Episode Transcript
We're talking with Katie Usher, the guest experienced supervisor from
the West Coast Wilderness Railway. Now, Katie, you've done lots
of different jobs. Do you have any highlights of things
cool things that you've done or seen over the course
of your career.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
There's a few that stand out, obviously some most of
my days are pretty cool. But I've seen humpback whales
looking for food, so traveling at high speed and mating
as well. I've seen lots of really amazing animals in
the world. Some of the most incredible sunsets I've ever
seen on the West Coast Tasmania as well, and recently
(00:33):
we had at number two, one of original engines from
the railway was delivered back to Queenstown after being in
a museum and being refurbished. So it's pretty cool to
see a piece of history come back to where it belongs.
So hopefully she'll be back on the rail soon.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
That is pretty awesome. Now, I asked you this afair,
but people don't know. In the middle part you can
see two people turn a train around on like what's
essentially like a lazy Susan. You've done that, haven't you.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
Yeah, So we have a turntable at some of our stations,
and basically to get an engine turning the right way,
you can't just take it off the tracks and it
can't do UI. So we put them on the turntable
and in an ideal world it will balance and they'll
be nice and the light. But yeah, it takes some
grunt and some movement to push it around so it's
facing the right way.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
It looks awesome. It blew me away the first time
I saw that. Actually, it's incredible. These are all things
that you get paid for. People pay top dollar to
come out and have these experiences, but in the industry,
you're getting paid for it. So what advice would you
give to people who would like to do maybe tourism
or hospitality as a career.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
Big advice is to experience tourism yourself. So go to
tourism experiences and see what type of tourism you enjoy
to start with, and then just reach out to tourism businesses
and you know you can send their HR department and email,
inquire what jobs they have or when their jobs become available,
ask what requirements so there are of jobs if they
need specific things. Before you know you're able to apply
(01:53):
and just get experience in any sort of customer facing
job you can manage. Is a good way to get
you foot in the door. I did a diploma in
tourism management, and that's always a great way to meet
industry like minded people, and it's a good way to
get your foot in the door as well.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
Yeah, all right, so the idea of going around door
knocking if you're interested, would you advise that as maybe
a way to get started as well.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
Yeah, there's no harm in coming around to businesses and
asking questions and finding out you know what type of
jobs that they have available when they hire their seasonal staff,
when you know what sort of long term work they
have available as well. Seasonal works also a great way
to find your way around the industry. You're not locked
into a full time contract. You can work for a
few months see if you like it, and if you
don't like it, the season comes to an end and
(02:37):
there's no love lost. That's a really lovely way of
gaining a lot of experience.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
I do like the idea of seasonal jobs, particularly if
you're at an age where you enjoy moving a lot,
because it means that you can do a seasonal job,
say in Tasmania. Then you can do a seasonal job
on the mainland or in a different country and if
you've enjoyed it, you can come back and do the
same job again the following year.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
Absolutely, we stay in touch with a lot of our
seasonals and in general, lots of them have either returned
to us or have said that they would love to
come back. And you do get people who love chasing
the summertime. I did that before, So you do back
to back summer seasons in different parts of the world
or different parts of Australia, so that you don't see
a winter very often, and it's a really great way
of meeting people and making new friends and getting some
(03:19):
really good experience.
Speaker 1 (03:20):
There's also people who do the winter chasing as well,
who love the snow and the freezing cold and stuff,
and they just follow winter. I've met people who haven't
seen summers in about ten years.
Speaker 2 (03:28):
Absolutely, ski seasons are a huge, huge industry and a
great way to get into the tourism hostility industry as well.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
Is tourism an industry that you would recommend for other people?
Speaker 2 (03:37):
Yes, if you like people, then I would recommend working
in tourism it's an awesome career and it's definitely there's
something for everyone.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
Thank you very much for having a chat with us today.
This has been your more than welcome. We've been talking
with Katie Usher, the guest Experience supervisor at West Coast
Wilderness Railway. It's been a pleasure.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
Thanks both.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
You can find out all sorts of details up at
the website more than welcome dot com that are you
this backstories, there's a links there's all sorts of information
there as well. And remember considering a career in tourism
and hospitality, it could be the finest choice that you
ever make.
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