HUNDREDS of eager school leavers packed Southend's Adventure Island in a bid to secure a job for the summer season.

Bosses at the theme park, located in Western Esplanade, hosted their “biggest” ever recruitment day on Tuesday.

About 200 year 11 students flocked to the site to grab roles across 15 departments including rides, catering and at Sealife Adventure.

For those successful, they will be starting “as soon as this weekend”, but management are “very flexible and happy to work around various commitments”.

The park, owned by Stockvale, is known for being a career starting point for youngsters.

Emma Dodson, digital marketer at Stockvale, said: “Not all employers are able to offer 16-year-olds the same opportunities we can.

“We are the perfect stepping stone to either progress into becoming a manager here with us or progressing into a lifelong career elsewhere.

“We will always find out the passions and goals of our staff and accommodate wherever we can to help them achieve them.

“Despite the obvious fun and sociable aspect of working at Adventure Island, almost every role is customer facing to learn social skills.”

Some of the opportunities available to school leavers include operating the rides, serving up hot dogs and burgers and even helping maintain the site as a park ranger.

Whichever role they are assigned, they can take advantage of the flexible working hours, a monetary rewards system and discounted wristbands as well as food and drink benefits.

Connor Bines, one of the many managers at the park, joined when he was 16 where he started out operating the rides.

He believes it was the perfect place to start out in the world of work and helped him pursue his teaching career.

He said: “I quickly realised the sheer variety of skills that I could gain here and through my hard work and the coaching I received from my leaders, I worked my way up to the management team.

“Outside of Adventure Island, my main passion is music and during the time that I’ve spent employed here, I’ve become involved in Island Fest, our annual music festival showcasing talent in Southend. I was not only able to help organise the event but also perform myself.

“Through this, I learnt invaluable skills that have helped me pursue my chosen career in teaching. From September, I will be starting a new journey as a music teacher, taking with me the skills I have learnt but also remaining on the alumni team so I can come back and work occasionally.

“I would recommend any young person to join the team for the experience, memories and lifelong friends you will make.”

To register an interest, visit: adventureisland.co.uk/recruitment.