Summer 2008 Jobs
Acquired Tastes Rafting
Winter Address: 2053 Yarmouth
Ave., Boulder, Co 80301
Summer Address: 12918 Highway
285/24, Buena Vista, CO 81211
Email: atraft@earthlink.net
Website:
www.atraft.com
Phone: 303-443-4120 or 1-800-888-8582
Jobs Available:
Full-Time Guides
Weekend Guides
Full-Time Office Interns
Full-Time Camp Manager
Guide Training:
Full-Time Guide Training
Weekend Guide Training
Personal Guide Training
Full-Time and Weekend Guides:
No Previous Experience
Needed – We Train – Over the last thirteen years, we
have hired 93% of the people who completed our training
class.
Guide Training
Cost: $350.00
Guide Training
Class: May 17th – 25th
The $350.00 training fee
includes nine days of training and lunch on the river during
training. This class is for both full-time and weekend
guides.
Pay for First Year
Guides: $40.00 for ½ day trips, $60.00 for one-day
trips. First year full-time guides averaged making
$2400.00 during the 2007 season and $2100.00 during the
2006 season. (These averages include both guiding and
hourly work but do not include tips. Averages do not
include guides who did not work the full season.)
Personal Guide Training:
Although most people who
apply for our guide training class also want to work for
us as guides, we occasionally get people who are
interested in learning to guide but who are not
interested in working for us. Last year, we had a woman
in our class who wanted to learn to guide so she could
do private trips with her family and friends. We limit
the number of people we accept into guide training who
want to work for us so that those people we do accept
have a better chance of being hired after training.
However, there are economies of scale of running a
slightly bigger class so if you are interested in
learning to guide but not in working for us, we will be
pleased to have you join our class.
Hourly Work:
We have two full-time
office intern positions available and one full-time camp
manager position available. We also have additional
hourly work available for guides.
If you are a full-time
guide and would like to earn extra money this summer -
in addition to the money you make from guiding - we have
several hourly positions available. Hourly work does
not reduce the amount that you guide since you still
maintain your position in the guide rotation. Guides
who do hourly work guide as much as guides who don’t do
hourly work. However, guides who do hourly work
make substantially more money than guides who do not do
hourly work. Do not commit to hourly work unless you
are serious about doing the work. If you commit to an
hourly job, we will expect you to do it and do it well.
If you commit to an hourly job and do not do it well,
you will be fired from both your hourly job and from
your guiding job.
Hourly work pays $7.00 per
hour. The hourly jobs include office intern, camp manager,
bus driver, equipment/put-in manager, vehicle manager, and
kitchen manager.
Office Intern:
This is a great job for someone who wants to get
hands-on experience working in a small business. We
want someone who will get involved in the work and
accept responsibility. You will be dealing with
customers over the phone, answering their questions and
making reservations. You will be checking in customers
at our Johnson Village office, collecting final payments
from customers, and helping them rent wetsuits and
booties. You will need strong organizational skills
because you will help us keep track of reservations,
credit card payments, photo orders, sales, and guide
records. The things you will learn in this job might
very well help you succeed in your own business someday.
Camp Manager:
Camp managers are
responsible for running the camping part of the deluxe
overnight trips. Camp managers are responsible for
checking the reservation book for deluxe overnight
trips, checking camp food and supplies, and shopping for
and ordering food and supplies as needed. Camp managers
set up the customer tents, shuttle customer gear down to
the campsite while the customers are on the river, take
care of the overnight customers when they come off the
river, including cooking dinner, tending the campfire,
washing dishes, and cleaning up after dinner. Camp
managers stay in camp with the customers at night, cook
breakfast, clean up after breakfast, and break down and
pack away the tents and camping gear. Camp managers are
paid for actual work time, not for sleep time and not
for hanging out time. This job requires someone who is
hard working and self-disciplined. Outdoor cooking
experience is helpful. We prefer to have three to four
guides sharing the responsibility for this position or
one person being a full-time camp manager with one or
two guides helping the full-time camp manager on the
bigger deluxe overnight trips.
Bus Driver:
Since our bus drivers are also guides, we frequently
shuttle our busses and vans to our Brown’s Canyon
takeout the morning of the trip or the evening before
the trip so they are at the takeout when the trip comes
off the water. On larger trips, one of the guides with
a commercial drivers license (CDL) drives the bus and
customers back to the office. On smaller trips, any of
the guides with a good driving record may drive the van
and customers back to the office. Bus and van drivers
are paid $7.00 per hour for driving Royal Gorge, Bighorn
Sheep Canyon, and Numbers/Narrows trips. On these
trips, the bus driver drives the guides and customers to
the put-in, helps get the trip on the water, meets the
trip for lunch, helps with lunch, packs away lunch,
meets the trip coming off the water, helps load
equipment, and drives the guides and customers back to
their vehicles or to the office. First year bus drivers
who guided Brown’s Canyon are not paid extra for driving
their trip from our Brown’s Canyon take out back to the
office since we paid for the costs of getting their
CDL’s. Guides who get a CDL are not paid for their
study time and testing time since having a CDL increases
a guide’s future employment opportunities and earning
ability. Our insurance requires CDL drivers to be at
least 21 years old and to have a good driving record.
