Aspiro Employment Opportunities

Qualifications

Much of Aspiro's success in the Therapeutic Industry can be attributed to the caliber of staff that are employed here.

We typically look for guides who:

• Desire personal progression
• Desire to support and encourage other people as they progress
• Are comfortable and enthusiastic promoting morals and values both by word and character
• Believes in our cause and can fully endorse the Aspiro model
• Can commit to a minimum of 12 months to Aspiro
• Are at least 20 years of age
• Can pass a drug screen as well as a criminal background check (mandatory)

Other qualifications that are favored:

• Current safety certifications (WFR, EMT, First-Aid, CPR, etc.)
• Related college degree
• Previous experience working with adolescence.
• Professional experience: rafting, canoeing, mountain biking, rock climbing, canyoneering, backpacking, snowshoeing, skiing, etc.

Aspiro needs employees that can use their skills to not only provide a safe, awesome experience for the students, but also provide a therapeutic experience that will help the student learn critical life skills.

If you are interested in working as an Aspiro guide, we generally bring on new field guides twice a year. The format and process for these two hiring times differ slightly:

Summer (seasonal position): our largest hiring opportunity is for our summer season, which runs from the beginning of May to the end of August. Our number of students greatly increases during this season, and we need the extra guides to help support these numbers. Due to the larger number of available summer positions, we hold a Guide Tryout Weekend. This is typically done in late March or early April. Participants will engage in various activities that will help us get to know you and hopefully highlight some of your strengths. Hiring decisions are made shortly afterwards. Guides hired for seasonal summer employment are required to commit through the end of August.

Fall (permanent position): as our busy season of summer winds down, we begin looking more towards creating a team of guides that are invested in workingconsistently through the following fall, winter, spring, and summer. This is a 12 month commitment. Because there are fewer spots available for these positions, we do not hold a formal Guide Tryout as we do in the spring. Rather, we sort through applicants on an individual basis throughout July and August. Once an in-person or phone interview takes place, if we want to move forward we will invite you to come and do a volunteer tryout week on trail with us. Nothing will provide you a more realistic idea of what the job of a therapeutic adventure guide is like than actually participating in a full itinerary with a group of students and veteran guides. Likewise, this will give us a much better read on if you would be a good asset to our team. This is the final step in the interview process and after reviewing your week, you should know shortly ifyou’ll be joining the Aspiro family. This can be a time consuming process, but we’ve found it to be effective and necessary in choosing the individuals that line up with our philosophies, culture, and vision.

Compensation & Benefits

Aspiro seeks individuals of all levels of skill and experience. In order to advance between levels, guides are required to pass off skills and obtain specific certifications.

With the exceptionof certain time requirements, guides have a lot of autonomy and control in determining how quickly they advance through the organization, and subsequently, what their pay is.

Our guide base pay is $120 per day, although most guides will make the equivalent of$135/day within 6 months.  There are some opportunities for paid internships, and Aspiro rewards many different kinds of educational opportunities with raises and scholarships.  Guides who are committed to Aspiro for many years can expect to approach an annual salary of $50K plus bonuses.  Aspiro also recognizes that guides are not primarily focused on financial rewards.  The chance to make a difference, the impressive resume guides build, the internal advancement opportunities available, and the personal growth experienced in such an intense, challenging environment are all factors that Aspiro guides appreciate.

Aspiro also provides an in-house Wilderness First Responder course, stipends for professional conferences, health insurance, hard-skills workshops, and other professional development opportunities.

New Employee Training:

Much of the training is provided on the job. However, we strongly encourage guides to become their own teacher and continually strive for knowledge in areas that interest, and will better them as individuals.

Gear Requirements

Staff should be prepared for camping in the most extreme conditions. Aspiro operates year round and runs itineraries from 4,000 ft. to 13,000 ft. in elevation. As a result it is important to have the right gear. Click Here to see a recommended gear list.

FAQ

What is an Adventure Therapy Guide and what do they do?
An Adventure Therapy Guide is a professional in outdoor recreation.

He/She is highly experienced in activities such as: rock climbing, biking, canoeing, rafting, backpacking, canyoneering, etc., and safely teaches the skills involved in these activities to students.

What if I'm not a professional in outdoor recreation? Can I still work at Aspiro?
Of course!

Don't worry if you currently don't have the skills to be a guide.

Staff training at Aspiro is hands on and constant. You may not feel like a professional now, but through training and experience, you will develop the skills required to be a professional guide.

Once hired, staff that are not as skilled are paired with highly skilled staff that can train you in all aspects of outdoor recreation.
 

What is the difference between Wilderness Therapy and Adventure Therapy?
While the "class-room" is the same, the approach is quite different. Wilderness Therapy uses a more primitive model, teaching skills like living off the land, bow-drill fire building, etc. While these skills are important, they will most likely never be used.

Adventure Therapy expands this model. We teach our students how to have fun in the wilderness, with the right gear, so that they can go home and use the skills they have learned. Acquiring skills is our hope for all students that come to Aspiro.

Through this process, students grow in self-efficacy (self confidence in succeeding).

 
How does learning outdoor skills help the students with their problems?
Each skill taught at Aspiro can be compared to real life skills that will help our students succeed. For example, rock climbing and bouldering are great ways to teach, metaphorically, about overcoming "problems" in life.

After each activity, Field Guides sit down with their group and process the activity; giving students an opportunity to see personal achievement and how they can improve.

What is a typical work week?
Guides work an 8 days on, 6 days off schedule. The work week starts on Monday and ends the following Monday.

Each Monday, the on-coming staff are trained and briefed on the groups they will be guiding that week while the students are preparing for the trip.

The rest of the week is spent running the itinerary (mountain biking in the Wasatch, backpacking in the Uintas, Rock Climbing in Southern Utah, Skiing at Sundance Resort, etc). The group then meets back on the following Monday to continue this rotation.
 

If you have carefully read all of the above information and are still interested in applying to Aspiro, please email a cover letter and resume to: employment@aspiroadventure.com