4. Pursue training

Once you are approved for cross-training, it is your responsibility to follow up and ensure that you are actually trained. The easiest way to make this happen is through networking. Begin spending time at the new location on your days off. Get to know the front-line team members, team leads and managers. Avoid making a pest of yourself, but ask regularly when you will be put on the training schedule.

Training is often, though not always, less structured than it is for new hires. You might be trained in bits and pieces as both you and a trainer have availability, rather than scheduled for a solid block of training several days in a row. If your training is less structured, be sure to ask at the end of each session what you still need to learn to be fully trained. You will have to go through the same check-out procedure, in which you prove that you know what you’re doing, that every new hire goes through. Make sure you are scheduled for a check-out day when you finish your training.

5. Learn how to pick up shifts

Your home location will remain the same, so your first scheduling priority will be your original job location. To avoid problems, the location where you are cross-trained typically will not put you on the regular schedule. There are exceptions to this, particularly if you have a set schedule at your home location, but almost no one who cross-trains is immediately put on the schedule at the new location. Instead, you will need to pick up shifts on days that you are available. Find out when schedules come out and who you need to speak with to pick up open shifts. Each location has different procedures, ranging from relatively formal to incredibly informal.

6. Keep your proficiencies

Once you are trained at a location, you are assumed to be proficient in working the positions for which you are trained. However, proficiency does not last forever. Every location has a specific length of time that you can go without working a shift before you will require retraining. This is typically a few months, but can vary dramatically depending on the complexity of the job. Make sure you are clear on how often you have to work at that location to maintain your proficiency, and do not allow that time period to elapse. Of course, it is best to work as often as possible at your cross-trained location. Like any other workplace, networking and face-to-face time with your team is important. Things change quickly in the theme park world, and missing more than a couple of weeks could result in your not knowing important information that is essential to effectively doing your job.