Careers in amusement make work fun

Thomas Edison said, "I never did a day's work in my life. It was all fun." While the Wizard of Menlo Park was talking about his life as an inventor, scientist and businessman, he could have been speaking for the approximately 400,000 employees who spend their days working at American amusement parks and attractions.

"It's a great industry where you can have a fun and challenging career," says Maureen Richmond, who worked five seasons as the director of marketing communications at King's Island, the world's largest seasonal theme park, located near Cincinnati.

According to the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA), there are more than 400 amusement parks and traditional attractions in the United States. Every year, the industry entertains some 300 million visitors who safely enjoy more than 1.7 billion rides.

At Kings Island, Richmond said they served 3 million guests, while open just six months out of the year. "Every day thousands of guests would come to the park seeking a fun day with their family. They expected sunshine, fun, safe and 100 percent operating attractions. Our job was to deliver on that experience and expectation.

"Of course, when welcoming so many guests, there was also an opportunity for great risk," says Richmond. Sometimes bad weather, power outages or mechanical issues put a damper on the fun.

"An amusement park is really like a small city. The general manager is like the mayor. We had our own fire and police departments," says Richmond. "We had 80 rides and attractions and every year we introduced something new."

She noted, "Each year, the park would hire more than 4,000 seasonal employees for all sorts of jobs ranging from rides, operations, safety, maintenance, food service, retail, environmental services, horticultural and guest services. We also had 150 full time employees who worked year round in operations, marketing, promotions, individual and group sales, administration, retail and food service."

Some seasonal employees came back year after year, and many full time employees started out as seasonal help. Richmond recalls going to King's Island with her family and for her eighth-grade trip. She moved to Cincinnati to take the job in marketing where she was responsible for all external communications, media relations, crisis communications and overseeing guest relations.

"One of the cool things about working in the amusement industry is there are so many different jobs, and employees come from a wide variety of industries with different backgrounds. It was a great learning experience," says Richmond, who came from the IT industry. "People would come back every season, sometimes to try new jobs or a new area. We had teachers, retirees, interns -- you name it. It was great place to work and develop new skills."

Though Richmond left the amusement industry and is now the director of media relations for FirstGroup America, she noted that many of her fellow co-workers came from other theme parks and have built long-term careers working for industry leaders like Cedar Fair, Disney, Schlitterbahn Waterparks, Hershey Entertainment and Resorts, Six Flags and Universal. "There were many opportunities to move up through an organization and grow your career by moving to different parks," she shares.