January 26, 201213 yr comment_130866 Or a football. That's equally annoying.Jeans I'd say no. Legoland turns you away if you came in jeans, chessington may well have improved its standards (though probably not, it is chessie).No hoodie. God no. Trousers, Shoes and a shirt do well.
January 26, 201213 yr comment_130917 I wore a full suit. But it was grey so it showed I wasn't all serious But yeah people turn up in whatever and seem to get accepted at Chessie. Especially girls.
January 27, 201213 yr comment_130938 Wear a hoody, but take it off in the actual place... And PLEASE if you have to take an object that best describes you DON'T TAKE A MP3 PLAYER! Because that is honestly (imo) the worst thing you could bring and looks more like you forgot something so just said "I'll use this then"..."I'm like a coke bottle because even though I've drunk half of it, I'm a glass half full kind of guy"
January 27, 201213 yr comment_130948 I'm going to go in a suit. A good tip to remember is you can never be too formal when it comes to job interviews.You can however, be too informal. So definetly no jeans or hoodies. Wear at least a buttoned shirt and smart trousers.
January 28, 201213 yr comment_130998 Tips for assessment is be personable, be interested in what other people say, and take from it what you can. Learn people's names, and refer to them by their first name. Don't be afraid of the assessors - they won't hurt you or think any less; be happy and interested in what other people have to say and try and engage as much as you can.
January 29, 201213 yr comment_131006 I was there today... (Er, yesterday, lols.) I know someone from here said hi to me (Christopher was it?). I forgot I had an account here.My 3rd assessment centre with Merlin, and it was the nicest yet. The last two I went to were 95% kids from the same school who all knew each other and that just makes it awkward for those older randomers like me. </3 The actual interview part was really good. I got the dreaded "I've seen you on park, you're an enthusiast aren't you?" But I've come to learn that despite what many people think, the passion impresses them.God the SeaLife assessment centre... The standard there is SO high. Chessie's standards are perhaps too low. There were a lot of people much better suited to what they wanted than me, but I was just shocked how high their standards were. Especially because I've never particularly noticed fantastic staff there.I hate the "smart casual" thing. What does that MEAN?! I just play it safe and go with shirt, trousers and shoes.Anyway. Hopefully I'll see some of you this year!
January 29, 201213 yr comment_131025 I got the dreaded "I've seen you on park, you're an enthusiast aren't you?"Haha. This question works every time..Just don't go in and mention YoChessington. That's if you want the job.
January 29, 201213 yr comment_131030 I was there today... (Er, yesterday, lols.) I know someone from here said hi to me (Christopher was it?). I forgot I had an account here.Uh, hey, yeah that was me. Sorry if I came out a bit stalker-ish
January 29, 201213 yr comment_131033 Uh, hey, yeah that was me. Sorry if I came out a bit stalker-ishHow did it go Tree?
January 29, 201213 yr comment_131043 Uh, hey, yeah that was me. Sorry if I came out a bit stalker-ishLOL! No it's no problem, I was only kidding. It's nice that the fandom is so close. I recognise the name Treeis now!
January 29, 201213 yr comment_131054 How did it go Tree?I think good, there is no reason why I wouldn't get the job.
January 30, 201213 yr comment_131068 I'm being very careful not to give anything away. I would never give any details away about the park or interview. Just simple sentences like "It was good".
January 30, 201213 yr comment_131097 The fact that your a member or even log onto this site in the first place, is something that Merlin arent keen on either.
January 30, 201213 yr comment_131102 Cos you might openly slate about how **** chessington is to work at.They rather a blanket ban than try and ensure everyone only posts nice stuff. Though they've calmed down a lot in the past few years.
January 30, 201213 yr comment_131110 Well I am aware on Merlin's privacy policy and if they are for some reason reading this... I would like them to know that I would never talk about work online. I completely understand about their policy on all of that.
