Employment
Work With Us

Employment at Coastal Bliss Adventures
and Cowichan Bay Kayaking

• Who We Hire

  We hire people that really want to work outdoors and have a sense of purpose. We really look for the following qualities:
  ✔ Confident with people, easy with a conversation.
  ✔ Interested in people and want to help them experience the outdoors.
  ✔ Proactive to take care of problems and to find solutions with few resources.
  ✔ Loves to learn and pick up new skills.
  ✔ Has a real and driving reason to be a guide.
  ✔ Is looking for mutual commitment for the future.
  We have hired guides with little or no qualification, just experience outdoors and a real reason to guide. Of course, that is a rare find, but not being a fully qualified guide does not prevent you from working for us.
  We also look for local youth in the Cowichan Valley that want to be outdoors and are willing to build their skill levels. These junior leaders might take on smaller responsibilities within the things we do.
  We usually hire several full-time and several part-time people for our season that runs from mid-May into September.

• Qualifications

  We do multiple activities, so guides that have broader experience and qualifications are better suited to what we do, particularly for full-time work.
  Qualifications We Look For:
  ❤ SKGABC Assistant Overnight Guide (AOG) Certification
  ❤ Wilderness First Aid(40-50 Hour) Certification with CPR-C
  ❤ SKGABC Level 1 Guide Certification
  ❤ Class 4 Unrestricted Commercial Driving License
  ❤ Advanced Wilderness First Aid (80-90 Hour) Certification
  ❤ Paddle Canada Basic or Level 1 Instructor Certification
  ✚ Association of Canadian Mountain Guides (ACMG) Assistant Hiking Guide Certification
  ✚ SKGABC Level 2 or higher Guide Certification
  ✚ Canoeing Instructor Certification
  There are some obvious overlaps in the listed certifications that we love to see. Certifications do not guarantee anyone a lead guide position. That comes with experience and trust. What we really look for on top of certifications is:
  ❤ Lots of experience outdoors and some experience leading and taking responsibility for others.

• What Working With Us Looks Like

  We have multiple tasks that must get done to serve our clients every day. Rarely do we have an employee or contractor that focuses on one activity only. The people we hire full-time will be doing all of the following over the course of the season, depending on qualifications:
  ➫ Renting gear and assisting clients for tours at our dock in Cowichan Bay
  ➫ Guiding short kayak tours in Cowichan Bay
  ➫ Leading or assisting on kids' camps in Cowichan Bay or Maple Bay
  ➫ Prepping food and gear for multi-day hiking and kayaking tours
  ➫ Assisting on multi-day hiking or kayaking tours
  ➫ Driving clients and kids to activities
  ➫ Creating posts and marketing materials
  ➫ Cleaning and maintaining gear and premises
  ➫ If fully trained and qualified, lead multi-day hiking or kayaking tours
  We have qualification levels that we call Guide & Outfitter I, II, III, IV, V, VI, or VII (GO-I through VII). We also have Technical Operations positions I, II, III, or IV (TECHOPS-I through IV). Responsibilities and advancement are based on these levels. Most people start at GOI or GOII, or TECHOPS-I or II. TECHOPS-I and II, and GO-I and II would be working mostly at our dock and doing prep work. GO-I and II are qualified to lead and assist on short kayaking tours, and may be qualified to lead day tours for birding (with interpretive knowledge), lead and assist on kids' day camps, and to drive clients (with proper driving license).
  
  We will also need guides for our sister company, Sea to Sky Expeditions, which exclusively does multiday tours in BC and the Yukon. Together, our guides have unsurpassed opportunities for variety in guiding.
  
  Details of our positions and scales can be seen here.

• Jobs At Coastal Bliss Adventures

  For the 2024 season, we are looking to fill the following positions:
  ☑ Dock Technician 1 and 2, TECHOPS-I, II
  ☑ Operations Technician 1, 2, TECHOPS-III, IV
  ☑ Administrative Technician 1, 2, TECHOPS-III, IV
  ☑ Lead Guides: GO I, II, III, & IV (SKGABC AOG, Level 2 and 3)
  Coastal Bliss Adventures will also be looking for qualified hiking guides for multiday hiking tours, GO-V through VII.

  How to apply for a guiding job:
  Send a cover letter or cover email with the following:
  ☑ What your main interest is
  ☑ An explanation of how your qualifications fit the job you are seeking
  ☑ When you can be available for the season, beginning and end
  
  Attach a resume that includes the following information:
  ☑ A list of all your relevant guide/outdoor skill certifications, including the certifying body and a link
  ☑ A complete list of guiding work experience with details. Details should include:
       ✚ a list of multiday commercial trips for each employer
       ✚ locations of each trip
       ✚ number of days of each trip
       ✚ your role as lead guide, assistant guide, or other
  ☑ A complete list of personal trips you have taken that you want considered as experience, including:
       ✚ locations of each trip
       ✚ number of days of each trip
       ✚ the group size you were with and your role
  ☑ Please include the other, more traditional resume items, such as other work experience and interests, languages spoken, etc.
  
  Resumes that do not include the required details may not be considered.