Recruitment Overview 2024-25 – working for YSE

We are now fully staffed.

If you want to join our lengthy waiting list for our Chalet Staff positions, please send a recent cv and photo to sales@yseski.co.uk

Please read this overview, which gives a description of working for YSE in Val d’Isère

We have nineteen chalets in Val d’Isère – substantially more than any of our competitors – but we are still a small company. We recruit our staff carefully and train them thoroughly. All YSE employees have two days off each week and our wages are some of the best in the business.

People apply to work in Val d’Isère with YSE because they want to ski almost every day for five months on some of the best slopes in the world. You don’t have to be a good skier, but it helps to be a fairly sporty outdoors sort of person to get the most out of a season in the Alps.

Most of all we’re looking for staff who are charming, enjoy meeting people, smile a lot and want their guests to have wonderful holidays. If you have ‘attitude’ and don’t have the traits just mentioned, please do not apply to work for YSE!

We welcome applications from those holding one or more of the following passports: UK, EU, Australia, New Zealand, Canada. Please ensure you include all the passports you hold on your application form.

UK Passport holders will be required to obtain and pay for a French working visa (when we have received their French work permit). Those from Canada, New Zealand and Australia will have to obtain a French Young Traveller Working/Holiday visa.

Applicants under 21 years old need to show exceptional maturity and have experience of living away from home in rented accommodation (not school), dealing with a landlord, carrying out minor repairs and cleaning well enough to get a hefty deposit back. It is extremely rare for YSE to employ anyone under 21.

We rarely take applicants who have completed a season for another company.

YSE staff are also provided with accommodation, food whilst working*, a ski pass for the Val d’Isère/Tignes ski area, certain items of uniform clothing and the use of ski boots, skis and poles (or snowboard). YSE will pay a contribution to your travel out and your travel back to the UK at the end of the completed season (ie. not if you leave early).

*We cannot cater for those requiring a gluten-free/nut-free/lactose-free/vegan diet

You must be available to work for the whole winter season from mid/end November 2024 until the end of the first week in May 2025.

All staff will have to pay a deposit which will only be returned at the end of a successfully completed season and when your staff accommodation has been returned to the owner in the state in which you received it. The deposit will not be returned, under any circumstances, if you leave our employment before the end of the first week in May 2025.

We will not consider applications without a photo.

Competition for positions with YSE is very strong (we receive over 500 applications every year for the 42 positions available) and, if you do not follow the correct instructions for submitting your application, you are unlikely to be selected for interview.

We realise that it takes a while to fill in our form and urge you not to do this or apply to YSE unless you are willing to work hard and have no reason to believe you cannot undertake the work involved. You may be working alone and on your feet for most of the day. Temperatures in Val d’Isère can get down to below -20ºC which can affect breathing and skin conditions.

Please note that we do not pay travelling expenses for attending an interview although we can do interviews via Zoom. 

Finally, there is useful feedback from ex-staff on the Staff Reviews page.