Working for Xanterra in Yellowstone for 8 weeks

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Permalink Reply by mike on August 15, 2009 at 10:00am

the water level for white water rafting in september and later is not ideal, but you can still do it. it is done through local companies outside the park, not in yellowstone (i believe it is illegal). you will still have employee activities, and i believe this time of the year is the best in yellowstone for many reasons. the big reason is the absence of the bugs. unless you have been in the thick of the brush in june you won't know what i am talking about. the other reason is lack of tourists. again, you won't know what i am talking about until you are stopped on the road by tourists who have made a 2 lane road a 4 lane road to watch a little elk sleep in a field. another reason is the activities of the animals. they are just going nuts at that time of year. all of them are about to be in the fight of their lives. the elk are in their rut, the bears are gorging, and there is more to see than when the "living is easy" in the height of the summer.

either way, have fun.

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Permalink Reply by Ryan on August 8, 2009 at 1:57pm

I'm also going to yellowstone, but I have to show up on the 18th. This is my first job like this so I really don't know what to expect.

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Permalink Reply by Shanika Peters on August 8, 2009 at 2:02pm

what job are you doing?

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Permalink Reply by Ryan on August 8, 2009 at 2:08pm

either kitchen crew, laundry crew, or room attendant. i guess they'll assign me one of those when i get there.

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Permalink Reply by Brenda on August 13, 2009 at 11:34pm

Ok I guess I'll add my 2 cents here. I have worked Yellowstone for 8 years covering Grant Village, Old Faithful, Lake and Mammoth Hot springs. The rascism part is a new one to me. Mainly what I have seen is trouble makers who can't get away with there trouble causing for to long and then the accusations fly about the company and the stupid remarks that there bias and rascist and so on. Yes Xanterra is huge, a mega giant and yes they get a bit crazy but in all the years I worked for them and the sorted problems I have dealt with I can say rascism is not one of them. As a matter of fact in all the years I have worked in the seasonal world, 11 years now, Yellowstone is the top pick for diversity of not just employee's but guest as well. I have worked with people from China, Russia, Serbia, Poland, Findland, US, and so much more. Black, white, Latino, and many others.

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Permalink Reply by mike on August 15, 2009 at 10:03am

agree with this post 100%. very very diverse. i now have friends all over the world, and have visited many of them because of my stay in the park. racism here is almost non-existant. when someone is a little ignorant, they are immediately black listed and no one hangs out with them, and they usually end up quitting and going back to the hole they crawled out from.

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Permalink Reply by Annie on August 14, 2009 at 12:05am

Honestly?? don't do it....it's an awful corporation to work for, I was there from April-July was supposed to be there until October 20th....but was treated with such disrespect and it was painfully obvious that it had to do with my race (Hispanic)....the restaurant especially the Snowlodge is managed horribly, often servers, hosts and busboys complain about the erratic hours. Ask yourself this, why is it that they need to hire people to work for 8 weeks? because season is over by mid September and that place dies down quick. You will be there to close it down, the nearest town is West Yellowstone if your working the Old Faithful area? which I believe you are given your dates, and the fact that Lake, Grant Village and Canyon all close early. As a host your pay will be something like $300 every two weeks after they take out all the outrageous so called taxes and fees. If I were you, I'd go work for the Tetons next year or Yellowstone but work for Delaware North not XANTERROR! I've noticed some people comment that they've never experienced racism? but they seem to be Caucasian, the racism that takes place is aimed at African Americans and Hispanics. The wonderful variety of cultures that you will encounter? are all kids from other countries that had to pay to work for Xanterra? most of them complain of how much they hate it. Don't buy into the hype, this place sucks, but find out for yourself if you must? if your under 21? forget about partying, you are on lockdown. Email me with any questions you may have, I'll be happy to answer them.

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Permalink Reply by intheories on August 14, 2009 at 1:15am

sooooooooooooooo happy i work non corporate.

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Permalink Reply by Shanika Peters on August 14, 2009 at 1:26am

what do you mean?

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Permalink Reply by Jim on August 14, 2009 at 12:16pm

I'm curious about your experience with racism on this job. What exactly happened? Was your job performance better than average? In my 5 years of having a seasonal job working alongside people of all colors, I have never seen anything approaching racism from management. What I have seen are personality clashes as well as poor job performance. Yes, I am European American, but I'm also queer and "older," which I could use as excuses for whatever treatment I might feel was unfair.

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Permalink Reply by Annie on August 14, 2009 at 4:52pm

For starters I was interviewed not once but twice, by the hiring manager on the phone, he demanded I send a recommendation letter before he offered me the position. I originally applied for a bartender position, he offered me a cocktail serving position instead? he then said there was only one position available and that was at the Firehole lounge at the Snowlodge, the slowest lounge in the park. Keep in mind that I have over ten years of serving and bar tending experience. All of this was fine with me, because I just wanted to experience something new to have the opportunity to live in a beautiful historical place. I took a leave of absence from my job and accepted the offer, which don't get me wrong to this day I don't regret. Upon arriving, I found that Snowlodge is the first place to open, {the manager had still to do the hiring for The Lake Hotel} which again he lied when he said this was the only position available?the first two weeks I worked a total of 15 hours, this trend continued for the duration of my stay. The bartending position was given to a guy that had no experience what so ever, but he had worked there before and of course was white. I later found out that other cocktail servers he had hired had never been interviewed or asked to send in a recommendation letter before being offered employment. And of course these girls where Caucasian, and quite young also, because that's another thing this company wants young inexperinced people to work for them, so they can brainwash you into believing you are working for an exceptional place. Also while there I saw a server get promoted to manager, literally within weeks of arriving and of course after dating one of the head bar and pub managers. I reported all this to the Department of The Interior (NPS) and filed a complain with the EEOC. Because these people are out of control in their unfairness, I don't need to make excuses or make things up, my work record speaks for itself, I'm back home now working where I was before I left, and I just started a new gig tending bar. The only reason I'm replying to this? is to save an innocent person from having a bad experience, search online for any incidents involving Xanterra and you will find many, there are various lawsuits against them, especially by families claiming Xanterra is responsible for their underage kids drinking at the pub then getting into fatal accidents, racism allegations abound. Xanterra was named the 3rd worst corporation to work for in America, that is a fact!!! I'm starting a website dedicated to maintain former and current Xanterror employees informed on how to get in contact with the right government agencies that will give validity to your concerns, as a matter of fact if I'm not mistaken the Secretary of the Department Of The Interior should be visiting Yellowstone shortly with another government representative. Why am I doing this? because somebody has to blow the whistle, my tax dollars and yours pay for the NPS to contract concessionaires to run the park, and I don't think one Penney of my money should support such bigoted, racist behavior.

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Permalink Reply by Robin Young on August 20, 2009 at 1:58am

I also got interviewed for a wrangling position but I didn't get it because of the time set up that I had. I also had to send in a letter of recommendation because all new Xanterra employees are required to. Yes they do make the internationals pay to get there but that is because they have to pay for their passport and social security cards and many other bureaucratic stuff that they have to go through.

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