Only bus drivers are required to have CDL’s. Guides
without CDL’s can drive our vans if they have a good
driving record.
Equipment and Put-In
Manager: The
equipment/put-in manager is responsible for making sure
the rafting equipment and the put in are kept in good
condition. The equipment/put-in manager should go
through the equipment on a regular basis to see what
equipment needs to be cleaned, what needs to be
repaired, and what needs to be replaced. Although the
guides wash the wetsuits, booties, and rain gear at the
end of each trip, the equipment/put-in manager is
responsible for more thorough cleaning and periodically
washing the life jackets, wetsuits, booties, and rain
gear and deodorizing them with a product called “Sink
the Stink”. The equipment/put-in manager is
responsible for doing simple repairs on the equipment,
remarking the company name and information on boats,
life jackets, helmets, etc., as needed, repairing the
clotheslines, and for taking the equipment to a local
shop for more complex repairs. The equipment/put-in
manager is responsible for getting the put-in ready for
the season. This will involve extensive digging and
moving rocks at the beginning of the season since winter
rains damage the old roadbed that is our access down to
the water. Once the put-in area is fixed, the
equipment/put-in manager is responsible for maintaining
the put-in and keeping the trash picked up in the put-in
area.
Vehicle Manager:
The vehicle manger is responsible for ensuring that the
vehicles and trailers are kept clean and in good
repair. The vehicle manager inspects the vehicles and
trailers at least once a week to make sure the vehicles
are running well, the lights, wipers, etc. are working,
the fluid levels are good and the tire pressures are
correct. The vehicle manager is responsible for keeping
the vehicles clean and for minor repairs and is
responsible for scheduling major repairs at a local
shop.
Kitchen Manager:
The kitchen manager
is responsible for doing an ongoing inventory of the
groceries and supplies we have in stock, shopping for
groceries and supplies as needed at the local grocery
store, and ordering meat and cheese for delivery each
week. The kitchen manager is responsible for keeping
the kitchen and food storage areas organized and clean.
Guide Training:
Guiding is a challenging
job that requires physical fitness and mental stamina.
Most people who are in good physical condition and have
the perseverance to stick with a job until it is done
can learn to guide. Our training far exceeds the
minimum standards required for guide certification by
the State of Colorado because the purpose of our
training program is to produce guides who are good
enough to guide for our company. We train on the
Arkansas River because that is where you will be guiding
customers.
After completing our
guide training and passing your final check out run, you
will be a certified guide and can guide for any rafting
company in Colorado and most other states. Although we
charge for training, training is not a moneymaker for us
– we are merely trying to cover some of our training
costs. Therefore, we limit the size of our classes and
focus on training fewer guides extremely well.
Most people can learn to
guide if they are willing to make the commitment in time
and effort. Almost all of the people we have not hired
eliminated themselves. Of the 161 people who trained
with us in the last 13 years, 131 (81%) completed the
training class. Of this 131 people, 123 (93%) passed
their final check out runs. In the last 13 years, we
hired all of the guides who completed the class and
passed their final check out runs.
One reason that we are
able to hire such a large percentage of the people that
we train is that we try to bring people into our
training that we feel have a high probability of making
good guides for our company. If we accept you into our
class, we consider that spot to be filled and turn away
applicants for that position in the class. It is very
frustrating to fill the class, turn away qualified
applicants, and then have trainees call us and tell us
their plans have changed and they want their training
fee back. Therefore, we have a strict policy on
refunds. If you are accepted into our class, we require
a non-refundable deposit of $100.00 to hold your spot in
the class. Please send us your $100.00 deposit only if
you are totally committed to doing the class. The
balance of $250.00 is due by April 15th.
(The total training cost is $350.00).
We provide wetsuits,
booties, and splash/rain gear during training. We
recommend you also bring polar fleece or a wool sweater,
a hat, and gloves (either neoprene gloves or wool gloves
with a waterproof outer glove). After training,
full-time guides are required to buy their own gear,
including their own life jacket, throw bag, river knife,
straps, carabineers, and splash/rain gear. Weekend
guides are required to buy their own throw bag, river
knife, carabineers, and straps. Full-time and weekend
guides may choose to buy their own guide paddle or use
one of ours. We do not furnish wetsuits and booties
after training. Most guides choose not to wear wetsuits
and booties after training so they do not buy their
own. It is best to wait and buy gear after training is
completed and you have been hired. You can see the gear
our returning guides use and decide what gear you like
and what gear you don’t like. After training, we will
do a group order so you can buy gear at special guide
prices.
You will also need
camping gear. Most of our guides camp out for the
summer. There are some great places to camp for free in
the area. A lot of the guides choose to camp together
and enjoy the camaraderie of a group camp. Guides and
employees have access to our dome house from 6:00 A.M.
to 7:00 P.M. and may use the kitchen in our dome house.
