 at 7:14am: Thanks for the info...we will seriously think about the RV option!
Vicki; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Ryan & Nicole on March 21, 2008 at 10:58am: Hello everyone! My husband and I are planning on living in a RV while working seasonally.

Our question is how easy is it to actually get an RV site? The resorts that we have found that provide this form of housing all state that RV spaces are limited.

Thanks!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Karen on March 21, 2008 at 11:10am: We have found that if you put on your application that you have an Rv and need a space for it, and they hire you, then you get the site, too. We have not ever NOT had the site offered when we were offered a job. We have been doing this for 8 years.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Ryan & Nicole on March 21, 2008 at 11:26am: Thanks so much for the information and, congratulations on being able to live this lifestyle! What types of places do you and your husband usually work? Do you know how the scheduling at the bigger resorts works? We would love to have the same shifts/days off, but we both know that may not be possible. Do some places seem more accommodating to couple than others?; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Ben & Karen Anderson on March 21, 2008 at 11:49am: Hello. The most important thing to us is the same days off, and it is always the first question we ask the HR people when inquireing about a job. We have found that when living in an RV, the same shift is pretty important too. If you are on opposite shifts neither of you will get enough sleep. As for RV spots, we simply don't apply if there aren't RV spots for employees. Some places do have very limited RV spots for employees and in the National Parks they aren't letting anyone add more spaces as needed by the growing popularity of RV's. The last two National Parks we worked at had their offices and employee RV spaces outside of the park and they shuttled us into work. (No matter what they tell you about how convenient the shuttle is, it is an inconvenience.) We did get told once that they couldn't offer us a job because all of their employee RV spaces were taken, but it is normally not a problem. The big upside of employee RV spots in the National Parks is that they don't charge you very much for them, and they tend to be really nice RV spots, as compared to "normal" RV parks.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Karen on March 21, 2008 at 11:59am: We have had the same shifts and same days off at all of our jobs except one. At Stone Mountain Park in Georgia, we had a long period of time that our shifts and days off did not coincide. However, when we worked there, my husband got sick and was in the hospital for 4 days, and his doc did not release him to go back to work for 7 weeks! They held his job for him, and reduced the amount we were to pay for the site by 1/2, and while he was in the hospital they did not expect me to come to work. They were awesome to work for.

We have worked at privately owned campgrounds, state parks as volunteers, and are in the process of being hired by the national park service. We have not ever worked at the national parks or the concessionaires there. But like I said, in 8 years, we have always had a full hook up rv site, and worked same days, same hours, same days off except that one time.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Ryan & Nicole on March 21, 2008 at 12:25pm: Thanks Karen, and the Andersons! Great information! It seems that as long as we apply early enough the RV spot shouldn't be a problem.

As for same shifts/pays off, is it safe to say that this is something that we need to request, or do the resorts already consider this when making an employment offer to couples? We will defiantly discuss this with HR if we get an interview, but should we also make sure to include this request on our application.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Ben & Karen Anderson on March 21, 2008 at 1:07pm: We always assume that we need to tell them how important it is to us. All HR people claim that they try to give married couples the same days off, but the HR people are never the ones that make out your schedules. So far it has not been a problem for us, but we do have to remind the managers making the schedules every once in awhile. The first thought on their minds is to have the shifts covered and it is often an inconvenience for them to have to schedule married couples off together. We have yet to be told that we wouldn't be able to have the same days off, but it often means working at different locations or departments. We have learned to always call the HR people of the places that we are seriously considering because there are a lot of things that the applications and general information never tell you.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Karen on March 21, 2008 at 1:21pm: This is a very good piece of advice. We also often request an email or letter from them outlining what we discussed on the phone, so that we sort of have it writing that we talked about having same days off, same shifts, an RV site and if there is a charge for the site, how much it is, sometimes we even ask them to state in writing how much we are to paid per hour and what our duties will be. It never hurts to look out for yourself.

With all that said, don't be put off if a place does not offer or agree to sending a letter or email. You can get a feel for whether or not they have standard policies about things, sometimes from reading their employment websites and other times from talking to someone in HR.

Good luck, I know you will enjoy this life--we do!
Karen; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by rhoda on July 30, 2008 at 8:49pm: Me (38) and my husband (43) looking for job......farm or housekeeping. We are from the philippines. We need to earn money for the future education of our daughter. Please help us.........Thanks........GOD BLESS.......From Rhoda Espinosa..; ▶ Reply to This