Hiring All-Star Staff Members

When I first moved to Vail, Colorado after graduating college, I had applied to a number of jobs in the Vail Valley. I am passionate about the sport of skiing, so a lot of the companies I applied to work for were centered in the ski and snowboard industry. At my first job interview, I was offered the job on the spot after only having talked to the manager for 5 minutes! In contrast, at Ski Butlers I had an initial phone interview, followed by an extensive in person interview with three managers from Ski Butlers! Through this experience, I inferred that Ski Butlers does a great deal to make sure it is hiring the best people that apply, and as a result would be a better place to work in terms of professional development in the ski industry. After four years with this company, working as a Team Leader, General Manager, and Regional Manager, I am still extremely happy with my decision to work for Ski Butlers.

For this upcoming ski season, my General Managers and I are tasked with hiring more than fifty employees to fill open positions in our stores in the area. These employees, once hired and trained, will deliver skis and run ski valet shops in Beaver Creek, Vail, Keystone, Copper, and Breckenridge. Many of our employees do come back year after year because of the excellent company culture Si Butlers is able to offer, but each year we are faced with a large undertaking of hiring some new staff to fill open roles from the previous season. After reading hiring books such as ​‘WHO, The A Method for Hiring’ by Randy Geoff Smart and Randy Street to learn how to be the best at this, we have determined that we need a three step process to determine if an applicant is the right fit for our company. This three step process includes a screening interview, of which the goal is to determine if Ski Butlers is a good fit for the candidate and vise versa. Then, we bring that candidate in for an in person interview, where we deep dive into the professional experiences and interests of that candidate to understand better how they could help our company provide better service to our customers. Finally, we always make sure to speak with at least three professional references of each candidate to ensure this person has what it takes to be a Ski Butler.

After deciding to hire a candidate, the next step in our process is to make sure they want to work for us. Part of this process includes providing them with an overview of the competitive compensation offers. Just as important in our eyes as the compensation offer is, we make sure the candidate understands exactly what he or she is signing up for, from a comprehensive explanation of their offered position, to a fun company culture that encourages skiing every day and living a full life in the mountains. Personally, I always mention the opportunities for upward mobility and professional development that Ski Butlers is able to offer to its employees, as this is somewhat unique for seasonal jobs in ski towns. In my experience, Ski Butlers management team is always happy to encourage professional growth in all of its employees, not just for its managers or higher level employees.