Should I accept a part time camp host position in hopes of getting a full time one?

[Canine]

I have an opportunity to accept a campground host position. This goal is something I've been working toward for 2 years or so; however, it is very part time at only 15 hours/week at $10.20/hour. After taxes and 6 months worth of work, that is about $2900. Monthly that is about $483. That isn't taking out fuel and other expenses. Clearly, that is a very small amount of money. I could get by on that barely if I had no unforeseen expenses, but I want more. I don't think I am wanting too much, but am concerned my wants and needs may be off-putting to the employer.

What are my odds of the employer offering me a full time position after accepting the part time one? Another concern is if I don't accept the part time position, will the employer be less inclined to keep me in mind for a more full time position (30+ hours)? The position is through CLM Services at a campground in Colorado.

Another possibility: Would there be opportunities for me to supplement my income by working at another part time job while working the campground host position? That is a terribly vague question. I'm just talking this out.

I've turned down a dozen campground host positions because the stipends were too small ($100/month). I want to achieve my goal while being able to reasonably support myself financially.

 

[John61CT]

Ask them about the supplemental, are you a good cook?

Food truck!

Population center nearby?

Unfortunately so many desperate people out there, you've picked a career where these outsourcing cowboys can just fleece people at will.

But you might get lucky, won't really know til you get there.

 

[VanLifeCrisis]

Did you ask them if there were full time positions? From my experience they are pretty accommodating if they can be. They just want to fill positions, so if they have a full time one they will also want to fill it, just don't expect them to change a sites hours, as from what i can tell the different sites are pretty much assigned certain hours based on past revenue or budget.

At my job if there was extra work to do like extra picnic tables that needed repaired or painted and the budget allowed the manager can allocate more hours but it isn't something you should expect. It also goes the other way too, if revenues are down and nothing to do they might give you less hours the following week.

 

[Canine]

I want a remote campground and the one recommended to me is the part time one outside of Leadville. No charge to work in any of the campground host positions. There is water (maybe no water, but that's OK because I have a filter and can take from the nearby creek) and sewer, but no electric. There is a 40 hour one that is larger (107-camp sites compared to 12-camp sites for the part time one). The 40 hour one in Dillon is also water and sewer, but no electric. The part time one is 20 miles (with 7 miles of that being dirt) outside of Leadville of about 3000 people which is on a regular highway. The 40 hour one has a population of about 600, is next to a large, heavily frequented reservoir, and it is 40 miles closer to Denver and on an Interstate hwy the whole way, so while being a smaller town, it is surely less remote.

While both don't have electric, it seems to me that that the 40 hour one will be quite busy partly because of it's closer proximity to Denver (60 miles compared to 120 miles for the part time one). As you most of you know, the more amenities campgrounds have (electricity, paved parking pads, well-maintained roads, shorter distances to large towns, cell phone service, etc.) the more riff raff there will likely be. Not that full-amenity campgrounds are party central, but there is a difference compared to the remote ones. Where I live, as you are driving down any road for a camp site, the nearest ones have more and larger RVs, larger groups, etc. The farther out you go and the worse the roads get and the smaller the individual camp sites, the rigs and campers get smaller and the overall experience is quieter and more enjoyable- generally speaking. I don't want to frequently be policing groups of loud, messy, rowdy, drunk customers. I wouldn't mind the harder work of a 107-camp site a bit, but I want to enjoy my fellow campers, not police them.

I hope this information is helping.

 

[Canine]

After talking about this, I've noticed that some campground sites listed on CLM state that electricity is available when it appears to not be available. Even if a specific campground had electric, it seems to me the more remote and worse roads that there are, that should have more of an effect on the quality of the clientele. That would mean more campground options for me with more hours. Options that I may not have otherwise known about if I hadn't started this thread. Thanks for the insight and the visit so far!

 

[[email protected]]

Canine, Here's something to think about. If you take the position at the remote small campground you will only have to work 15 hours a week with a campsite in a Prime area to allow you to spend a good deal of time hiking and looking for deer and Elk antlers, which are valuable and easily sold in small mountain towns. I read a series of articles last year and the author did just that. In addition to his camp host pay he was bringing in as much as $300 to $400 a week.  You should do some research to see if there's a market near Leadville. Jeff

 

[Travelmonkey]

What are my odds of the employer offering me a full time position after accepting the part time one? 

To address your original question, it seems unlikely to me you could get a full time position at a 12 site campground if I'm reading your other posts correctly.  CLM is probably paid a certain amount based on number of campsites and then figures how many hours is needed to manage the campground.  Increasing the hours they pay a host would throw off their profit, right?  Going to the bigger campground sounds like the way to get more hours.

