Life Guarding

I had a quick question regarding Life Guarding at Soak City. A friend of mine has applied, and Cedar Point's website indicates that her app has been reviewed by Barrett Byers. The issue is, when she called to talk with him (after he called her about an interview), she was told he would not be back in his office until June.

They do hire before June, right?

Anyone else having any issues with Challenge Park?

I would call Cedar Point and tell them about the issue and see if there is someone else you could talk to about getting hired.

Barrett will be back before June. She should just keep trying to get a hold of him for now. I think part of the problem involving Challenge Park and Soak city is because they are also responsible for Castaway Bay.
*** Edited 1/29/2005 8:36:53 AM UTC by placier_betz_86***

Problem solved; Mr. Byers came out of the woodwork today and called. They are awfully busy over there.

Good Luck at Soak CIty. I was a guard at Castaway Bay til I got injured. I have had the pleasure of working with Christina Lamson. She is going back into the park as a Supervisor back there in the "city" She's awesome...just watch out for OT!!!! Take Care and Have fun!!!!!

Sharbear,

Did you get injured at work? If so, how?

MrScott

i got injured working zoom floom in '01, it was nothing too major though.

about barret, i haven't talked to him this year. Christina did my interview. I'll be back on the 26th for recertification.

hi

i process in as a lifegaurd for soak city on the 27th may! hope to see the rest of ya's there then!

helen

have fun guarding.... after my summer over at soak city... i've decided not to rove the river for hours at a time..... i'll be at fridays... its fun... but i wouldnt do it again....

"DailyComplainer" whats being a lifegaurd in soak city like?

any tips or advice or anthing like that? how come ya wouldn't do it again?

helen

reason i wouldnt do it again... lifeguard can be a strenous job... it has to be taken extremely serious, as do ride op jobs, but with lifeguarding there are no safety devices such as those that wont allow a coaster train to leave a station unless all restraints are locked or what not (i've never been a ride op at cp, so i dont know how each ride works, but you get the jist of it) its just you. it can be a hard job, especaily when you're only making 6.25, which is very low for a lifeguard... but dont get me wrong. i loved soak city. i had a blast. But i've guarded at pools and camps before, and i wont guard for 6.25 again.

with all that said... uhmm tips... wear sunblock... even if you dont burn...find some comy teva style sandals before you get there. DONT miss your in-service training (or whatever its called) each week. Otherwise your fellow coworkers will hate you (inservice is the required one hour training each week to make sure all guards are refreshed on cpr/backboarding ect) and most important... have fun ;)

ohh! find a couple good water bottles. mejers and walmart sell good ones... you'll drink a lot of water. kool aide was essential when i was there. tap water can get gross after drinking day after day after day

Helen,

I'm excited to lifeguard again, like DailyComplainer said, it is very strenuous, and the pay is a little low for the responsibilit, but it is very rewarding.

If you process in before Memorial Day, be prepared for a month of hard labor. Getting Soak City ready for the season is quite a task. My first season I was suprised how much gravel, leaves, and everything else you can imagine gets piled up in the pools during the winter.

During the rest of the summer, be ready to walk. I figured one day at the pace I was roving all day I must have walked well over 30 miles during my shift.

As for sandals, I would suggest getting ones who's soles resemble running shoes. (eg: New Balance) I found them to be much more comfortable than the flat bottomed Teva's.

After lifeguarding at some pools other than CP and being an EMT for a private ambulance company, I am really impressed with the way Soak City is run. If you have any other questions let me know.

hey guys!

thanks sooo soo much for all the tips and info!

i'm really looking forward to working in soak city - i'm sure it'll be exhausting and strenuous and all that but i think i'll like it cos it'll be something really diffferent!

must definately look for some good sandles with all that walking!

i don't process in until the 31st may! so i guess i'm kinda lucky missing all the clean up (i don't finish college til the 25th ya see 31st is earliest i get there) and then i am working until 9th sep!

i'm trying to think if i have any other questions -

oh yeah - do you like swap round different areas or are you working in the one place the whole time? what way do shifts and things work - like how many hours a week or time off etc?

thanks again for answering all my q's - its great!

helen

Lifeguards are divided into 4 different crews:

Beach - is responsible for the mile long beach and most of the hotel resort pools.

Soak City East - is everything on the east side of the Magnum this includes the body and tube slides, main stream, bubbles swim up bar, the speed slides, and a children's area

Soak City West - is some of the attractions on the west side of Magnum. Eeire Falls, Zoom Flume, Cho Cho Lagoon, Renegade River ect...

Wave - gets the wave pool, the beach in from of sandcastle suites, and the pool with the big lillypads.

Within each crew there are several stations that you rotate during the day. in 01, West crew had 2 sepeate rotations going so we'd work the river for a while, then the slides and so on.

Myself and a few others would also fill in on the other crews for extra hours. I'm assuming they still let you do that so long as you have the "special facilitles" ellis license.

Most of the time with our crew the you would work 6 days a week. 4 days we would open the park at 9 or 10, and be phased out from lifeguard duty to start cleaning for the night. We'd usually get off around 9 or 10 at night. The day before your day off we'd come in at 8 to clean the pool at lighthouse village, and get to leave around 6 or 7 in the evening. The day after your day off we came in late (around 11 or 12) That is how it worked for our crew. Other team leaders did the schedule different depending on staffing. Especially in late July and August we were streatched pretty thin and worked even more hours, but you could count on one day off, unless you volunteered to come in.

I probably worked around 60-70 hours a week easily. I also picked up extra shifts often. It seemed like you could work as much as you wanted if you were willing to work the long hours.

nate... when did you guard... and what crew? i was on west in 03...

"west side/ wave high" "welcome to the more colorful side of the magnum"

sorry just reminesing

I was a guard the 2001 season assigned to West, but I did close the beach or resort pools a few times a week.

I liked west, I hope I'm on that crew again this summer.

Helen, Soak City is a great place to work at. I worked as an EMT there last summer and it was great. The people were great. Your going to have a blast. One thing I would reccomend is that you get good sandals and start breaking them in before you start working, so you know if you will get blisters or not and your feet can adjust. I helped a fwe people including myself who got new sandals and then just started wearing then, and then their feet hurt. I also process in right about the same time as you. June 3rd.

David Larson *** Edited 4/10/2005 1:33:46 AM UTC by DTLarson***

David,

I how do you like being an EMT here. I'm not licensed in Ohio, which is why I'm going to guard. Are there regular inservices held for EMTs? It would be nice I could join some of those during the summer to keep my skills in check before starting medic school.

hey guys!

so i'm definately going to start the search for a comfortable pair of shoes then by the sounds of the advice - thanks for all da advice!

hearing more about the park and all just makes me more excited for going to work there! I mean i visited the park on a group trip about 5 years ago - didn't think i'd end up working there! its cool!

thanks for all the advice tho & info - its all gr8 help!

helen