Posted by CV Nation on
If you’re looking for seasonal jobs in areas with amazing outdoor adventures and swathes of natural beauty, you won’t need to look much further than Alaska.
With 17 of the highest mountains in the United States, more glaciers than the rest of the world combined, and 1.7 million square kilometres of rugged landscape packed with wildlife, there is nowhere better to work for people who love the outdoors.
Fishing is a big industry in Alaska. And seasonal work in the fishing industry is always available.
Work in the fishing industry may involve employment as a deckhand on commercial fishing boats, as a fly-fishing guide or as an operative in fisheries and canneries.
Deckhands on fishing boats in Alaska can earn very good money. In crab season, they have been known to make in excess of $15,000 per month.
Jobs in the fishing industry in Alaska are often posted on the Department of Labor and Workforce Development’s website.
However, many fishing jobs in Alaska are not advertised. So, your best approach could be to visit fishing towns and talk to local fishermen.
Hotels, guest houses, wilderness lodges and resorts all get very busy in the summer. As such, they’re always looking for workers, often on a short-term basis.
Common jobs in hotels, wilderness lodges, guest houses and resorts include:
- Chef
- Porter
- Cleaner
- Receptionist
- Customer Service
- Administration
- Waiters/Waitress
- Barista
- Bartender
In line with Alaska regulations, all employees who work with food are required to obtain a Food Worker Card within 30 days of employment.
You can apply for a Food Worker Card on the Department of Environmental Conservation’s website.
Where do you find seasonal hospitality jobs in Alaska? Alaska Tour Jobs usually have a wide range of openings for both seasonal and year-round jobs in Alaska.
View seasonal and year-round jobs in Alaska on Alaska Tour Jobs.
In the summer months, Alaska is a very popular cruise destination. Most Alaska cruises usually depart from Seattle, Vancouver or Alaska itself. They visit many interesting locations across the state, so working on-board one can be a fantastic way of seeing the wonders of Alaska.
Cruise ships often have job openings for cooks, housekeepers, entertainers, bartenders, waiters/waitresses and porters.
View our guide to preparing an effective CV for cruise ship jobs.
One of the most convenient ways of finding cruise ship jobs in Alaska is searching for openings on the cruise lines’ websites.
Cruise lines that travel to Alaska include:
If you enjoy working in the outdoors, surrounded by breath-taking glaciers, an abundance of wildlife and expanses of natural beauty, the national parks of Alaska are probably about as good as it gets.
Many job openings in National Parks are permanent, long-term positions.
However, numerous hotels and wilderness lodges within national parks employ seasonal workers. These lodges and hotels seek to employ waiters, housekeepers, bartenders and receptionists. They are also often on the lookout for excursion guides and assistants to help with outdoor activities.
A large number of seasonal jobs in lodges and resorts in Alaskan national parks are advertised on Alaska Tour Jobs.
For permanent, long-term jobs in Alaskan national parks – such as recreational assistant, park ranger and information assistant jobs – USA Jobs is arguably the best resource at your fingertips.
While most of the seasonal jobs in Alaska are available in the summer, short-term work is also available in the winter.
The fishing industry doesn’t draw to a close after summer in Alaska. The king crab season runs through winter. Pacific cod and rockfish are also fished in the winter months. So, there’s plenty of work available on trawlers and commercial fishing boats in the winter.
Although tourism in Alaska is at its peak in the summer months, ski resorts are still open and doing good business in the winter. A good example of such a resort is the Alyeska Resort.
These kinds of resorts offer employment in food and beverage, maintenance, skiing, administration and customer service.
If you’re not a citizen of the United States, you will have to apply for a United States non-immigrant work visa.
To obtain a United States non-immigrant work visa, you need to have applied for and been accepted for a position in the United States. Your employer will then be required to provide relevant documentation and file a petition with US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). If the petition is approved, you will be free to go ahead and apply for your work visa.
When deciding where to live and work in Alaska, it’s important to consider travel. Only 20% of Alaska can be accessed via road. So if you plan to travel to various locations across the state, it would be a good idea to stay in an area with access to highways.
Many people choose to live and work in Anchorage because it combines big city life with wildlife, nature trails and a wealth of outdoor activities.
If you’re looking for work in salmon fishing and the canneries industry, you may want to consider Bristol Bay, known as the ‘Red Salmon Capital of the World’. Other key fishing cities in Alaska include Kodiak and Homer.
As we mentioned previously, some parts of Alaska are not accessible by road. Water, air or dogsled are the only ways in and out. Examples include the beautiful cities of Sitka and Ketchikan.
A number of the more remote Alaskan towns and cities are even harder to get to. In fact, travel to these areas can be an enormous task. So if you’re looking to travel across the state on a regular basis, you would probably be wise not to stay in such an area.
Do seasonal jobs in Alaska come with housing and accommodation?
Some do, some don’t.
Many fishing jobs come with a room and daily meals. Some resorts provide free accommodation to employees, while others offer accommodation to employees at a cheaper rate.
However, with many seasonal jobs, you will be required to source your own accommodation.
Hopefully you’ve found this guide to seasonal jobs in Alaska helpful.
When pursuing work in Alaska, the key is to do plenty of research. Find the cities and towns that appeal to you most. Ask employers about the benefits you’ll get. Make sure you can safely travel to the places you want to visit. And, of course, don’t forget to make sure you’ll be earning a fair wage.
