How to avoid ski season job scams

Seasonal hiring is a good environment for a scam: people applying from other countries, in a hurry, for jobs that genuinely do involve paying for flights and arriving somewhere new. The good news is that nearly every ski job scam asks for the same thing, and it is a thing no real employer asks for.

The one rule that catches almost everything

A legitimate employer never asks you to pay them to be hired.

Not a placement fee, not a visa processing fee, not a deposit to "hold" the role, not a payment for a uniform or a training module before you start. If money is moving from you to them before you have a signed offer, stop.

The same goes for the variations: being asked to buy gift cards, to pay a third-party "agent" who will arrange the visa, or to accept a cheque and forward part of it on. That last one is a classic and it leaves you liable when the cheque bounces.

Seven checks before you commit

1. Does the company exist independently of the advert? Search the name. A real resort business has a website, a phone number and a street address at a resort.
2. Is the email from a company domain? A recruiter for a Whistler hotel writing from a free mailbox is not proof of fraud, but it earns a phone call.
3. Will they speak to you live? A short video or phone call before you commit is normal and reasonable. Refusal to do one is a serious flag.
4. Is the offer in writing, with specifics? Rate, guaranteed hours, dates, accommodation terms. Vagueness after a direct question is itself information.
5. Does the pay make sense? An advertised rate far above everything comparable is bait. Our pay by town page shows the medians actually being advertised.
6. Are you being rushed? "We need a decision tonight" is a technique, not a hiring practice.
7. Never send passport scans, bank details or documents to secure an interview. An employer needs those at hire, through a proper process, not from an applicant they have not met.

How our own listings work, and what that means for you

Being straight about this matters more than looking polished.

355 roles are open on our board. Most are sourced from public job adverts rather than posted by the employer directly.

Counted live from our open listings, last read 10 October 2026. These are figures from job adverts, not a survey.

When a listing came from a public advert, applying sends your message to the employer's own email address. There is no account on our side behind it, which means two things: we have not verified terms we never received, and we cannot pass on a message or chase a reply for you.

A business that signs up and completes our verification process is in a different position: we have confirmed the company is real and that the account is theirs, and its profile and listings carry a verified badge from then on. That badge is about the employer, though, not about the particular job.

So treat a listing — here or anywhere — as a pointer to an employer, not as a guarantee about one. The checks above are the work, and they are worth the twenty minutes.

We do not charge workers anything, and we never will. If anyone contacts you claiming to charge a fee on our behalf, that is not us.

If something looks wrong

Stop replying and do not send money or documents. If you have already paid, contact your bank immediately — card and bank transfers sometimes have recall windows measured in hours. Report the advert to wherever you found it, including us if it was here: we can take a listing down.

Common questions

Should I ever pay a fee to get a ski season job?

No. No legitimate seasonal employer charges you to be hired, and no legitimate job board charges workers to apply. Any request for a placement fee, a deposit or a payment to "secure" a role is a scam, whatever the explanation attached to it.

Is it normal for a ski job to ask for my passport?

At hire, yes — an employer has to confirm your right to work, and that is a legal obligation on them. Before an interview, no. Never send a passport scan or bank details to secure an interview or an offer.

How can I tell if a ski resort job advert is real?

Check the company exists independently of the advert, insist on a live phone or video call before committing, and get the terms in writing from a company email domain. Be sceptical of pay well above comparable roles and of pressure to decide quickly.

What if the employer will not do a phone call?

Treat it as a serious warning. A short call costs a real employer nothing and they do it constantly at this time of year. Someone avoiding voice contact with an overseas applicant is avoiding it for a reason.

Are the listings on Mountain Connects verified?

There are two kinds, and the listing tells you which you are looking at. When a business signs up and goes through our verification process we confirm the company is real and that the account belongs to it, and from then on its profile and every job it posts carry a verified badge. Anything reported to us as fraudulent is investigated and removed from the platform. A badge tells you the employer is real, not that the job is as described, so the checks in this guide are worth doing either way.