Become a Rail Park Tour Guide!
Friends of the Rail Park seeks a tour guide who is passionate about their community, the Rail Park, and Philadelphia.
The Tour Guide serves as an informed and friendly ambassador for current and future phases (the Three Mile Vision) of the Rail Park, providing individual or group tours to interpret the history of the Rail Park and placing this innovative infrastructure reuse project into historical and contemporary context for visitors. This position requires a commitment to learning and understanding the history of the Rail Park and its surrounding neighborhoods. Tour guide experience and familiarity with the Rail Park are not a requirement. Training will be provided and is required. Tour guides, however, should feel comfortable with public speaking and interacting with tour participants.
Duties
- Complete training and pass an evaluation.
- Lead at least 3 tours per year.
- Interpret the distinct phases of the Rail Park’s Three Mile Vision, their architecture, landscape, public art, and surrounding communities through interactive experiential tours that encourage visitors to better understand the Vision within historical and contemporary contexts.
- Lead accurate, informative, and entertaining tours.
- Engage visitors in active observation, discussion, and synthesis during guided tours.
- Provide exceptional customer service to all visitors.
- Respond to different groups of visitors (adults, school children, families) by varying tour content and techniques as appropriate.
- Assist in monitoring visitor safety, responding calmly and professionally to emergencies and promptly notifying supervisor(s) of incidents or unsafe conditions.
- Convey the mission of the Rail Park and Friends of the Rail Park, including announcing current initiatives and upcoming programs and events.
- Review any updates to training materials and project developments.
- Attend all required in-service training sessions and contribute insights drawn from tour experiences and visitor response. Participate actively in training programs and other opportunities to expand site knowledge and strengthen interpretive skills.
- Assist as needed with educational activities, special events, and other additional duties and responsibilities.
Qualifications
- Passionate about Philadelphia and/or The Rail Park.
- Comfortable learning and memorizing information and facts.
- Comfortable speaking in front of groups of people.
- Effective and engaging presentation skills.
- Demonstrated ability to engage effectively with culturally diverse audiences, and audiences of varying age.
- Basic problem solving skills, including issue identification and prioritization.
- Ability to adapt and be flexible in a dynamic work environment.
- Ability to continually develop skills related to use of rapidly changing technology and communications best practices.
- Entrepreneurial spirit and skill set are a plus.
- Ability to work weekends, holidays, and evenings.
- Ability to work outdoors in varying weather conditions.
- Minimum physical requirements include but are not limited to:
- Ability to lead a walking tour covering 4+ miles and including multiple visitors;
- Ability to stand for periods up to 120 minutes;
- Walk over uneven terrain and through an urban environment while navigating pedestrian and vehicular traffic;
- Climb stairs.
- Must be over the age of 16.
- Bi-lingual fluency is a plus.The ability to speak more than one language is a plus.
- Preference given to individuals for people living in, working in, and/or actively engaged with going to school in the 10+ neighborhoods that surround the Rail Park.
Pay, Hours & Benefits
- This is a contract position, with flexible hours and a set rate-of-pay
- Pay Rate: $50/tour
- PCompensation per tour plus potential for tips
- Rail Park Tours t-shirt
- Flexible schedule
- Professional Development Training
- Meet new people in an interactive setting
- Learn about the diverse history, art, culture, and ecology of Philadelphia’s neighborhoods and public spaces
Deadline to apply is Monday, May 6, 2024.
ABOUT THE RAIL PARK
Our mission is to build a bold, transformative, and inclusive public space that connects Philadelphia’s residents and visitors to the city and each other.
The Rail Park is a vision to transform a historic railway into 3 miles of beautiful linear public space connecting 10+ Philly neighborhoods and thousands of residents to nature, open air recreational space, and community programming centering arts and culture, health and wellness, and nature and the environment.
The Rail Park started with Phase One, a quarter-mile section of the historic elevated Reading Viaduct in Philadelphia. After years of planning and fundraising, it opened to the public in 2018.
Friends of the Rail Park is an Equal Opportunity Employer and having a diverse staff is a fundamental principle, where employment and promotional opportunities are based upon individual capabilities and qualifications without regard to race, color, religion, gender, pregnancy, sexual orientation/affectional preference, age, national origin, marital status, citizenship, disability, veteran status or any other protected characteristic as established under law.
