Workcamper Summer Positions
Summer in SW Wisconsin
Experience the hidden gem of southwest Wisconsin’s Driftless Area while helping our happy and excited customers get on the river for their multi-day canoe/kayak adventure! Hilly, with treed bluffs, and the Lower Wisconsin River cutting through it, the Driftless Area has a lot to offer. We are in the heart of world class trout fishing, excellent cycling opportunities, to include multiple rails to trails options within a couple hour drive, golf, 35 minutes from the Mississippi River and of course the wide, shallow, sandy Wisconsin River where our canoe/kayak rental, WI River Outings, is located. We have a couple of housing opportunities available for our Workcamper staff.
Full disclosure, this is our first year welcoming workcampers into our operation and have put a lot of thought and research into putting together a package that will lure the best staff for the 2024 season. Please read this information in its entirety, we’d be happy to answer any additional questions you have after that.
Email and phone 608.375.5300
Our Positions
Our ultimate goal is to hire folks that are interested in returning to WRO in the future. We understand you have the lifestyle you do because you want the flexibility to move around. With that said, we will give preference to candidates that show interest to return to the area repeatedly, perhaps you have family in the region or are simply drawn to the magical Midwestern summers.
Keep in mind, we are a tiny seasonal business, but we take the services we provide seriously. While we’ve done our best to layout what you can expect a day to be like, in the end, we all do a little bit of everything. When something needs to be done, we’ll ask you to jump in.
Reservations/Office Staff: These folks greet customers, check them in for their trip, make sure they have all of the gear they need to make their trip comfortable (and upsell them), help pull gear and ready it for trips, clean and store gear upon return, make outbound follow up calls, answer phones, give advice and book trips through our online reservation system. Our office staff also FREQUENTLY end up being drivers too. You will coordinate with other office staff and drivers what the most efficient way to move customers up/down river based on our strict departure schedule. Duties will also include; restroom/portable toilet cleaning, general cleaning of welcome area and property, office work and assisting the on-time departure of shuttles up/down river. Your direct report, trainer and Friday and Saturday coworker will be Anjelica who is the general manager and has a complete understanding of the operation.
Driver: These folks maintain (to include wash interior/exterior) our fleet of 15 passenger vans/pickups (no CDL required) and canoe trailers, clean and load/store canoes and kayaks, pull and return clean gear rented by customers and of course, most of your time will be spent running our customers up/down river for their trip. There will be some lawn mowing (on our zero-turn mower) and general building maintenance. You will coordinate with office staff and other drivers the most efficient way to move customers up/down river based on our strict departure schedule. Your direct report will be Anjelica, the general manager, however the owner, Scott, is generally on the property also.
Skills**: All staff should have the following skills – if not when you start, than by the time you leave for the season:
- Valid driver’s license and clean driving record
- Ability to lift 70 lbs, primarily drivers
- Ability to backup a trailer – we’re happy to teach you, and have taught many!
- Typing skills, minimum 40 words a minute
- Familiarity with cloud based software (reservation system, help desk, staff communication software, G Suite, etc)
- Own a smartphone – to punch in/out, staff communication, pictures to share for social media
- Ability to deal with brief high pressure situations, particularly Friday thru Sunday in July and August
- A tolerance to warm temps/heat – working outside and buildings that are not cooled
- Own shoes or “secured” sandals (with heal strap) that will get wet and shorts that WILL get wet daily as you drop and pickup boats from the river
** If you have serious shoulder, elbow, wrist or back issues, this may not be the position for you. While customers can be eager to help load/unload boats, you will need to be prepared to accomplish this by yourself. We will train you in the best and safest way, along with multiple options, to complete the task. However, if you have a physical limitation that can’t be overcome, we don’t want anyone hurt.
Who are we looking for? Based on our housing availability (see below), couples or singles are encouraged to apply. Someone who believes, if they enjoy the job, would be back in following years. Someone who doesn’t need constant supervision – you’ll be on your own a fair amount, whether office staff or drivers. Someone who is obsessed with efficiency and can point out where we’re not being efficient. It would be nice to find someone who could, with the general manager, dive into our policies and procedures for updating and obsolescence as a summer project. Finally, someone who understands they may not get all the hours they’re scheduled if customers, river or weather don’t cooperate – we’d prefer you work because we’re busy and need you vs we’re slow and giving you busy work for multiple hours.
