The facts you want to know like ‘what’s it like to work for us’?

Fun, hard work, a great way to meet new friends and a fantastic way to spend around 6 months, or more, learning new skills and earning some money. That’s about it really. Many of our General Assistants come back year after year, so the evidence is there to back up what we are saying.

You’ll have comfortable accommodation, a regular split shift pattern (so you get a good break during the day) and full training to ensure that you know what’s going on and what you need to do. You’ll also be in a fantastic location and the earlier you apply, the greater choice you’ll have. Whatever your interests, be they on the water, walking, cycling, cultural, arts, social, extreme etc you’ll soon find one of our sites is just on the doorstep.

What we’ll ask from you is that you have good, practical common sense, an outgoing, friendly manner, excellent customer service skills and a real ability to get on with people.

Here is what some of our current General Assistants have to say about a job with YHA:

"Like any job, the work here can be hard at times but I like the fact that there is a good mix of tasks, you never get bored"

"The shift patterns work well, I have set days off and where possible finish the week on an early shift and start on a late which can be really handy when I go to visit friends"

"The guests and groups are all so very different, some are really interesting, good fun and a laugh. They each bring their own set of different needs and wants"

"The main benefit of the job financially is the live-in package and personally I enjoy the flexibility of the seasonal positions, also we can move from hostel to hostel within the network each season to experience different places"

And the facts you might like to know like ‘how we started’

YHA has its history back in Liverpool where the first meeting was held to kick start a movement offering cheap accommodation in dormitory style arrangements. As YHA evolved as a joint initiative between rambling, cycling and youth organisations, so the movement expanded across England and Wales with separate associations for Scotland and Ireland.

More recently, YHA has embarked on a modernisation strategy and has broadened its reach with the introduction of Do it 4 Real summer camps and Learn 4 Real education visits.

Now, against a completed re-vamped profile and image, YHA welcomes individual travellers, families, school and youth groups and has records in excess of 2million overnight stays each year.

And finally some key facts that just do the corporate bit

• 200 Youth Hostels and over 40 Camping barns, in stunning rural, coastal and city locations throughout England and Wales
• Over 213,000 members
• Supported by 2,000 voluntary workers
• Employs approx 1,200 staff including 500 seasonal staff
• Annual turnover of £38.5 million
• One of Britain’s top 50 charities
• Accommodates 750,000 overnight stays by young people under the age of 18 each year travelling independently, with families, or as part of an organised group
• Helps provide learning opportunities for 8,000 school, college and youth groups to meet national curriculum requirements and other educational needs
• Every year gives thousands of disadvantaged young people a part funded trip via the Breaks 4 kids scheme
• Welcomes visitors from 80 different nations each year, accounting for half a million overnight stays
• Is an active member of Hostelling International (HI) that embraces 60 countries, with 4,000 Youth Hostels and 3.2 million members worldwide
• YHA is the largest budget accommodation network in the world