Everything you wanted to know about being a lifeguard

It’s summer time! What are we all doing this summer? Most likely kicking back and relaxing – we are either taking this summer to watch our favorite Netflix shows, decided to travel, or even applying for internships/jobs. When looking for a job we look at the ones that are exciting, the ones that are typical. For me, I worked as a lifeguard.

Being a lifeguard definitely had it’s benefits, but what if I said it didn’t.

*I am not writing this to discourage anyone from applying to become a lifeguard, I am writing this to tell people be careful where you work and who hires you*

Here are some tips and what to expect:

Kids are a nightmare (and don’t follow rules).

Congratulations, you are CPR certified! When I first started I prayed that no one drowned. I was so afraid I wouldn’t know what to do in a dire situation, but then again adults usually know how to swim/don’t fake drowning. The kids on the other hand are in their own world, I remember specifically one kid stared at me while pretending to drown himself. I stood up and gave him the “lifeguard look,” as to try to tell him he better not even think about it.

Working at the  kiddie pool was the worst possible spot to start at. The kids running around screaming with no set of authority. Well, where I worked we had a rule – no one is allowed to climb back up the slide. (Knowing kids will be kids, they don’t listen). I had many kids climb up the slide just for them to get clobbered back down by another child. Forget about using the whistle, no one seems to really notice the piercing sound anyway. The only people that really notice are the parents.

You’re gonna get a weird tan… a really weird tan.

I cannot stress enough the importance of sunscreen. It looks like we only get paid for just getting a tan, but you definitely need sunscreen. At work they had umbrellas for us, but who’s kidding – I wanted a tan too. No one told me that I’d get so tan so fast – I looked like a cup of cappuccino by the end of the day (nothing wrong with that, but you should wear sunscreen to protect your skin from the harmful UV rays). Yes, you’ll be tanner than most of your friends, but remember you get the most weird and uneven tan ever.

Always bring water as well, the one day I forget my water bottle I felt like I was the Sahara desert. Sunglasses, are also a good essential.

The coworkers weren’t what I expected.

Working as a lifeguard you expect your coworkers to be close to the ages of 18 years old and up, but not where I worked. Some of them were still in high school! My coworkers were about 14-16 years old. We had nothing remotely close to talk about and most of the coworkers flirted with each other. I felt as though I was in the Twilight Zone. Don’t get me wrong I didn’t mind, it just seemed weird to me.

Malfunctions + parents = not fun

At the resort I worked at they had a splash bucket at the kiddie pool. This bucket filled with water, once the water was at a certain level it would tip over crashing the contents of water down onto anyone in its path, kids and parents loved it. One day we had a big storm, this storm apparently damaged the hinge to the bucket and it would get stuck. I’ve had many people confront me and getting angry that they came from all the way around the world just for this bucket, even one parent blamed me that it was my fault that it was stuck. Working with these kids meant working with their parents, some of whom had serious attitudes. But you’ll have your flow of good days or bad days, in this case you had your flow within the hour. Beware the parents!

Doesn’t matter if it’s sunny or not – you’re still working.

Rain or shine we still had to be at work. Knowing that it’s raining you’d be surprised the amount of  people that still come to swim. Since it rained we normally shut down the kiddie pool. I was then placed at the outdoor hot tub. People would gather into the hot tub with their drinks and just talk. They were all laughing and enjoying themselves as I am soaked with rain water looking like a shaggy dog. At that moment I prayed for thunder, thunder appeared about 50% of the time, boy was it my best friend. Clearing out the pools, we basically went home.

Where is my boss?

There would be some days where I couldn’t come in, but no one told me my boss would go missing in action. No one seemed to know where she was. I called everywhere, just to find out she gave herself a vacation day (It seemed as though she gave herself a lot of vacation days).

Put the phone away.

Working as a lifeguard we were not allowed to have our phone out, if we did we were automatically fired. It was a strict policy they had,  guess I’ll just twiddle my thumbs until work ends, some times it would get boring if the pool wasn’t busy. Just sitting in the pool with my feet in the water made the day go by fast, it also kept me occupied. The only entertainment I had was kids playing around, parents gossiping and being able to watch people swim laps.

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Lifeguarding isn’t that bad, just make sure you do research on where your working and who hires you. I loved being able to swim on my breaks/or on a slow day, being able to get a gym discount, and being able to wear those comfortable bathing suits. My job didn’t have many benefits, but other places will have benefits and some might not.