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I have this passion for telling people about things. I'm a geologist so I tend to talk about rocks and earth stuff a lot when I go out with friends. A lot of them have mentioned I should look into becoming a tour guide because I'm a good story teller and know how to convey complex subjects into simple terms. Earlier this year I went on a vacation led by a professional tour guide and was absolutely blown away at the skill of conveying so much history and knowledge capacity of this person. When I left to go home I started seriously thinking about becoming a tour guide. I got offered to do some basic training as a tour guide in my city. Despite every tour I led giving me praise for my skills, they offered the job to someone else because they excelled in other aspects of the job. Regardless, those two weeks I was in training was some of the most fun I had at any job I have ever had and I really want to keep trying to break in to the industry. How did you get involved in the tour guide industry? Where should I be looking for more training or potential jobs? What are desirable skills that would look great when applying for tour guide jobs? What are the good and bad experiences of being a tour guide?
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Dec 15, 2015 06:21
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Eclogite posted:I have this passion for telling people about things. I'm a geologist so I tend to talk about rocks and earth stuff a lot when I go out with friends. A lot of them have mentioned I should look into becoming a tour guide because I'm a good story teller and know how to convey complex subjects into simple terms. Earlier this year I went on a vacation led by a professional tour guide and was absolutely blown away at the skill of conveying so much history and knowledge capacity of this person. When I left to go home I started seriously thinking about becoming a tour guide. I got offered to do some basic training as a tour guide in my city. Despite every tour I led giving me praise for my skills, they offered the job to someone else because they excelled in other aspects of the job. Regardless, those two weeks I was in training was some of the most fun I had at any job I have ever had and I really want to keep trying to break in to the industry. What "other aspects of the job" out of interest. I was a part time tour guide for a year, doing walking tours in London. I got into it because a friend worked at the company, and I like history and poo poo. Sorry I can't really offer any advice, other than find who gives tours in your area, and keep applying. Over time I found the best reaction came from pointing out things that the tourists wouldn't have noticed, rather than rattling off great screeds in front of well-known landmarks. So between the big stop-offs I would point out and explain fire insurance marks, coal hole covers, and other stuff like that. I'd try to pass V2 landing sites, or the dragon markers around the City of London. The stone nose on Admiralty Arch was very popular. Banksy wasn't such a household name back then, but if I were doing it now I'd definitely plan a route past a couple of his harder to spot pieces.
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Dec 15, 2015 11:16
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Mr Enderby posted:What "other aspects of the job" out of interest. It was a company that offered city tours on bicycles. The other candidate who got the job had more bike mechanic experience than me and the owner wanted someone who could work on the bikes while not doing a tour.
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Dec 15, 2015 23:40
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It's minimum wage plus tips for life. Call any of the tour companies in your area when it isn't winter any more if you live in a city that has tours.
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Dec 16, 2015 01:09
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I worked as a tour guide at my university one summer, that was cool and honestly, in some ways was my favorite job ever even though it wasn't much money. Go for your dreams.
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Jan 16, 2016 02:44
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I'm not a tour guide a but a good friend is. One of the things that makes her a great guide is that she is always prepared to improvise. Each group and day is different. Maybe one group is super keen on architecture, so she'll take a different route that goes by some interesting buildings. Another might be more interested in hearing where the good pubs are and would love to give some tips in exchange for drinks at a bar post-tour. Other groups are just completely mute and happy to be guided wherever. Energy and smiles are infectious. Having different routes and stops in case of rain or heat is helpful. It's amazing what tourists will put up with though.
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Jan 17, 2016 20:05
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Eclogite posted:I have this passion for telling people about things. I'm a geologist so I tend to talk about rocks and earth stuff a lot when I go out with friends. A lot of them have mentioned I should look into becoming a tour guide because I'm a good story teller and know how to convey complex subjects into simple terms. Earlier this year I went on a vacation led by a professional tour guide and was absolutely blown away at the skill of conveying so much history and knowledge capacity of this person. When I left to go home I started seriously thinking about becoming a tour guide. I got offered to do some basic training as a tour guide in my city. Despite every tour I led giving me praise for my skills, they offered the job to someone else because they excelled in other aspects of the job. Regardless, those two weeks I was in training was some of the most fun I had at any job I have ever had and I really want to keep trying to break in to the industry. I was a city tour guide in the summers when I was in university. It was a pretty great job when I was 20 but I'm not sure I would do it now at 30. I like meeting people and I like performing, so it was a really fun job for me. The downside is that it's always going to be minimum wage (maybe plus tips, depending on where you work) and it's exhausting. I gave four to five hour-long tours per day and at the end of the day I was dead beat; engaging with people for that long is exhausting. We all rotated through the ticket kiosk rather than doing our tours all in a row for that reason. I "broke into the industry" by calling all the tour companies and interviewing. I had to give a sample presentation at one interview, I think. The best thing I did to keep my tours high-quality was to take other people's tours; although some stuff you're always going to say by rote, it helps to have a deep knowledge base to fill gaps, play to tour groups' interests, etc. Also remembering that part of your job is to inform and part is to entertain. My tour company was an amphibious land-and-harbour tour and let me tell you a lot of the military history of Halifax wasn't getting told if there was a harbour seal within visual range of the vehicle. Also my favourite thing to do when stopped at a long red light was to tell an increasingly improbable historical story and give a prize (usually a tour company sticker) to the first person to call me out or, in a quiet group, look openly skeptical. Another thing you might consider if you have specialized knowledge is working with a museum or park site. A good friend of mine guides wilderness tours in Denali National Park (again, he "broke in" by just sending in an application to the park people from their website) and he loves it. I had a great time being a guide but it's a seasonal, low-paying job so I'd keep your day job.
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Jan 18, 2016 06:04
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Dogfish posted:Another thing you might consider if you have specialized knowledge is working with a museum or park site. A good friend of mine guides wilderness tours in Denali National Park (again, he "broke in" by just sending in an application to the park people from their website) and he loves it. This right here. I'm currently studying environmental education and interpretation, and something like that is what a lot of my classmates will end up doing, and it's something you can make an actual career of, since it comes with a sweet sweet government pay scale (the positions I've seen start at $15.31/hour). Downside is that due to budget issues, there aren't as many full-time-permanent positions as their used to be. The Visitor Services person I volunteer under is technically a temporary employee, and it's just that they've had funding to renew her contract every year for the last 11 years. USAJobs.gov is the go-to place for job postings. Check out the Interpretation positions and see if that sounds like what you're after. It's a lot of fun, and I'm eager to work in the field.
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Jan 19, 2016 00:12
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