The use of the kitchen and dome house is a privilege,
not a right. If guides and employees do not clean up
after themselves, they will lose the privilege of using
the kitchen and dome house.
Once training is
completed, you will be required to do a final check out
trip in which you guide customers with your instructor
in the boat. You are not paid for guiding this day,
since we pay the instructor for the day, but you are not
charged extra for the check out trip. You must pass
this check out trip in order to be hired as a guide. WE
WANT OUR TRAINEES TO PASS THEIR FINAL CHECK OUT TRIP so
we encourage trainees not to attempt a final check out
trip until they are ready. If we have a group of
trainees who want a little additional practice time on
the river before they try to check out, we will provide
the boats and equipment to trainees we feel have the
potential to make good guides.
You must be certified in
both first aid and CPR before you can guide customers.
We offer a half-day class at a small additional charge
for trainees and guides who need certification.
Guide Rotation and Days
Off:
Once you have passed your
check-out run and are hired, you will be placed in our
guide rotation with the other first year guides.
Full-time guides check the trip board each evening to
see if they are guiding or have hourly work assignments
the next day. Weekend guides call in on Thursdays to
see if they are guiding on Saturday and/or Sunday.
If you are not scheduled
to guide or do hourly work, you are free to go hiking,
mountain biking, kayaking, or whatever else you want to
do that day. If you are not scheduled to guide or do
hourly work but you still want to get on the river, you
are welcome to go on a scheduled trip if you help out
with the trip and the shuttle. You may be asked to
paddle on a customer boat or you may go on a boat with
other guides who are not scheduled to work.
Colorado State Parks
requires guides to have a minimum of 500 river miles
after training in order to trip lead or to do a single
boat trip. This means that you will always be assigned
to a trip with at least one other boat until you have
met your 500 river mile requirement. Senior guides get
more trips than first year guides because senior guides
can be trip leaders and run single boat trips plus they
receive preference in the guide rotation.
Guides can increase the
number of trips they guide by getting their friends to
come rafting. Guides receive one extra trip in the
guide rotation for every four customers they refer to
our company. For example, if you get eight of your
friends to come rafting with us as paying customers, you
will guide two more days than a first year guide who
does not refer customers to us. If you are guiding a
boat with at least two paying customers, you can have a
friend raft for free if you guide for ½-pay and you can
have two friends raft for free if you guide for no pay.
You do not get extra trips in the guide rotation for
bringing friends who raft for free.
Many rafting companies
cater to walk-in business. They require their guides to
hang out at their office without being paid in case
customers who are driving by stop and want to go
rafting. Acquired Tastes does not cater to walk-in
business but we do occasionally get customers who book a
trip in the evening after the guide board has been
posted or who book a trip the same day they want to go
rafting. When this happens, we call guides to see if
they are available. If we call you and ask you to guide
after the guide board has been posted, you are not
obligated to accept the trip. However, if you do accept
the trip, this trip will count as an extra trip for you
and will not count in the guide rotation.
Full-time guides receive
six days off and weekend guides receive two days off
during the season. In order to receive the days off
that you want, you must request the days off and have
them approved by the owner of the company. If you are a
full-time guide and need to take more than six days off
during the season, each day in excess of the six days
counts as a day in the guide rotation. For example, if
you take ten days off during the season, six of these
days would not count in the guide rotation and four days
would count. Therefore, you would guide four less days
in the season than a first-year guide who did not take
extra days off. Senior guides who have done an
exceptional job for us in the past may be given extra
days off without these days counting in the guide
rotation.
We will be scheduling
trips from Saturday, May 17th through Sunday, August 17th.
Monday, August 18th, is clean-up day. You
will be expected to work through August 18th.
If you need to leave earlier than August 18th, you
should request that some or all of your six off days be
at the end of the season.
Company Philosophy:
Acquired Tastes Rafting
was founded by Chuck Huggs in 1986 and is still under
the original ownership. We have built our business by
doing high quality rafting trips on the Arkansas River.
We believe that satisfied customers are our best source
of advertising and the best way to satisfy customers is
to provide quality trips.
We want our guides to get
to know their customers and to make the trip a special
experience for their customers rather than just herding
them down the river. We believe that quality service
should be a part of all aspects of a customer’s trip,
including the reservation process, check-in, guide
performance, lunch, and end of day sales. All of our
employees need to be aware that they are representatives
of the company both on and off the river and that
customers judge our company by how well you do your
job. Whatever job you do, we want you to be committed
to making positive contributions to the company rather
than just putting in time.
We have a great group of
guides working for us and it is important that we bring
people into the company who will share our commitment to
excellence. Many of our guides return year after year
because they are committed to helping us have the best
rafting company possible and enjoy the challenges and
rewards of the job.
If you have any questions
about our guide-training program or about our company, feel
free to email me at
atraft@earthlink.net or
call me at 303-443-4120.
Chuck Huggs, Acquired Tastes
Rafting
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD A GUIDE
APPLICATION
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD AN OFFICE
INTERN APPLICATION
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD A CAMP MANAGER
APPLICATION
