Read about Danielle’s experience at Plopsaland de Panne:
“Three months have passed, I am halfway there. It is better than I would expected at first. I was somewhat resistant in the beginning, as you might imagine, because it turned out to be a bit difficult after a month or so. Being away from my family, not studying anymore…. However, everything has changed. Instead of travelling to the Netherlands every two weeks, I prefer working now. Discovering new things every single day is my main motivation. Without even noticing, I learn so many things daily that help me understand the industry better. How do the different departments collaborate? What does customer service mean? How are events organised and marketed? During these months I gained more confidence as well, became more critical regarding the quality of the park and learned to act customer-friendly. It all sounds an great experience now and it sure is, but there were some less pleasant things too. I remember that I used to be very stressed in the beginning, not knowing exactly what was expected from me. Operating one attraction all day long turned out to require some patience, especially on weekdays. People will complain about the rules and sometimes even about you. And most of all: a part of the visitors speaks French, a language that I have not exactly mastered yet which makes conversations very minimalistic. However, I do learn how to cope with all of this better every day and these challenges become easier every time.
From this point, my work schedule is quite varied and full. Positions at the reception and as a safety supervisor of the pool were offered to me by Plopsaqua for a period of two weeks. In July I will be working in Food & Beverage too. I requested this personally in order to get a quick view of other approaches within the company and another part of the industry. In addition, I will be spending some days with a steward to learn more about supervision. These are my main plans for June and July, which I am really looking forward to of course. I will give another update of my experiences here in Plopsaland in August.”
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