SOUTHINGTON — Lake Compounce is seeking to hire over 1,000 new employees for its upcoming 2023 summer season. Looking for hires as young as 16, the park is offering open positions from ride operations, lifeguards, concessions, and security, with wages ranging between $16 and $18 per hour depending on the position.
The park plans to open on April 29 for its 177th season and is seeking a large number of employees for what the company anticipates to be a big year. This season sees the debut of a floating stage in the lake where the amusement park plans to host concerts throughout the summer.
With their positions, employees gain complimentary park passes, discounts on food and retail items, and flexible hours for full and part-time positions. Applications are available online at www.lakecompounce.com/employment.
Organizers aim to begin hosting their first employee orientations on Feb. 14, running them up through the park’s opening. This includes complimentary certification for those in lifeguard positions, as well as food-handling licenses for those at the concession stands. Unlike years prior, they’ve sought to streamline the process by offering both visual and virtual courses to take the place of several hour-long lectures from previous years.
Wages offered by the park are higher than in the past and were put in place to keep the park competitive, according to Human Resources Director Natalie Scinto, along with making it attractive for younger hires to work in a unique environment.
“We're lucky because we are who we are, we just naturally attract employees that want to work here. It's not mundane, it's not your typical job at a retail store. It's really an amazing experience, and a really great job for some of these young adults,” Scinto said.
The park is also looking to implement a more comprehensive outreach program for this season, looking to get recruiters at high school job fairs and coordinating with Connecticut state universities to let prospective young adults know about their opportunities at the park.
This is in part to make up for what the park feels was a shortfall in employees last season. The large number of positions Lake Compounce is looking to fill for the year is needed to keep the park running smoothly throughout the busy summer season, officials said.
“There’s a lot that goes on behind the scenes that our guests don't even see. They see our ride operators front and center, but you know, there's an entire maintenance team that's working behind the scenes day and night to make sure our rides are safe,” Marketing Director Lynsey Winters said. “That all plays into the guest experience. So we really have been trying to staff the park as best as we can, since COVID. And just ensuring that we have every department as filled as possible so that guests have a seamless experience. The more team members we can get here helping us at the park, the better guest experience we're going to be able to provide.”
Having already brought on over 200 returning employees, with the applications only having been open for less than a week, park officials say they are confident they’ll have the staff they need to put their best foot forward on opening day April 29, especially with the strong rebound in attendance post-pandemic.
“We saw a strong rebound post pandemic and post COVID. We were really excited with just the overall turnout at the park for the season. And we were pretty confident that we're gonna have a fantastic season this year with the addition of the stage and trying to grow … We're looking forward to a fantastic season. I think it's going to be a good one here at the park,” Winters said.
Applications will remain open online all the way through the park’s summer season.
cmetzger@record-journal.com