Career Mirror -- by Nexsteps Staff

Calaway Park is a family amusement park on the westside of Calgary. It is packed full of rides, games, entertainment and eateries. As I recently discovered, visiting there is a blast, working there is out of this world. Here is what I can tell you about working at Calaway for the summer and how to go about getting a job there.

Calaway Park employs approximately 500 employees, 95% of whom are students. The youngest employees are 14 years old, but most are 15 to 22. (14 year olds can only work on the clean up crews due to labour laws). The largest group of workers are Grade 11 and 12 students although there are a large group who are 1st and 2nd year university students. A summer of work at Calaway begins on the May long weekend. The park is open on weekends until the first week of July when it is open every day. The park returns to weekends only after the Labour Day weekend at the end of August and closes on the Thanksgiving weekend in October.

Employees work 7 to 8 hour days, 5 days a week. There are many different jobs at Calaway, here are some of the more popular positions:

• Ride Operator - Not for the faint hearted as you send unsuspecting teenagers into thrilling loops on the roller coaster and down body-drenching slides on the barrel ride. You must be 17 years of age or older.
• Food and Beverage - Corn dogs, cotton candy, popcorn, and slushies, all the foods that bring smiles to children and belly aches later. These positions will train you in money handling, cooking, customer relations and time management.
• Games Operator - "Step right up and try your skill, win a prize..." Shy at the beginning of the summer, this job will bring you out of your shell, guaranteed. You begin by building your display at the beginning of the summer and then develop customer relations skills, manage cash and become an expertgames operator.
• Other positions include; Merchandise and Admissions, Entertainment, Cash control, Warehouse, Sanitation, Security and Maintenance.

How to apply:

Come apply in person at Calaway Park. First impressions are vital here so dress and present yourself in a respectable manner. Hiring for the entertainment positions occurs in January, all other positions are filled by June. At the time of this article going to print there were still positions available.