As with many careers in life, it's often who you know, rather than what you know, that gives you that first step on the ladder.
I once spoke to a chat host manager for a major bingo brand and he told me that they rarely ever advertise chat host positions, simply because if they ever need anyone they usually ask existing chat hosts for personal recommendations. There is often no shortage of friends and family who would like to earn some money working from home as a bingo host.
Over the years I have known one or two players have managed to find chat host work by cold-calling the operators, or contacting new bingo sites, to see if they can place their CV on a waiting list. But these days, most new sites are networked and don't have their own team of hosts so the chances of success are slim.
There are other big bingo operators who may post chat manager vacancies on their own company websites. However, most of the time these vacancies are in-house, meaning you have to be in the office or at least in the immediate area in order to be considered for a role.
Tips & Advice
If you are determined to apply for a chat host job, then my advice would be to have your covering letter and CV ready. Keep both as simple as possible and highlight all of the skills and experiences relevant to the role.
Chat host managers aren't going to be interested in how many cats you have, or that you're a full time mum looking for work that fits around school hours. They're going to want to know if you are computer literate, if you have any experience with bingo and if you are going to be reliable and available to work whenever needed. So make sure you focus on these three areas in your application.
Part of a chat host's role is to offer support to players in the chat rooms. So if you can demonstrate customer support skills and a knowledge of the site or software you are applying to, this will be to your advantage. Know how to use word and excel? Mention it! Chat hosts may be required to keep track of chat game winners or send in reports after each shift.
What is your set up like at home? A chat host manager will want to know if you have fast internet and a capable computer. Even better if you have a back-up computer or somewhere else you can work from should the worst happen, will make you seem a more reliable candidate.
Last but not least, if you know what site the job is for, play there and learn as much as you can about it. If you only have the company name to go on, Google them and find out what brands they own. When I started out as manager of the free bingo website, my boss later told me that I was one of the only candidates who bothered to play at the site, and indeed I played on it the most (I wasn't even aware they could monitor this). So when I came to interview this put me at an advantage over the others.
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