Tips for Getting Hired as a Tour Guide

The job of tour guide is often discovered accidentally. I discovered tour guiding when I was a student in Paris. Last year I spoke at a company meeting where I learned that no fewer than two of their guides learned of the job while hitchhiking in New Zealand! Others hear about the job because their friend does it, or they take a tour and learn that it’s an actual job! I remember how annoyed I’d get when people asked me, so what is your real job? Like other professions, tour guiding suffers from stereotypes: the guide as a flag-waving, microphone and badge-wearing, boring fact delivery machine. Sure, in my line of work as a tour guide trainer I’ve met guides who need lots of improvement. But I’ve also experienced tours that went by in no time at all, because the guide was so engaging in her stories, captivating in her...