If you have ever dreamt of taking time out and becoming a ski bum, then a winter spent working in Whistler or Chamonix holds a lot of allure - you can make money doing it and even qualify as an instructor. It's not just an option for gap-year students either, but anyone who wants a career break or a change of direction.

But first of all you must banish the basic misconception: you won't be cutting fresh tracks every day and partying all night. However, you will undoubtedly end up a better skier or boarder and - depending where you go - you will improve your foreign language skills.

Around 10,000 Britons work in ski resorts each winter, some 40 per cent of them in the larger French resorts. And it's not too late to join them, says Iain Martin, founder of Natives, Britain's leading ski employment agency. While many jobs are allocated in the summer, new jobs come in every day, and work also becomes available in January because of the early fall-out of staff who have been either injured or sacked.

Depending on your age and experience, there are several options: working for a tour operator, becoming a ski or snowboard instructor, or turning up in the resort and taking pot luck.

Working for a tour operator

Most tour operators consider 18- and 19-year-olds too young to work as chalet staff, except as nannies. However, this unspoken rule tends to be waived in the scramble to fill any vacancies in the countdown to the season.

Companies employ drivers over 21 to taxi guests to and from the slopes, for deliveries and airport transfers. Nannies must have the NNEB qualification or similar. Chefs need a catering qualification and experience, while some tour operators have 'cook-ins' in the UK to test the expertise of potential employees. Some of the larger companies employ additional staff during peak-season weeks as plongeurs (washer-uppers) or as MBOs (muscle-bound oafs) who clean, unblock loos and shovel snow.

Tops Travel and First Choice both run schools programmes and need extra pairs of hands for their club-hotels during February half-term and on other peak dates. Other operators that take on extra numbers in high season include Crystal, Thomson, Esprit Ski, Total Holidays and Inghams.

The downside is that tour operator jobs are poorly paid - although perks include free accommodation, ski equipment rental, insurance, return travel and a season's lift pass.

Chalet hosts can expect to earn £60-£75 per week, chalet and kitchen assistants £50-£75, resort managers £80-£150, chefs £90-£120, nannies £85-£150, and club-hotel managers around £175. The best but hardest-to-find jobs include working in private chalets where staff can be paid up to £250 a week.

Ski hosts are paid around £95 and need to have at least 20 weeks of skiing under their belts and reasonable knowledge of the local language. They usually receive commission or free lunches when taking their clients to mountain restaurants.

An increasing number of chalets now offer guests massage and beauty treatments, with staff usually working late afternoons and early evenings. Salaries are £60-£100, with the chance of additional freelance work.

Staff accommodation varies hugely from company to company. Some years ago Val d'Isère became so concerned at the Dickensian conditions in which saisonniers (seasonal workers) were expected to live that they imposed a minimum number of cubic metres of living space per person. Among the best facilities are those offered by Supertravel, whose employees either have their own room or share one with en suite bathroom.

Becoming an instructor

It's nowhere near as difficult as you may think to pick up a teaching qualification. The easiest is the basic Canadian Level 1, which entitles you to wear the national ski/snow board school uniform and teach beginners in Canada, but not elsewhere.

Gap-year ski specialist Nonstopski promises to cram any parallel skier or rider to gain their badge in an intensive 11-week course based in Fernie, Banff, or Red Mountain. Don't expect to recoup the investment in your first weeks at ski school though. A Canadian Level 1 can expect to earn around just £4 an hour, plus tips.

The basic British qualification BASI (British Association of Snowsports Instructors) is more difficult. If you are serious about this you should ideally join a five-day introduction course for an assessment of your ability. The course for the basic BASI 3 qualification involves 10 days on snow plus 70 hours of ski school experience and a two-day first aid course. This allows you to teach in most countries except France and Austria, and you can earn up to £10 an hour.

A growing number of companies now offer intensive gap-year courses with a qualification at the end. On successful completion of the course, students are given help in finding teaching positions.

Other skilled jobs

Receptionists are employed in hotels and club-hotels, working shifts. Experience is a plus, but fluent French, German or Italian is essential.

The large ski shops take on extra staff in winter, but they need previous experience and the local language. Assistants work during the skiing day but usually get one or two full days off each week.

Bar staff can earn about £50 plus tips per week, shop assistants £50 plus discounts, receptionists £50-£60.

Pot luck

If you are prepared to take the plunge and head for a resort before the season gets under way, unskilled work is always available. This includes working as a chambermaid, waiter/waitress and freelance bar work. Avoid the most popular haunts of Val d'Isère, Courchevel and Méribel. Instead head for resorts such as Les Deux Alpes and Alpe d'Huez.

Become a rep

The Ski Club of Great Britain (020 8410 2039; skiclub.co.uk) runs a 13-day reps course each December for £1,400pp including half-board accommodation and guiding. It is open to good intermediate skiers aged 22 to 50 who will learn to lead skiers around the mountain and can become Ski Club reps in a choice of 44 resorts. Reps are unpaid but receive half-board accommodation, a lift pass and insurance.

Ski recruitment organisations

Bunac/Gap Canada (020 7251 3472; bunac.org)
Free Radicals (07968 183848; freeradicals.co.uk)
Jobs in the Alps (07968 183848; jobs-in-the-alps.com) - hotel/restaurant jobs for language students in Switzerland and France.
Just Jobs 4 Students (justjobs4students.co.uk).
Natives (08700 463377; natives.co.uk).
Season Workers (seasonworkers.com).
Voows (01707 396511; voovs.com).
Ski Connection (020 8960 6892;skiconnection.co.uk).

Useful reading

The Natives Guide to Working in Ski Resorts by Iain Martin and Vicky Brown (£8.99).