 

[bullfrog]

Remote campgrounds sometimes means if you do have a problem response times may be much longer, just something to think about.

 

[MrNoodly]

I guess you have to decide on your priorities: money, or amenities and convenience.

 

[Canine]

I wasn't hoping that they would bump up the hours of the part time campground, but that someone would not show up for a different campground that had full time employ and the employer would ask if I wanted to move to that one.

Funny you should mention antlers. I will be doing just that. My current dog is trained to find antlers and she is a rock star at it. Finding antlers is great, but seldom does one make enough to live on; however, my plan is to debunk that idea and make some real money just like you stated. The good antlers start dropping in January with the very latest dropping in maybe May. It's better to pick them up as soon as possible, because fresh, brown antlers fetch (pun intended) a lot more. It doesn't take very long before they start to bleach out and get chewed on by porcupines and other rodents. Even if there wasn't a market in Leadville, there are other places. If you have enough antlers, they will come to you to pick them up. Perhaps if I clean out one campground, I can make a move to the Leadville CG and clean that area out. I still would like to do the Leadville one if possible, even if it is for just half the summer. I don't want to make things complicated, but if it is an easy transition that benefits everyone, then I'll do it.

I got a call today and things look like they will be working out well. I should have an answer by the end of the week. Will post what I get if anything.

I'm OK with remote campgrounds. I grew up in a remote mountain town (pop 600) 60 miles away from the next largest town of 60,000. No McDonald's, no bowling alley, no health care clinic, no fast food, no cell phone, no Internet, no veterinarian, and no cable. I had 2 TV channels, a bicycle (later on a motorcycle), a .22 rifle, and a dog. We didn't have cops on Sunday. If a dog or any animal attacked us, we didn't call Animal Control, we shot it. We had only wood heat. We were tied to the house because if we didn't keep the fire going in 50 below weather, the pipes would freeze within several hours. Yes, it used to get that cold back every year back then (1980s). The power used to go out a lot. We got snowed in. Many of us would run out of water because the wells would go dry toward the end of summer. My graduation class was 13. My sister's was 7. I lived 3 miles out of town, about 10 miles from the Bob Marshal Wilderness, so I literally played more around Bobcats and Grizzlies than around my friends during my early years. I got to see Mountain Lions, Wolverines, weasels, otters, and was chased by a badger once which was pretty scary. Just about any campground would be less remote than where I grew up. I'm looking forward to get back to that. I know I went on a bit about my childhood, but I like to share those experiences. While I complained about it as a kid, I sure appreciate it now. What a great way to grow up that so few of us get to experience.

 

[akrvbob]

I worked for CLM for 3 years in California and I was a campground host for a year about 10 miles outside of Leadville at the Mt Elbert campground. But it was full-time. However, that area is operated by Rocky Mountain Recreation Company so you must be quite a distance away from Leadville.

The 3 years I worked for CLM every season we always had many people who were no-shows the first of the season and then people who started decided they didn't like it and left, and others did a bad job and were fired. So, my experience was 100% that if you started at part-time you would almost instantly be full-time right after the start of the season. It can be a hard job, especially the first few weeks when you are getting the campground cleaned and open, you're raking leaves, shovelling mud, cleaning filthy toilets and more nonstop. Lots of people just left.

I got one friend a job and the only opening was a 20 hour a week campground--he took the chance and took the job. He never worked a day there, he started at full-time and is still there 10 years later.

But we were in a very large area with LOTS of campgrounds, maybe you are in a small area and everyone keeps coming back, so there are no promises or guarantees.

 

[Canine]

I landed a position in Northern Colorado right in the middle of a National Forest away from big tourist areas. 30 hours a week, which is awesome. They didn't have a problem with me asking for a CG that has more hours which was something I was pretty concerned about. He seemed to have zero problems with me asking for a remote CG. I had asked for a larger campground, but he steered me away from that; maybe because that one is an easy one to fill because it has full hook ups? I had made a mistake asking for that one because I thought it didn't have RV hookups (I don't want hookups, I want remote). I have been treated very well so far. Am super happy this is working out.

 

[John61CT]

Congratulations!

 

[highdesertranger]

congrats, keep us updated. highdesertranger

 

[blars]

Some campgrounds have electric only at host sites. One hundred-site busy one I know of had three host couples. (Full all summer, non-reserved sites tended to be unoccupied for an hour or two maximum.)