Careers at Indiahikes - India's Largest Trekking Organisation

Working At Indiahikes

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b74d3462 1240 4f05 b37b f4d9cef0f32d tarsar marsar tm nitesh salkade solitude at tarsar lake

What does it mean to work at Indiahikes?

Working at Indiahikes can be extremely rewarding and equally frustrating. At Indiahikes everyone is committed to the vision of the organisation. Here responsibilities are high, work is busy. People love what they do.

Since 2008, Indiahikes has defined the future of trekking. Most trekking trails, like the Roopkund, Rupin Pass, Buran Ghati, Kedarkantha, Kashmir Great Lakes, Tarsar Marsar, Brahmatal, Warwan Valley, Phulara Ridge have been brought out by Indiahikes.

Modern safety systems like the microspikes, pulse oximeters, radios and oxygen on treks have been introduced in Indian trekking by Indiahikes.

Our Green Trails project has revolutionised how trekking trails are preserved in India.

Finally, the Indiahikes Experience has transformed the lives of thousands of trekkers in India. They have gone home with a deeper understanding of their mind, body and spirit.

Today, more than 25,000 trekkers trek with Indiahikes every year. Indiahikes is also India's largest trekking organisation.

In this context look at the roles available at Indiahikes below

What Makes A Career At Indiahikes Worth It

Open Positions

Trek Leader

[Currently, all positions for trek leaders have been filled. Recruitment for trek leaders stands closed. We may open recruitment for trek leaders only after March 2025.]

Trek leaders lead the Indiahikes teams in the mountains. Trek leaders ensure that more than just leading trekkers on a trek, trekkers take back a transformative change in their minds, bodies, and spirits.

Trek leadership is not about taking trekkers from point A to point B. It is about imparting the Indiahikes experience. The experience consists of three key components:

At Indiahikes, on every trek, we focus on the transformation of the mind, body, and spirit. The trek leader facilitates this.
We also want our trekkers to be future examples of sustainable trekking. Our treks focus a lot on teaching sustainable skills.
We want to make our trekkers independent (so they don’t need Indiahikes). Our trek leaders teach them Do-It-Yourself trekking skills.

The trek leader imparts all of these.

Trek leading is a skill that is learned. You devote up to 90 days to a training and mentorship programme. Training is imparted on leadership, safety, experience building, operations, and technical skills. At the end of the programme, you go on to become a trek leader at Indiahikes.

Applicants for Trek Leaders must fulfil the following criteria:

Must be at least 24 years of age. Male/Female. We encourage women to be trek leaders.
Must have a minimum of a Basic Mountaineering Course certificate from a reputed Institute.
You must have done at least two high-altitude Himalayan treks above 14,000 feet.
Must be willing to acquire a BLS certification (basic life support). A BLS certification can be obtained in any metro city at reputed hospitals.
Must have excellent English and Hindi communication skills.
Work experience in a leadership role in a different industry is preferred.
Must follow an active fitness regimen. BMI (Body Mass Index) must be between 18.5 and 24.9. You can run 5 km in under 30 minutes (this will be tested when you come for training).
Smoking and drinking are strictly prohibited under our work conditions.

Trek leader's salary starts at Rs 5.0 lakh per annum. In the second year, the salary increases to Rs 5.4 lakh annually. From the third year on, TL salaries can range between Rs 7.0 lakh and Rs 7.5 lakh annually, depending on the responsibility taken or seniority attained. In addition, there are other work perks.

During the 90-day training period, you earn a stipend of Rs 20,000 per month.

Trek leaders save almost 80% of their income. Indiahikes provides for all your living expenses, including food while on duty.

Watch these videos about the role of a Trek Leader:

To apply, follow the instructions given below in "How to Apply."

[Currently, all positions for trek leaders have been filled. Recruitment for trek leaders stands closed. We may open recruitment for trek leaders only after March 2025.]

Assistant Trek Leader Internship

[Note: The Assistant Trek Leader Internship role is from March to June 2025. After June 2025, your assignment with Indiahikes will end. This is an internship for four months only. However, few who show exceptional performance can expect to be absorbed in Indiahikes.]

Would you like to assist Indiahikes trek leaders? Perhaps be a future trek leader? If so, then the ATL internship is suitable for you.

ATL internship applicants must meet the following criteria:

Minimum of 22 years old.
Trek Experience: Good trek experience, preferably Himalayan. Please mention the treks that you have done. If you have trekked with Indiahikes, we prefer that. (Treks like Triund and Kheerganga do not count as experience.)
Work experience in other industries is given preference
Must have excellent English and Hindi communication skills.
Must follow an active fitness regimen. BMI (body mass index) must be between 18.5 and 23.9. You can run 5 km in under 35 minutes (this will be tested when you come for training).
No smoking or drinking habits at all.