January 30, 201213 yr comment_131111 Cos you might openly slate about how **** chessington is to work at.They rather a blanket ban than try and ensure everyone only posts nice stuff. Though they've calmed down a lot in the past few years.And then the irony is, majority of people on this site are fanboys O__O
January 31, 201213 yr comment_131135 Funny how the people who dislike the place all got fired ;)Although tbh now, it seems like there's too much focus on interaction and learning life stories than putting people on the ride, resulting in some of the most cringe-worthy guest interaction I've seen at the expense of not dispatching a Fury car...Plus the ride staff seem useless at life, and this is from an external point of view... Dread to think what it's like on the inside
January 31, 201213 yr comment_131148 Hey, HEY... I was not useless at life when I was there previously, Mr Benin! Bar the commute, I enjoyed working there in 2010 a lot. And I enjoyed talking to guests the most. I liked finding out what their favourite rides were, what they didn't like, what the kids favourite cartoon's where, why they thought Legoland was better and whether or not they'd checked out Lorikeet Lagoon. To me, all that information is a wealth of interesting first hand research in an industry I'd love to peruse a career in.I think there is a fine line between too little and too much interaction. But personally, I'd rather they were closer to the interacting side of things. This is the entertainment industry, after all. A friendly face can warm you round to forgiving a lengthy queue, but the opposite is rarely true. That... rhymed rather nicely, unintentionally. But thinking back to the ultra-efficient but generally unfriendly staff at Europa Park, for example, I'm quite impressed by Chessington's efforts.The problem fundamentally is that it's a minimum wage job. You're not going to find many perfect candidates who can juggle efficient ride operation, guest interaction, try to avoid inevitable problems (such as angry guests) and deal with those inevitabilities, not to mention the long hours in all weathers on your feet, when you're only paying minimum wage. But paying more than minimum wage for a no-skill job where literally hundreds and hundreds of people are required is also just not possible. If it wasn't for the fact I am passionate about the place, there is no way I'd tolerate the wage. I dunno what all this talk of Merlin hating enthusiasts comes from. From my experience it really couldn't be further from the truth. I can imagine many enthusiasts create a bad name for others, perhaps? I don't know. I've always had positive reactions. Then again, perhaps my enthusiasm is more on the professional side anyway.
January 31, 201213 yr comment_131149 ^2010 was a fab year, 2011.... Not so much...There is a fine line, but to not dispatch a car because of the guests not wanting to 'flap your dragon wings', is just stupidity... Especially after an hour in Fury's burdenous shadeless queue... Incidents like that make me wonder if they're going toooooo far on the interactive side...Then again, when I worked there, I made as little effort to talk to guests as possible on Fury and Vampire, because there's just some rides and times when you just cannot be expected to interact on the scale that the management seem to expect...In regards to enthusiasts working there, you will always get a mix of them, from the really good ones, to those who are really high and mighty because they are an enthusiast and hence know EVERYTHING...It's a fine, fine line tbh... But then again I think throughputs should be the most important aspect of the rides teams, and interaction for those departments with a larger face to face time with guests...
January 31, 201213 yr comment_131150 I certainly do not advocate harassing them into having fun and I do know exactly the kind of behaviour you're talking about But there is plenty of time to make casual fun conversation on entrance, batch and on-load on Fury. There's enough chance to joke with guests when you're checking lapbars. And there's enough time to welcome them back, too. I think ride staff do have the most chance to interact with guests. And it's in their best interest to do so, too... It makes the day a lot more fun and pass a lot quicker, and interaction itself speeds up the loading. You can inform people early to sort their bags out, welcome people back and tell them to push their bars up. It's just... common sense? I never had a problem with being efficient and interacting with guests simultaneously. In fact, I remember on more than one occasion guests praising us for being so fast.
January 31, 201213 yr comment_131151 Its the talking and interacting with guests in queue lines that make me want the job so bad. Its not really about the money, its just...I guess seeing the kids at the park reminds me of when I was that age. I always looked up to the staff as the most friendly and enthusiastic people.
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