Queenstown Times: Why did you choose this job?
Toshi Miyata: I was a retail assistant for my first season.
Then this position became available, and I took the opportunity.
QT: What made you come back for more seasons?
TM: This is my seventh season with NZSki.
I don't come back, I belong here.
I just have summer off, counting the days until the first snowfall.
QT: What kind of work did you do before you took up this job?
TM: I have been a bicycle courier, a reporter on an internet and TV show, and have worked on a boat at Milford Sound.
QT: How would you describe your role?
TM: You have the calm before the storm before the start of the season, which you prepare for.
Then, once the skifield is open, it is a rollercoaster ride of multi-tasking, and before you know it the season is over.
QT: What is the best thing about your job?
TM: Meeting lots of new people - and their credit cards, too!
QT: Which challenges come with the job?
TM: On warm, sunny days everyone is busy having fun and not spending in the shop.
QT: Which skills or qualities are needed to do your job?
TM: You have to be good with numbers, master quick decision-making and have great people skills.
Qualities like being positive, fun-loving and having a passion for snow also help.
QT: What's your advice to people moving to Queenstown for seasonal work?
TM: It is all about who you know.
Try to meet not just anyone but key people - then your life gets a lot easier.
QT: What has been your most amusing or surprising on-the-job experience this season?
TM: It keeps amusing me that nobody really reads manuals or instructions for the products they buy.
