animal care specialist

groundskeeper

custodian

camp counselor

seasonal associate

Brookfield Zoo Chicago

It is an ok job for short term, but it is not something you could ever live off of. They hire seasonally and lay you off after holiday magic, usually calling you back around late February or March depending on the weather. Summer hours are usually 50+ and most of the people in the admissions department are really friendly and easy to get along with. 

I was cross trained in many locations (North/South Buggies, Motor Safari, Giraffe feeding, Parking, Carousel, Dolphin Show) so my schedule was never the same. North/South buggies was probably my favorite position. A huge sense of responsibility and you are usually scheduled with other people so it doesn't get boring (motor safari and parking suck, you are alone all day in a small booth). 

A lot of the buildings are old and outdated without heat/AC so be prepared to be miserable in extreme weather. 

Most of the supervisors are great if you get on their good side. Make an effort to get to know them! The management is garbage though. Mostly just sit in their office all day or rarely come out just to tell you that you aren't doing your job properly. 

Majority of the guests have no idea how their memberships actually work so be prepared to constantly explain the same thing over and over again.

Despite it's shortcomings I am glad I worked here and it did give me a lot of experience. I would suggest it, even if only for 1 season. 

A typical day at work day included walking throughout the zoo and ensuring guest safety, answering guest's questions, lost and found, and transporting guests and items from one place to another. I learned how to report things to the police officers I worked with, fill up an air tank, learn and use police codes, and learn how to work with all different types of customers. The management were very fair, and they did their job correctly. They were very respectful to each employee and everyone got along very well. The hardest part of the job was sometimes not knowing what to do in an emergency situation, such as one time we had a report of a man with a gun in the building, and some of us did not know whether to go into the building to make sure guests were OK, or stay out around the building to make sure no one else entered. In the end, it takes a good team to figure those situations out and create the best possible resolution. The most enjoyable part of this job was that it was unpredictable many times. You never knew what emergencies could happen, what lost and found items you may have to find, how many lost children you have to search for, and the amount of people showing up at the zoo. I enjoyed being able to work independently many times, but also I was glad I was able to work with a great team who communicated well with each other.

I have worked a variety of jobs in my life, but none of those jobs made me as happy as working at Brookfied Zoo does. The staff is so nice and we have a lot of fun in-between working. I'm only a seasonal employee right now but my ultimate goal is to work there full time for the rest of my life. I can definitely see myself at the zoo 20...30 years from now. I deal with guests daily over the phone so most of my calls are inquiries about their membership or complaints. It can be tough sometimes dealing wih upset guests, but it's really not that bad because you are empowered to do what it takes to make them happy. My supervisors are so supportive and flexible and everyone at the zoo has genuine love and adoration (sometimes borderline obsession...haha) for animals.

A typical day in the catered events department at Brookfield Zoo consists of prepping large amounts of food for either a wedding, banquet, picnic, or other event that is taking place. The set-up workers and servers prepare with setting up all the tables, linen, and chairs etc. During the event the kitchen executes by cooking all the food with displaying it nicely. I have learned a lot about being a team leader and working as a team to get a certain task accomplished whether it was setting up a wedding or preparing the food for the wedding. The management is very good at making sure everyone is where they need to be and making sure the event runs smoothly. My co-workers are like my second family at Brookfield Zoo and love working with them. The hardest part of my job is running from wedding to wedding to help the kitchen when there might be 3 weddings going on at the zoo in one night. I enjoy working with the catered events team whom are very down to earth.

A typical day at work for a zookeeper is expectations of starting and ending on time, and filling your day with animal care, observations and interpretation of behavior, interacting with co-workers in a team setting, interacting in a positive manner with zoo guests and reporting to the management team in a prompt and professional manner.

The hardest part of the job is the heavy work (job description states that you must be able to lift, push, pull up to 75 pounds).

The most enjoyable part of the job is the randomness of animal care - you never know who is going to give birth, get sick, what a newly acquired animal needs, etc.  The skills you develop in regards to the care is patience, skilled and detailed observation of behavior, interpreting and relaying the behavior, can work as a team member or individual, must be able to respond quickly and professionally in terms of an emergency.

Where I worked you were outside all the time no matter how hot it got. It would be like 95° out and management would refuse to let us go home after certain amount of time because they needed people to be at the front taking tickets. But the thing would be that there was no one coming in and there would still be three of us out there dying. None of the management ever really came out of their office so they never knew the conditions of being outside for that long of a time. The people that worked in the guest services that were always very rude. You would asked them something and they would give you attitude and it was the same way for customers as well. They love giving customers attitude about things or after they would finish talking to a customer they would turn away and roll their eyes or something like that. But if you really need the money for something like paying car insurance or bus fare it's a good enough job.

This job is great if you enjoy meeting people from different countries, working at a fast pace, learning about Zoo animals and their background.  Our work ID lets us enjoy free entrees to Museums and other Zoos in the City of Chicago. The saddest day happened when a Lion passed away, especially when the other Lion also passed soon after. Though we had to give a week's notice for a day off, management understood if you had to leave work, especially in an emergency. This job was seasonal and also required everyone to call in every day to ensure work was available and whether weather permitted so. Public transportation was available to and from work but alternative methods of transportation like uber were necessary when the weather was bad. This was a good way to learn to use metra trains as another alternative to get to work and home. 

Everyday there would be something new. You would clock in and look at the assignment sheet to see which station you were working at for the day. The stations include register, kitchen, bussing, grill, fry station, etc. If you weren't on the assignment sheet or if ticket counts were low for that specific day you were sent home. I learned patience with this employer. Iv'e encountered every kind of customer you could think of. My co-workers weren't nice people and were very unprofessional. Some of the management staff would play favoritism. The hardest part of my job was having to overcome all of the unfair and unprofessional acts of my co-workers and managers. My mom didn't have many hours at her job, and jobs were hard to come by at that time period so I had to stick it out. The most enjoyable part of the job was receiving free entry to Brookfield for you and your family.

This part time seasonal job was alot of fun to work for during the summer since it was nice out and you got to eat free food most of the time. The work itself wasn't bad either since you have a team of people that help move everything from the events that are taking place in the zoo so its a pretty easy job most of the time. You even get to drive golf carts and flat bed carts which are alot of fun! The worst parts about the job though is that the pay is pretty bad, its impossible to move up or get any advancement through this position, the hours can be incredibly long even if the work is enjoyable, and finally its seasonal so there's little to no work at all in the winter time to early spring. Still for a summer job and if you're looking for a first time job I'd recommend it.

Each day you are put at a different work area that is within the department you are assigned to. I have never operated a cash register until working for Brookfield Zoo and I am much exposed and experienced in that area. Most of the co workers are nice and easy to get along with. The hardest part of the job is dealing with difficult guests. There have been many guests whom were difficult, but as always I show empathy and give those respect. The most enjoyable part of the job is having complementary admission tickets for the zoo and all of the attractions, as well as seeing all of the animals daily!

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Animal care specialist 25 salaries reported	$23.48 per hour
Groundskeeper 3 salaries reported	$15.00 per hour
Custodian 2 salaries reported	$15.00 per hour
Camp counselor 3 salaries reported	$20.12 per hour
Seasonal associate 2 salaries reported	$16.85 per hour

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