You are in your office. Grey. Enclosed between four walls. You feel bored. Close your eyes and imagine squares full of art, beautiful historic districts or exotic islands with vibrant atmospheres, with completely different customs and traditions and languages you don't know. Become a tour guide and choose your new "office"!
Steps
Step 1. Get inspired
What kind of tour would you like to drive? Be creative and think about your passions: parks, wineries, sports venues, museums, film locations, historic buildings, rainforests, castles …
Once you understand what interests you, Google for existing opportunities in the field of your choice
Step 2. Research serious tourism courses
A certificate is not necessary to become a tour guide (in fact, an ENABLING is required whose methods of obtaining vary from Region to Region: it is better to inquire rather than risk being pinched and fined for abusive practice of the profession) but it will make you stand out among competition when you apply for a job. If you are about to enroll at university, take a degree course in Tourism Sciences.
- You should learn how to form and lead a team and study public speaking, the tourism industry and the code of ethics.
- There are also online courses. However, remember that taking a course in a school gives you the enormous advantage of practicing, receiving advice from professionals and establishing your first connections in the sector.
- The courses usually last from two to three weeks and are held several times a year (it depends on the Region: in Tuscany, for example, there are 800 compulsory hours. It is almost a year, not a few weeks..). Consult the websites to find out more. Going to class will take time, so if you work, it may be difficult to take the course.
Step 3. Study diligently
Some companies ask their guides to do annual refresher courses. These are workshops in public speaking or leadership or language lessons. These courses can be organized by the company or by training schools that your employer will propose to you
Step 4. Apply to the company you like best
Choose the company, national or international, that is right for you. You will find companies that deal, among others, with tours in unspoiled nature, in amusement parks, on film sets, in historic sites and museums, on cruise ships, abroad, etc. (Tours in unspoiled nature can be guided by ENVIRONMENTAL HIKING GUIDES with a different qualification. They must also have compulsory insurance by law)
Step 5. Go to the interview
- Prepare for the meeting by participating in any interview simulations organized by your school.
- Having a certificate to attach to your CV helps, but what really matters is knowing how to deal with people, starting with the potential employer. In an interview, they typically ask you what your strengths and weaknesses are, what your greatest job achievements have been, and why you are applying for this job. Prepare the answers (without parrot repeating them!).
Step 6. Read everything you can about your area of interest
You will need to be familiar with the history, culture, monuments and other tourist landmarks of the area in which you work.
Step 7. Communication skills
In addition to knowing where you work, you should be able to port in an interesting way, being outgoing and winning people over. If you have an open and charismatic personality, this is the job for you! (It seems to me that in this article there is a lot of confusion between the various tourism professions: escorts, tour guides and environmentalists. Confusion doesn't help!)
Advice
- To get an idea of the job offers, search on Google for "Tourist Associations + Place you are interested in". If you want to go abroad, do a search on your local Google and, of course, in the language of the country in which you intend to work.
- If you want to work in a certain country but don't know the official language, learn it before browsing through job advertisements. You could move to the place you are interested in and do another job until you have the language skills you need.
- Search on Google for the "Leonardo da Vinci" calls proposed in your region; this European project allows you to live abroad for a few months in order to learn a foreign language and gain work experience. You will be the one to communicate your preferences to the organizing body: you may request to carry out your internship in a museum or other tourist organization. Thanks to this competition, I worked as a tour guide in Spain!
- Sign up for a first aid course. While not necessary in all sub-categories of tour guide work, you should, nonetheless, know what to do in emergency situations. And such a course will allow you to make a good impression with a potential employer.
Warnings
Be aware that many tour guide occupations are seasonal, which means you won't be able to work in the same place all the time. In any case, if traveling is not a problem for you, you can always move from one hemisphere to another
Remember, however, that in Europe there are different rules on how to become a Tourist Guide and first of all you must know the rules of the individual State, Region, Province in which you intend to operate.
- A tour guide can work for many hours. Sure, you will have the privilege of living in great places, but make sure you can stand for a long time. Also, you will often find yourself working when everyone else is resting. In fact, tour guides are especially in demand when people go on vacation.
- Remember that although you are in a vacation spot, you will need to devote a good deal of your time to work.
