Getting the Job

     The first thing most people ask me when they find out about my job at Mount Rainier is how I got the job. Well the process is quite simple, I filled out an application. Ok, so what most people really meant when they ask how is how did I think of applying to work at a National Park. I am not sure when I got the idea, but I remember my mother suggesting that when looking for summer employment I should think about a National Park. So in January, I started to search for national park jobs. I found this website called Cool Works that compiled a list of various national park employment opportunity.
      It seemed like about half the parks in the country had employment opportunities, so I had to narrow my list of places to apply down to the bare minimum I had time to apply for.
     My list ended up including many parks I have been to and loved, a two I REALLY want to go to (Zion and Denali) and one that sounded interesting (Bryce Canyon).

• Denali
• Zion
• Glacier
• Yellowstone
• Yosemite
• Grand Teton
• Rainier  
• Olympia
• Bryce Canyon 

     I applied to all 9 of the parks. The applications were all similar so it didn’t take me too much time. Once I had submitted the applications all I could do was wait. It was a long wait. Early March, I got a call from my mother and she told me I got an interesting envelope. It was a job offer from Yellowstone National Park. I was super excited because at that point I had been turned down my both Denali and Glacier due to my availability. Both parks need people who can stay though September and I can’t due to UF starting school on August 23, 2010.
     At this point you are probably saying to yourself, I thought she said she was working in Mount Rainier. So about a week after I get the Yellowstone Job, I get a call from Mount Rainier guest services for a phone interview. The interview goes well and a few days later I get an official job offer. So now I have two possible summer jobs and a deciding to make. Needless to say it was not a easy decision that was based on numerous factors. In the end the pros of Mount Rainier outweighed the negatives, and I chose Mount Rainier.