Career profile for Recreation Attendant

What does a Recreation Attendant do?

Recreation Attendants perform a variety of attending duties at amusement or recreation facility.

In addition, Recreation Attendants may schedule use of recreation facilities, maintain and provide equipment to participants of sporting events or recreational pursuits, or operate amusement concessions and rides.

What kind of tasks does a Recreation Attendant perform regularly?

Recreation Attendants are often responsible for overseeing or executing some or all of the following tasks:

Sell tickets and collect fees from customers.
Provide information about facilities, entertainment options, and rules and regulations.
Keep informed of shut-down and emergency evacuation procedures.
Direct patrons to rides, seats, or attractions.
Monitor activities to ensure adherence to rules and safety procedures, or arrange for the removal of unruly patrons.
Record details of attendance, sales, receipts, reservations, or repair activities.
Maintain inventories of equipment, storing and retrieving items and assembling and disassembling equipment as necessary.

The above responsibilities are specific to Recreation Attendants. More generally, Recreation Attendants are involved in several broader types of activities:

Activities	Importance	Details
Performing for or Working Directly with the Public		Performing for people or dealing directly with the public. This includes serving customers in restaurants and stores, and receiving clients or guests.
Getting Information		Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.
Inspecting Equipment, Structures, or Materials		Inspecting equipment, structures, or materials to identify the cause of errors or other problems or defects.
Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates		Providing information to supervisors, co-workers, and subordinates by telephone, in written form, e-mail, or in person.
Thinking Creatively		Developing, designing, or creating new applications, ideas, relationships, systems, or products, including artistic contributions.

Performing for or Working Directly with the Public

Performing for people or dealing directly with the public. This includes serving customers in restaurants and stores, and receiving clients or guests.

Getting Information

Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.

Inspecting Equipment, Structures, or Materials

Inspecting equipment, structures, or materials to identify the cause of errors or other problems or defects.

Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates

Providing information to supervisors, co-workers, and subordinates by telephone, in written form, e-mail, or in person.

Thinking Creatively

Developing, designing, or creating new applications, ideas, relationships, systems, or products, including artistic contributions.

What is a Recreation Attendant salary?

The median salary for a Recreation Attendant is $24,760, and the average salary is $25,610. Both the median and average roughly describe the middle of the Recreation Attendant salary range, but the average is more easily affected by extremely high or low salaries.

Many Recreation Attendants earn significantly more or less than the average, due to several factors. About 10% of Recreation Attendants earn less than $18,150 per year, 25% earn less than $20,080, 75% earn less than $29,220, and 90% earn less than $33,420.

Between the years of 2020 and 2030, the number of Recreation Attendants is expected to change by 32.3%, and there should be roughly 72,900 open positions for Recreation Attendants every year.

Median annual salary: $24,760
Typical salary range: $18,150 - $33,420
Projected growth (2020 - 2030): 32.3%

What personality traits are common among Recreation Attendants?

Interests

Career interests describe a person's preferences for different types of working environments and activities. When a person's interest match the demands of an occupation, people are usually more engaged and satisfied in that role.

Compared to most occupations, those who work as a Recreation Attendant are usually higher in their Enterprising, Conventional, and Realistic interests.

Recreation Attendants typically have very strong Enterprising interests. Enterprising occupations frequently involve starting up and carrying out projects. These occupations can involve leading people and making many decisions. Sometimes they require risk taking and often deal with business.

Also, Recreation Attendants typically have strong Conventional interests. Conventional occupations frequently involve following set procedures and routines. These occupations can include working with data and details more than with ideas. Usually there is a clear line of authority to follow.

Lastly, Recreation Attendants typically have moderate Realistic interests. Realistic occupations frequently involve work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They often deal with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery. Many of the occupations require working outside, and do not involve a lot of paperwork or working closely with others.

Values

People differ in their values, or what is most important to them for building job satisfaction and fulfillment.

Compared to most people, those working as a Recreation Attendant tend to value Support, Independence, and Relationships.

Most importantly, Recreation Attendants moderately value Support. Occupations that satisfy this work value offer supportive management that stands behind employees.

Second, Recreation Attendants moderately value Independence. Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to work on their own and make decisions.

Lastly, Recreation Attendants moderately value Relationships. Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to provide service to others and work with co-workers in a friendly non-competitive environment.

Psychological Demands

Each occupation brings its own set of psychological demands, which describe the characteristics necessary to perform the job well.