As an ATL intern, you will undergo extensive 30-day training before leading your first groups.

ATL interns earn a stipend of Rs 20,000 per month during the four-month period.

Indiahikes provides for all your living expenses, including stay and food while on duty.

Before applying for the assistant trek leader internship position, please see these videos about what the role involves.

To apply, follow the instructions below in "How to Apply."

Short-form video editing intern

Our vision at Indiahikes is that Everyone Must Trek. Our videos, so far, have played a huge role in spreading awareness about trekking. Millions of trekkers have used our videos to learn about locations they had never heard about before. They have also learnt the nuances of trekking using our videos.

We are looking to grow our video base with not only new videos but also reinventing our content to create more short-form video content and more modern video content.

To take this video work forward, we are looking for a video editing intern with strong editing skills. This is a Bengaluru-based role.

As a video editor, you are expected to take ownership of producing the final output of our videos. This includes non-linear video editing for putting together the first cut and adding motion graphics.

To join the team, you must fulfil the following criteria:

Well-versed with Adobe Premiere Pro, FCP, Adobe After Effects, or DaVinci Resolve
Minimum age: 21 years
Must come with your own laptop/required software.

Location: Bangalore office of Indiahikes

Internship duration: 2 months

Salary: Starts at Rs 25,000 per month. Further details will be furnished once you apply for the role.

Front-end Developer (React.js, Freelance role)

At Indiahikes, our main focus has been on growing our database of trek information. To do this, our website has been our biggest pillar of strength, hosting all our content over the past 13 years. There are over 1,400 articles, photos, and videos on our website.

On the other hand, we have a vision to make our digital experience for our trekkers stronger. We have many ideas to implement, yet we admit we need expert tech help in taking our development work forward. We want trekkers like us who can work with us on technology.

Your responsibility: The Indiahikes website you see is built on React.js with a headless CMS (Prismic) as the backend. Work involves managing the website, including maintenance, fixing issues, developing new features, and solving problems.

You must come in with at least 3-4 years of experience in React.js.

We would expect you to put in around 4-5 hours of work every day.

You can work remotely. If you're based in Bangalore, that's a bonus.

If this is something that interests you, please write to sandhya@indiahikes.com (COO and Co-founder) with details of your work experience in these domains along with why you wish to work with Indiahikes.

Java Developer (Freelance role)

The trekker registration system at Indiahikes is a Java Spring Boot based system. It handles a vast database of over 3 lakh trekkers.

This system ensures that the entire registration process runs smoothly. This involves the seamless interaction of various features with the details of the trekkers.

As the Java expert, your core responsibility involves developing new features, deploying, maintaining, fixing issues, and ensuring minimum downtime for end users.

For this role, you must fulfil the following criteria:

Proficiency in Java, Spring Boot with a good understanding of its ecosystems
Familiarity with different design and architectural patterns
Ability to write clean, readable Java code
Basic know-how of class loading mechanism in Java
Experience in handling external and embedded databases
Write and execute unit tests to ensure the reliability and functionality of code.
Implement security measures to protect applications from potential threats and vulnerabilities.
Document technical specifications, user manuals, and other relevant documentation to ensure effective communication and knowledge transfer.

We are looking for someone with a minimum of 4 years of experience in Java and can put in 15-20 hours of work weekly.

If this is something that interests you, please write to sandhya@indiahikes.com (COO and Co-founder) with details of your work experience in these domains along with why you wish to work with Indiahikes.

Assistant Experience Coordinator (Full-time, Bengaluru)

Coordinating the treks of 20,000 trekkers is complex. Coordinating it with the vision, values, and culture that we have is what makes it interesting and challenging.

Our operations span the Himalayas, mostly in remote locations where even mobile signal is difficult.

Assistant Experience Coordinators lend integral support to the Experience Coordination Team at Indiahikes. Assistant Experience Coordinators are called AECs at our office.

But first, you must understand how we view our trekkers. Like us, they are trekkers. We communicate with them in the same way that one trekker communicates with another. They consult with us as senior trekkers, not as an organisation. As an AEC, your role is to assist the Experience Coordination team. Every AEC is given a specific role to play.

You can apply to be an AEC if you do not match the age or work experience criteria for an Experience Coordinator.

Must be a minimum of 22 years old. Male or female.
We prefer it if you have done trekking. If you have trekked with Indiahikes, that's even better!
Work experience is preferred.
Must be willing to work from Bengaluru
Must have excellent English and Hindi communication skills.

This role is full-time and Bengaluru-based.

The salary starts at Rs. 5.0 lakh per annum.