About Us
In 2023 WI River Outings celebrated its 20th year in business, but our roots go back way further from the other canoe rentals we’ve purchased and consolidated. We run our operation out of two buildings, an 1867 feed mill and an 80’ x 30’ steel building. The feed mill has recently been rehabbed to be our customer greeting area with hand hewn beams, exposed stone walls and wood and steel staircase that rises three floors.
While we operate 7 days a week, mid-May through September, most of the action happens Friday through Sunday. During the weekdays we are focused on cleaning, landscaping, making outbound calls to customers who will be paddling a few days out. There are improvements made to our buildings and facilities every year and your help will be appreciated in crossing those improvements off the list.
The owner is a veteran, former teacher and budget traveler. He puts in more than 40 hours a week focused on social media, advertising/promotion and operations…and everything else (mountain biker, rails to trails enthusiast, lessor road cyclist, some paddling). The manager works approximately 35 hours a week and spends most of her time focused on office responsibilities, staff, customers and drives on occasion. We have one driver that will be with us for his third season, he works roughly 35 hours a week. To help make sure everyone has 3 days off during July and August, we are looking for 4 to 5 more staff for the summer. Some positions may be filled locally, but we’re hoping workcampers will help change the way our business runs.
We drive 2016 Ford 15 passenger, dual rear wheel, high top vans – all with less than 45k miles on them and are dealership maintained. We also have a couple of pickup trucks. Most of the time you’ll be pulling a 10 boat canoe trailer, but we also have 20, 30 and 36 boat trailers. We pride ourselves on our lightweight Wenonah Royalex canoes that most of our customers rent on their 2 – 6 day trip, camping on sandbars in the middle of the river along the way.
We are in the town of Boscobel, Wisconsin, about 3000 people. We have a hospital, grocery store, post office, a couple of banks, two hardware stores, multiple gas stations, bait shop, bowling alley, a couple of fast-food restaurants, a couple of cafes, July 4th parade and fireworks. We’re roughly 90 minutes west of Madison, WI, an hour north of Dubuque, IA and an hour south of La Crosse, WI. It’s about 3 hours to Milwaukee and 3.5 hours to Chicago and 4 hours to Minneapolis.
Our Season
Our season operates on a bell curve – we start off slow, rentals peak in July and August, and then taper off through September. Your hours and our need of you will travel along that curve. Assume at least a handful of hours every Friday through Sunday. We are at the mercy of the river and the weather – high water means no paddlers; bad weather means fewer paddlers. During the shoulder seasons we’ll be training you and working our way through organizing, landscaping and building improvement lists.
- Operations start date: May 17, 2024
- Most likely end date for your position(s): September 16, 2024
These days are somewhat flexible, we can discuss further during the interview process.
During July and August, Friday and Saturday from 9 AM to 1 PM is the busiest time as we’re putting people out for the weekend on their 2 or 3 day trips. Sunday is all about the return of customers to the Boscobel boat landing and pickup of customers that headed towards the Mississippi River to bring back upriver. All boats coming off the water on Sunday need to be cleaned and stored for the week until they’re needed again. During the busiest weekends, we try to have local teens available to clean the boats as they roll off the river, though if we don’t have any, drivers will be pitching in to get it done.
We also provide canoes for events, for example adventure races. There are about 6 of these through the season, generally avoiding July and August. These events are within 250 miles and may, or may not, include an overnight stay. This will be a voluntary option.
Scheduling/Hours/Rates
First, you will have zero housing costs (rent, electric, water, sewer, internet) while with WRO. See the housing options below.
- We will be able to provide you with a schedule for the entire summer once our staffing comes together so you can make plans around that.
- Assume you will work 14-27 hours a week, all paid – based on river and weather conditions.
- Assume that we will need you every Friday – Sunday.
- An average workday is generally 3-6 hours.
- The earliest start will be 8 AM on Friday and Saturday in July and August, but usually 9 AM.
- You’ll frequently be done by 4 PM, rarely as late as 6 PM – there are some caveats.
- We want to provide you with 2-4 days off in a row, and will do our best to make that happen. If you are a couple, and want the same days off together, please be sure to let us know.
- Again, we’d love to guarantee you hours, but we’re not able to do that. We want to be clear, if you NEED hours we’ll do our best to accommodate that, but only if there’s work/people going out to do.
