Employment at Stage Harbor Sailing School

Please find below some information about working at Stage Harbor Sailing School.  Stage Harbor Sailing School (SHSS) hires summer staff each year based solely on programmatic need and applicant qualifications.  There is no established progression from participation as a student at SHSS to serving as a staff member.

The decision to hire an employee necessarily involves a range of considerations.  To help possible applicants assess whether working at SHSS might be a good fit, we set forth below some general considerations in the hiring process.  Please note that the considerations below are not intended to serve as a check list that will result in the hiring of an applicant; they are intended to get at the core issue involved in most any hiring decision: does the applicant have the skills necessary and the passion needed to carry out the job with excellence.

Hiring considerations:

• Age: Applicants must turn 15 in the calendar year in which they first seek employment at the Club.
• Sailing Skill: Applicants should have demonstrated a very strong sailing ability over the course of a number of years through active participation in the SHSS (or similar) program and should be confident in all aspects of sailing and boat handling.  Applicants will have ideally participated regularly in the SHSS racing program (including regattas) or be able to show how they have otherwise gained significant and strong sailing experience through other means.  Applicants should have a demonstrated history of seeking opportunities to get on the water and must be prepared to continue to participate in SHSS’s racing program.
• Communications: Applicants should be ready to be good teachers, with the ability to convey information to different types of learners through clear communication skills, patience, enthusiasm and kindness.
• Passion: Applicants should have a demonstrated passion for the sport of sailing and the desire to share that through teaching young children.
• Attitude: Applicants should have a positive, can do attitude and be ready to help out around the Club in a range of ways.  Applicants should be ready to come to work ready to work hard and with enthusiasm.  While instruction is at the core of most of our staff positions, SHSS staff also help with social events, club maintenance and more. Staff will be ready to seek out responsibility and being present at the Club and in the sailing program.  Applicants should also get along well with peers and adults and work seamlessly in a team-based environment, with a continual desire to grow and improve.
• Leadership: Applicants should have demonstrated leadership ability and skills.
• Certifications: Applicants must be ready to make time to become CPR certified and to obtain US Sailing Level 1 certification. 
• Availability: Applicants must be available for all or most all of the SHSS summer schedule.  We recognize that school year schedules can compete with the SHSS calendar but applicants who are interested in internships, other jobs that conflict with regular sailing school hours during the summer are not generally a good fit for employment unless there are extenuating circumstances.  Opening work week and closing work week are part of the commitment.

The first step in the hiring process is the completion of a job application.  The hiring process typically begins with the completion of an application in the summer or early fall preceding possible employment and, if the Club has hiring needs, is followed by an interview. For more information or to get a copy of the application, candidates should contact our Program Director here.  Employment at SHSS is often one’s first “real” job. Therefore, we ask that the candidate, and not his or her parent, take the initiative to gain employment at SHSS. Not unlike obtaining a job on Main Street, the applicant should express interest and pursue employment at the Club. Applicants who contact the Club after December 1, will not be considered unless there are extenuating circumstances.

SHSS also hires a limited number of stewards to help in the maintenance of the Club and its boats.  Applicants interested in this position should contact the Program Director.  The steward position requires detailed knowledge of boats, boat repair and maintenance and comfort using a range of tools. 

From time to time, SHSS provides some volunteer opportunities for those individuals not yet eligible for employment for any number of reasons.  Volunteering at SHSS is, like employment, not guaranteed simply by nature of a student’s participation in the Club’s sailing program.  Volunteering is typically reserved for those outstanding sailors who the Club may want to hire in the future but for whom there is not space in the staff at a particular time.  For more information about volunteering, please also contact the Program Director.