To apply, follow the instructions given below in "How to Apply"

How to Apply

We're extremely careful about who we select as a part of team Indiahikes. Through the selection process, we want to make sure you are the 'right fit'.

For all positions email

Sandhya Chandrasekharayya: sandhya@indiahikes.com
CC: Arjun Majumdar: arjun@indiahikes.com

Subject: Working with Indiahikes — (name of position)

Sandhya Chandrasekharayya, is the COO and Co-founder at Indiahikes. Arjun Majumdar is the CEO and Founder of Indiahikes

What to include in your email application

Your latest resume (Even if you don’t have a background in trekking, your past work experience matters to us)
Write a paragraph about 'why you wish to work at Indiahikes'. A passion for trek and travel is important, but must not be the only reason for you to apply.
Write another paragraph about your skills and talents that make you suitable for the role.
If you have any trek experience, mention it in the email.
Any specific write up or inclusions as mentioned in the role description

What is the recruitment process at Indiahikes?

We receive a large number of applications. If you are shortlisted, we will write back within seven days, usually quicker. If you do not hear from us within seven days, in all probability, your application has been rejected. You can, of course, remind us again by email if you feel you are the right fit for Indiahikes.

The below recruitment process applies to all roles other than the Trek Leader and Asst. Trek Leader roles:

STEP 1: The first step is a form that you fill out so that we get to know your skills better. Here, you may be asked to complete a test assignment as well. If your portfolio speaks for itself, you may be taken directly to the next step. On the other hand, if we see that you're using AI to complete the assignments, it is grounds for us to reject your application immediately.

STEP 2: The next step is where we conduct your personal interview with a senior member of Indiahikes. Our objective is to see whether you make a good culture fit at Indiahikes. Our culture and values are sacrosanct to us, and it matters to us that you align with them. If required, there will be two such rounds of a personal interview. These will be conducted online, unless you live close to our office.

STEP 3: The final round is our most interesting and unusual one, where we invite you to our office for a two-day visit. This is a chance for you to get to know Indiahikes better and for us to get to know you better. During these two days, you get to speak to several team members at Indiahikes, work on small assignments, be part of our meetings and lunchtime, and observe the work culture here. It will help you arrive at a decision about whether you would like to grow professionally at Indiahikes. It will also give us insight into whether you would fit into the culture here.

Note: If selected for the 2-day visit, you are expected to bear the cost of your travel. In case you're coming from another city, we are happy to offer you accommodation at our guesthouse (at our expense) upon prior request.

Further, we usually call only the applicants we are strongly considering to our office. In most cases, your take-home salary will be revealed to you at this stage so that you can decide whether to confirm your 2-day visit or not.

STEP 4: After your 2-day visit, we will get back to you within a couple of days about our final verdict.

As you can see, it is a slightly long and serious recruitment process, but we are very particular about who works at IndiaHikes. This is a big way in which we have been able to build an organisation with a deep value system that reaches every last person working here.

The Core Values that make us who we are

These are values that anybody working here is expected to imbibe.

You are Humble

Humility is the biggest trait we look for in our team members. Even if an applicant is highly skilled, or experience but not humble, we do not take them. You’ll find this as a virtue among all team members at Indiahikes — whether it’s our founders, our Trek Leaders or our local staff members. A humble person makes for an ideal team member. They are open to feedback, easily teachable, curious and eager to learn.They are able to grow and nurture the organisation

Humility is practiced everyday at Indiahikes. Those who are not humble are not encouraged to be at Indiahikes.

You are Fit

We expect trekkers to be fit for our treks. It holds true for all of us at Indiahikes as well. If we are unfit, then we have little right to ask trekkers to be fit on our treks. To us, fitness is a way of life. This means everyone has a fitness routine, everyone is always ready to go on a Himalayan trek.

If you are unfit and do not have a fitness routine, you cannot work at Indiahikes.

You are a Sustainability Champion

At Indiahikes we have taken the responsibility of bringing in systems that make trekking more sustainable. We are here to leave our mountains better. We do this through our Green Trails project. And for this, the best place to begin is at home. So, everyone at Indiahikes is a sustainability champion. We buy little or no packaged goods, we use no disposables. We compost our waste. We lead minimalist lives. This extends to everyone working here.

If you do not lead a sustainable life, you cannot be with us at Indiahikes.

You show Care

To show care for our trekkers is to put the needs and interests of our trekkers before our own. It means sacrificing ourselves on behalf of our trekkers. Caring means using our time, skills, and talents to help our trekkers.

To show care is giving beyond what is required. Nobody asks you to do it. Showing care is one of our biggest differentiators at work. It has helped Indiahikes be where it is today. If you do not show care, eventually you will be a misfit at Indiahikes.