As many know, a common theme when searching for a job these days is that companies require you to have experience before they consider hiring you. It's a catch-22: how are we meant to gain experience if we can't apply for the jobs that will get us the experience?
Building experience with client days
Here at Pure Exploration, we understand how annoying this can be, and is why we have incorporated client days into our programs. This means by the end of your program you will be meeting and guiding real life clients, taking them out on a guided walk, or to a crag for a day of climbing.
These client days are the best way for you to achieve real-life experience in the field, all while gaining constructive feedback from your instructors so you can continue learning and improving in a controlled setting. Not only are client days important for your learning but also a valuable addition to your logbook and will help you become more employable when searching for jobs.
Follow my lead
We also strongly believe that the experience and quality of your instructors when starting out is fundamental to your success in the industry. You want to ensure you are learning from the best, and are building a solid foundation of skills and techniques: it’s a lot easier to prevent bad habits than it is to break them! Here at Pure Exploration, our instructors are all extremely qualified guides with many years of experience in the industry. You can read more about our guides here.
Take our head guide in Patagonia for example, Manuel Quiroga, who is a certified IFMGA guide and part of the Search & Rescue team, with plenty of knowledge to share and amazing stories to tell. Being instructed by individuals like Manuel will be a great asset to your development throughout the course and not to mention, to have these instructors sign off your logbook and your assessments will be very highly regarded when applying for work in the field. Like they say, it’s all about who you know.
Insider tips
Here are a few other helpful tips to make you more employable in the outdoor industry.
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Ensure you hold a current wilderness first aid certificate. This qualification will ensure you are prepared to address common injuries or accidents which might arise while in the field. Employers often require applicants to have a current certification in order to be considered for a job.
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Having your bus license and ability to take passengers onboard might just set you apart from the other applicants when applying for guiding work. Most jobs require transportation for clients to and from a destination. Therefore being about to drive will make you far more useful within a company.
At the end of the day, it all comes down to making the first step in the right direction and the rest will fall into place. Don’t hesitate to get in touch with our team here at Pure Exploration if you are needing some advice on where to start as we are always more than happy to help.