Guide (Gids)
Information on this skill...
A guide is responsible for guiding groups of people around. In most cases, a guide can also be seen as an educational employee who teaches people certain knowledge about topics. The profession of guide is very broad and cannot simply be described because there are different types of guides that can work in all kinds of ways for different organizations. There are so-called city guides, culture guides, museum guides, landscape guides and travel guides. A guide is therefore someone who has specific knowledge of certain subjects such as antiquities, nature or cities and provides tours for interested parties, who have usually come specifically to a certain subject and are looking for more information. A big advantage of guides is that they generally have a lot of knowledge of certain topics themselves and can therefore answer questions from visitors directly. A guide is therefore responsible for giving excursions to interested people. Depending on the employer, it may be a full-time guide, or a supplement to other activities. Think, for example, of an ecologist who is also active as a guide. The profession of guide should also be seen as fairly general, because there are different types of guides, so the substantive work as a guide can also differ greatly. In addition, it is certainly conceivable that a guide will also be responsible for other activities than just showing groups of people around. It is also possible that a guide only works in certain seasons of the year. Being able to inspire groups of people is in all cases important as a guide.
Thus, in most cases, a guide is a person who has specific knowledge related to certain topics. When a guide has a lot of knowledge of certain subjects, a guide can also be regarded as an educational employee. Education as a guide can therefore be important depending on the type of work. Think, for example, of showing students who visit a museum. Whether a guide can be classified as an educational employee can differ per type of guide, because education will not be equally important in all cases. For example, a tour guide cannot in all cases be regarded as an educational employee, because only guiding people cannot be regarded as education. When we speak of nature walks or showing people around a city, education is usually important. For example, nature walks can be given by an ecologist and city walks by a committed historian.
WORKING AS A PROFESSIONAL GUIDE
If we speak of a professional guide, in most cases he will also be regarded as an educational employee. A professional guide can therefore be expected to have extensive knowledge of certain subjects. For example, a professional guide may be an art historian who is also responsible for providing education. A professional guide therefore knows a lot about topics that fit within the relevant field of the guide. Think, for example, of a forester who can tell a lot about nature because he has specific knowledge. When a forester will also show groups of people around, a forester can also be regarded as a guide.
A professionally working guide can generally be expected to speak one or more foreign languages, so that the guide can also show foreign tourists around. It can therefore be important that a guide is also an interpreter. This can differ per guide, because interpreting will not apply in all cases. The profession of guide is professional and hobby-based, but this will not mean that a hobby guide has to be less professional because this in turn depends on the specific knowledge as a guide. Not all institutions and other organisations can afford to appoint professional guides.
SOME OF THE ACTIVITIES OF A GUIDE:
- Answering questions
- Checking tickets (admission ticket)
- The possible distribution and taking of audio equipment
- Monitoring visitors
- Accommodating visitors
- Guiding visitors
- Distributing educational materials
- Telling about topics
WHAT DOES A GUIDE DO:
TRAINING AS A GUIDE
There are no specific training courses for the profession of guide. Which training courses a guide must have can differ per guide, because a guide can work in various industries. There are also courses for people who want to work as a guide. These courses are generally aimed at learning to tell about historical and tourist interesting sights. For more information, see the association for professional guides Guidor. In addition, there are also plenty of external training institutes where you can follow a course. Accounting is also important as an entrepreneur.
COMPANIES WHERE A GUIDE CAN BE ACTIVE
A guide can work for different types of companies, institutions and municipalities in different ways. However, there is a big difference between a hobby guide and the professional guide. A guide can also simply work for companies such as a manufacturer. Factories also regularly organize guided tours to provide people with information. Think, for example, of a beer brewer, who also regularly receives interested visitors.
COMPETENCES GUIDE
The competences that a guide will have to have cannot be clearly defined, because they can differ per guide. In all cases, it is important that a guide has sufficient professional knowledge. In addition, communication can be regarded as an important competence. Passion and inspiration can also be seen as important competencies. Generally important words are interest, eagerness to learn, language skills, sense of responsibility, planning and organizing.
LABOUR MARKET PERSPECTIVE AND CAREER OPPORTUNITIES AS A GUIDE
The labour market perspective as a guide is of course difficult to indicate because this can be quite different per sector and will also strongly depend on your own level of education or level of knowledge. There are many guides working but because a guide must have specific knowledge, obtaining work can be difficult. In addition, there are many companies or institutions that appoint former employees as guides because they know them and the guide will have a lot of specific knowledge. There are no real career opportunities to mention as a guide.
TERMS OF EMPLOYMENT AND SALARY GUIDE
The profession guide occurs in all branches in different ways and giving direct employment conditions is therefore not possible because they will be too different. A guide can receive compensation in various ways such as a fixed salary or receive compensation per tour depending on where exactly the guide works. But a guide can certainly also work as a hobby and perhaps only receive a tip after the tour. A guide with a full-time paid job will usually earn a salary between 1700 and 2400 euros gross per month depending on age, education and further responsibilities. When it comes to a guide who originally had a different job within an organization, the salary can of course be completely different.
The content on this page has been automatically translated from the Dutch language. For this reason, texts and videos on this page may contain small errors.
Lea esta información sobre Guia en español.
Lees deze informatie over Gids in het Nederlands.
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