In order to perform their job successfully, people who work as Recreation Attendants must consistently demonstrate qualities such as cooperation, concern for others, and dependability.

Below, you'll find a list of qualities typically required of Recreation Attendants, ranked by importance:

Demands	Importance	Details
Cooperation		Job requires being pleasant with others on the job and displaying a good-natured, cooperative attitude.
Concern for Others		Job requires being sensitive to others' needs and feelings and being understanding and helpful on the job.
Dependability		Job requires being reliable, responsible, and dependable, and fulfilling obligations.
Self-Control		Job requires maintaining composure, keeping emotions in check, controlling anger, and avoiding aggressive behavior, even in very difficult situations.
Adaptability/Flexibility		Job requires being open to change (positive or negative) and to considerable variety in the workplace.

Cooperation

Job requires being pleasant with others on the job and displaying a good-natured, cooperative attitude.

Concern for Others

Job requires being sensitive to others' needs and feelings and being understanding and helpful on the job.

Dependability

Job requires being reliable, responsible, and dependable, and fulfilling obligations.

Self-Control

Job requires maintaining composure, keeping emotions in check, controlling anger, and avoiding aggressive behavior, even in very difficult situations.

Adaptability/Flexibility

Job requires being open to change (positive or negative) and to considerable variety in the workplace.

What education and training do Recreation Attendants need?

Working as a Recreation Attendant may require a high school diploma or GED certificate.

Recreation Attendants need anywhere from a few days to a few months of training. Usually, an experienced worker could show you how to do the job.

Educational degrees among Recreation Attendants

6.0% did not complete high school or secondary school
27.7% completed high school or secondary school
26.8% completed some college coursework
8.7% earned a Associate's degree
24.3% earned a Bachelor's degree
5.7% earned a Master's degree
0.9% earned a doctorate or professional degree

Knowledge and expertise required by Recreation Attendants

Recreation Attendants may benefit from understanding of specialized subject areas, such as customer and personal service, public safety and security, or administration and management knowledge.

The list below shows several areas in which most Recreation Attendants might want to build proficiency, ranked by importance.

Knowledge areas	Importance	Details
Customer and Personal Service		Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
Public Safety and Security		Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
Administration and Management		Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
Sales and Marketing		Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
Computers and Electronics		Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.

Customer and Personal Service

Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.

Public Safety and Security

Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.

Administration and Management

Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.

Sales and Marketing

Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.

Computers and Electronics

Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.

Important Abilities needed by Recreation Attendants

Recreation Attendants must develop a particular set of abilities to perform their job well. Abilities are individual capacities that influence a person's information processing, sensory perception, motor coordination, and physical strength or endurance. Individuals may naturally have certain abilities without explicit training, but most abilities can be sharpened somewhat through practice.

For example, Recreation Attendants need abilities such as speech clarity, oral comprehension, and oral expression in order to perform their job at a high level. The list below shows several important abilities for Recreation Attendants, ranked by their relative importance.

Abilities	Importance	Details
Speech Clarity		The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
Oral Comprehension		The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
Oral Expression		The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
Problem Sensitivity		The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.
Speech Recognition		The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.

Speech Clarity

The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.

Oral Comprehension

The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.

Oral Expression

The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.

Problem Sensitivity

The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.

Speech Recognition

The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.

Critical Skills needed by Recreation Attendants

Skills are developed capacities that enable people to function effectively in real-world settings. Unlike abilities, skills are typically easier to build through practice and experience. Skills influence effectiveness in areas such as learning, working with others, design, troubleshooting, and more.

Recreation Attendants frequently use skills like speaking, service orientation, and active listening to perform their job effectively. The list below shows several critical skills for Recreation Attendants, ranked by their relative importance.

Skills	Importance	Details
Speaking		Talking to others to convey information effectively.
Service Orientation		Actively looking for ways to help people.
Active Listening		Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
Social Perceptiveness		Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
Monitoring		Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.

Speaking

Talking to others to convey information effectively.

Service Orientation

Actively looking for ways to help people.

Active Listening

Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.

Social Perceptiveness

Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.

Monitoring

Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.

What is the source of this information?

The information provided on this page is adapted from data and descriptions published by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration under the CC BY 4.0 license. TraitLab has modified some information for ease of use and reading, and the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment, and Training Administration has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.

If you have any questions or suggestions about this information, please send a message.

Career profile Recreation Attendant

Recreation Attendant

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