Tour guides / managers / drivers - viable career Q&A

So…i've been on these forums (and the BBS that preceded it) for over a decade. My life has taken a few random turns, and i find myself working as a tour guide/manager in Europe for a major player in the 'young adult' travel market for the last few years. We work in teams with tour drivers on coaches.

It is an awesome job.
But when i search for it on the forums…zero hits.
Seems nobody wants the job…maybe the grad job brainwashing process is better than we think...

So, i though i's start a thread for anyone interested, as the industry - inc. the company i work for - is pretty desperately keen to recruit competent people (unlike, it seems, the rest of the economy) - probably over 50 guides and 50 drivers this year.

If you've ever toyed with entering the industry, ask any questions you want. It's not a transparent sector that it is easy to get info on.

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The job and lifestyle
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- Is awesome. Maybe the best job in the world for the right person. You show young adults from around the world our awesome continent. You guide/drive them, educate them, party with them, advise them, help them.
- Most tour guides and drivers work about half a year and spend the rest travelling or pursuing other activities. The saving potential is good from the outset and within 5-6 years you can make career moves that generate -very- serous money
- It is bloody hard work. Long days, you have to be perma-cheerful and professional, no matter what. It is hard to have a 'home' life or a relationship. The job is a lifestyle, and a huge responsibility. Many Americans only have 14 days holiday a year. You might have of those in your hands…mess it up, and you've ****** their year's dreams...
- The training is as close to boot camp as you can imagine. 2+ months of unpaid hell (well, the drivers get paid if they survive it). It't unpaid for tour guides, and you spend an extra month researching beforehand.
- You live in a bubble. Rejoin the normal world. and you take a huge responsibility, financial, ego and fun cut
- You live out of a suitcase for half a year

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Drivers
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- Maximum age 30
- UK/EU Passport
- Good references, clean license
- HGV experience, European manual + automatic bus License
- Young, fun, enthusiastic, positive, good people skills
- Ok English - it will improve a lot on the job! :smile:

- Willing to undertake minimally paid hell 2+ months of essentially bullying in 25 European countries no matter how much experience you have
- Be more than a driver…you're part of the experience, to just a bus steerer…far, far, far from it

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Tour Guides
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- Age 23/24-28, ideally reasonably travelled and versed in the university of life
- People people - you gotta love dealing with them, and be good at it
- Organised, confident, outgoing, fun, caring, versatile, endless energy
- Passionate about Europe and showing it to people

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If this sounds like anyone's idea of a good time, it exists and it is very possible to make a successful career doing it. Indeed, even 1 season will boost your interpersonal skills beyond belief and change your life.

There are at least half a dozen companies looking for people - most are not European. Indeed, very few Europeans work for them…but they're huge companies that take tens of thousands of people around Europe a year. We don't know them in the UK because we have Europe on our doorstep and its cheap and easy - unlike the rest of the world!

It is very much an employment sector people just fall into rather that seek to join. In hindsight, i wish i had got into it years ago…but, maybe, it wouldn't have been the right time - guide/tour driver is not a career that is open to those who just 'want a job' and don't have their heart in it. The training will weed you out (they literally boot you out on the side of the road in Albania or wherever you fail the grade), or you won't last the 1st tour.

Any questions, ask away. There are some i won't answer - including who my employer is. I'm offering info on the industry and the jobs and lifestyles. I don't do stuff i'm not paid to do - and in this case, that mean recruitment. I just want to see more people consider this as a very viable career option!

:smile: