From a press release:
The Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission has announced job openings for hundreds of seasonal park aides to help operate state parks during the 2018 summer season.
Each summer, State Parks employs 400 park aides and 45 senior park aides to work the busy season, which runs from May through September. Park aides are all ages and backgrounds. They work in parks all over the state and in many different terrains and climates, depending on location. They help out in parks by registering campers, tending trails, cleaning campgrounds and comfort stations and performing a variety of custodial maintenance chores. They also may staff park offices, interact with visitors and help with interpretive and educational programs.
To read about current and former park aides’ experiences, visithttp://parks.state.wa.us/1056/
Applications are open now through August. The jobs pay between $12.24 and $15.62 an hour, depending on qualifications and experience. To learn more and apply, visitwww.careers.wa.gov, and use the search box to type in “park aide” or the name of a specific state park.
Park aides are essential to summer operations in Washington state parks. Those who have served as park aides report they have received benefits well beyond a paycheck, as they learn about parks and the natural and cultural resources in State Parks’ care. Park aides gain people skills by interacting with the public and working with a team. They also may learn everything from trail-building techniques to how to use and operate small power tools and equipment.
For some, a working as a park aide leads to a career path, said State Parks Director Don Hoch.
“A seasonal park aide position may be perfect for a high school or college student who just needs a good solid summer job—or for a person of any age looking for a great seasonal job outdoors,” Hoch said. “But many also find the park aide job to be the first step onto a lifelong career path in parks and recreation or environmental work. I, myself—and many others I know in the parks and recreation field—started out as a park aide somewhere. That’s where we discovered our passion.”
