How Do You Write a Tour Guide Resume? Writing Tips and Tricks

It goes without saying that your tour guide resume should feature proper, consistent formatting and be error-free. It should also highlight important skills for the role, such as your language, communication and listening skills. This will impress hiring managers and make it more likely for you to get an interview.

What does a tour guide do? Tour guides lead individuals or groups of people when visiting cities, museums, or historical places of interest. They provide people with interesting information and ensure they have an entertaining and educational experience. Here are some tips to help you write a tour guide resume.

Choose the right layout

There are various types of layouts you can choose for a resume. A reverse chronological layout is often suitable if you have years of experience as a tour guide. You will list your most recent position and work backwards. A functional layout will highlight your skills right at the beginning. A combination-type layout will include skills and experience throughout the resume. If you use a professional resume service, you will receive advice from professional resume writers on the best layout to use for your purpose.

Make the design clear and simple

The design of your resume, including the fonts and the sizes you use, can attract the attention of hiring managers in the right or wrong way.

If you use a mixture of fonts and sizes, your resume looks confusing and can be hard to read. Be consistent in the fonts and sizes you use.
A splash of color may be attractive but using too many colors is distracting.
Aligning your text and using ample margins will make your resume look cleaner.
Your contact details should include your first and last name, address with your city and state, and your cell number. Placing them in the top left hand of your resume will help hiring managers find them easily.
Make sure your section headings stand out by using a bold font.

Write a summary statement

Underneath your contact details, you can include a one or two sentence summary. This should briefly describe your background and the knowledge, skills and experience you can bring to the role. Hiring managers will want to see what makes you a valuable candidate.

An example of a summary statement could read as follows: “Energetic and motivated professional with six years of experience in guiding museum visitors. An extensive knowledge of art and history and the story-telling talent to entertain an audience. Dedicated to providing clients with a high level of customer service.”

Highlight work responsibilities and accomplishments

You should mention the name of the company you worked for, your job title and the dates you worked there. Give about five bullet points that highlight your responsibilities and accomplishments in the role. When thinking about these bullet points, look at the description of the role and showcase what you have already done that shows you are able to do the job well. The points could read as follow:

Greeting visitors and developing itineraries based on their needs.
Conducting specialized tours for various sized groups of the museum.
Planning ahead and taking into account the size of groups and other factors.
Acting as the liaison between the public and museum in person and via email and phone. Answering questions and making sure the public is informed about museum events.
Making sure guests are safe and responding professionally to emergencies.

Emphasize your skills

A separate section of your resume should include any hard or soft skills relevant to the position. Hard skills are those you learned through your education, training or experience. They may include language skills and first aid skills. Soft skills are those such as communication skills and listening skills.

Hiring managers will often look at the skills section as this provides them with an easy way to filter out resumes that don’t fit their needs. Some of the relevant skills for a tour guide include the following:

Critical thinking and creative problem-solving skills
The ability to improvise
Communication and interpersonal skills
Memorization skills
Story-telling skills
Organizational and time-management skills
Multi-tasking skills

Include your education

In the last section of your resume, you can include your education. List the educational institution you attended, the dates you attended, and the type of degree or degrees you obtained.

Most employers expect a tour guide to have at least a high school diploma, but they often prefer those with a bachelor’s degree. If you have taken any classes directly related to the tour industry, you can include them in this section.

Proofread your resume carefully

Read your resume through a few times to make sure it contains no incorrect facts or bad grammar. Make sure there aren’t any spelling mistakes. Give your resume to someone else to read through, as they may pick up errors you didn’t notice. You want to make it as easy as possible for hiring managers to review your resume and locate the details they want to see.

Conclusion

A tour guide has to have the ability to entertain people, and your resume provides you with an opportunity to showcase that skill. It will help to keep the job you’re applying for in mind. Tailor your resume to show hiring managers that you’re the best candidate for the job.

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