Workcamper starting rate is $14/hr (state minimum is $7.25/hr – yeah, we know), returning staff will see automatic increases in the future. To be clear, you’ll be paid for every hour you work. Additional perks: free canoe/kayak rentals, use of the grill/fire pit/stove/shaded porch at the rental, washer and dryer at the house, merchandise at our cost, free firewood, access to PRO deals with major brands and who knows…just ask.
Time off, again, we’re going to do our best to give you 3-4 days off in a row (during the weekdays), 2 at a minimum. We are dealing with a REALLY short season. Requesting a Saturday/Sunday off in July and August will be almost impossible, especially if you’re a couple and both want off – we want to be clear on that now. However, if you have a situation, you REALLY don’t want to miss (wedding, 50th anniversary
, etc), come talk to us and we’ll see what we can do. But assume getting entire weekends off won’t be possible.
We will provide you with 2 staff shirts. We suggest you have either hearty sandals (not flip flops) or shoes that can get wet with a thick sole for stepping on trailers, earth tone shorts (nothing print), wide brim hat and sunglasses.
As will be mentioned again, there will be hours available to work on a house we’ve purchased that will be housing staff. If you’re looking for additional hours and have the skills, there will be hours that can be picked up working on the house to round out closer to 40 hours a week if that’s your desire.
Finally, if you require full-time work, bring this up during the interview process. If we can’t provide that many hours, we will do our best to help you find additional work with another company in town for the summer.
Housing
We have three options available:
- House – potentially shared
- Apartment
- RV
If you’ve got work to do on your RV, or currently tent camp, this could be a great set of options for you this summer. We have space to park your RV at our shop and possibly at the house based on the situation. You’ll have access to our tools if you need them.
House: We have just purchased a 1700 square foot house we affectionately call Wallpaper House a half mile walk from the rental. Full disclosure – it is livable and is clean. Decore may not be “modern vogue”…but it has:
- Central air conditioning
- Washer and dryer
- 1.5 bath
- TV – for streaming
- All utilities, including internet, are included
- We’ll take care of the landscaping
- City park across the street
- Grocery store 3 blocks away – not that you won’t want to escape town on occasion…but you won’t have to leave if you don’t want to
The house has 3 bedrooms. Based on who is hired first, and the arrangements we make, it may be shared common areas for the rest of the house and you’d have your own room (for example, if we hire 3 singles, each would have a room and share the rest of the house OR a couple would take the largest bedroom and a single could be in one of the other bedrooms). This is negotiable and will depend on who else we hire and the arrangements they might need. However, the washer and dryer will be shared regardless.
Additionally, because we know the house can be improved, if you also have construction/rehab skills (from carpentry, to painting, to plumbing and electrical) time spent working on the house will be paid time. We can discuss this in more detail if you’re interested in the opportunity during the interview process.
Apartment: Picture Bill Murry’s living arrangement in Caddyshack, while including a little humor, we’re also hopefully way under promising and will over deliver. The owner has used this space (let’s call it an effeciency apartment) for 15 years. We suggest this space for a single person.
- Bathroom with shower
- Internet
- Microwave
- TV
RV: We’ve already made an attempt with the city council to allow parking on our property at the rental, they didn’t have the vision necessary to approve our request. So, there is a shady space along the house, mentioned above, and we can provide water and electricity, there is the option of dumping at the city treatment plant (which we’d pay for). The other option is to stay in your RV and use the bathroom in the house as your primary and your RV as a backup. This is an option available to consider.
Reach out if you have any additional questions about our housing options.
You’ve made it this far, thank you! Hopefully we’ve provided insight about Southwest Wisconsin and our canoe rental that has you thinking about the cool evenings, outdoor opportunities and the appreciation you’ll receive helping WRO during Midwestern summers.
What to do next?
- Fill out an application and ALSO send us a resume if you have one via email if you’re interested.
- PLEASE, pass our information along if you know of others who might be interested in our openings.
- Take some time and go through our website, get to know what it is that we do.
- Visit our Facebook page.
Timeline
Mid-January, webpage goes live and post openings to social media and workcamper sites
Beginning of February, go through first round of applications and set-up interviews
Late February, make offers and see what openings are still available for reposting
Mid to late March, if needed, second round of offers for available openings
NOTE: If you’re here after March, reach out to see if there’s still any positions open. We will do out best to keep our openings posted, but we all know that sometimes things don’t come together as planned.