Careers

Working With Us

We are always keen to hear from people interested in working with us at Wilderness Scotland, both in our office and as guides.

Available positions are listed below while some general notes on our requirements for both office and guiding team follow.

If you are interested in an office position, then please email us with a CV along with a separate one page statement on how your experience can add value to Wilderness Scotland. As we receive a large quantity of CVs each year, we will only respond if your application includes this statement.

Guiding for Wilderness Scotland

If you would like to work as a guide for Wilderness Scotland, please read the notes below and then email us with a CV detailing relevant qualifications, work experience and a summary of areas of the Highlands and Islands where you have worked as a guide. Please note that we get many applications for guiding work and if your application does not cover the above, it will not be considered or responded to.

Wilderness Scotland is always keen to hear from guides who can demonstrate great knowledge and passion for Scotland. Our guiding team have all been active in the outdoors in Scotland for many years. Some of them hold multiple qualifications while others specialise in a single activity. However, we view paper qualifications as only the first step in towards becoming a Wilderness Scotland guide.

More important is the ability to demonstrate great familiarity with many areas of the Scottish Highlands. Knowledge of Scotland’s history, culture, environment, geology and geography is also important to us. Of course, we aim to provide our clients with the best possible experience, so our guides must take pride in their work and have a natural flair for customer care.

Such high standards mean that we are unable to offer work to instructors who have not worked in Scotland before or who have just graduated from an adventure tourism degree.

If, however, you have the knowledge, character and experience to work for Wilderness Scotland, we would love to hear from you and can offer you an excellent wage, good working conditions and the opportunity to lead superb trips in some of the most beautiful wilderness regions of Scotland.

Guiding Selection Process

In the early years of Wilderness, the process of guide selection was very much based upon word of mouth and referral. As the business has expanded and evolved the process has changed. At the start of 2015 we conducted a complete review of the current approach and received some invaluable input from our senior guiding team. We also drew upon relevant best practice from elsewhere.

The outcome has been the creation of a new process which we believe represents a significant improvement and offers a robust and transparent approach to guide recruitment, selection and subsequent work allocation. A fundamental principle of the approach is that it’s a two-way process; offering the potential guide to learn as much about Wilderness as Wilderness learns about them.

If you are keen to work for Wilderness Scotland then please consider the following steps before applying.  All applications should be sent to [email protected] in the first instance and include a cover letter highlighting why you wish to work for Wilderness Scotland and what sets you apart from all other potential guides who are keen to work with us.

Stage 1 – Application

Potential guide applies either through referral from an existing guide or responding to website/other promotion.

Stage 2 – Interview

Potential guide meets with a senior member of the Operations team for a formal 1 hour interview. This follows a pro-forma with set questions. This interview helps clarify determine if the candidate should be invited to guide selection and whether they wish to attend.

Stage 3 – Guide Selection Event

A 2 day guide selection will take place once a year in Feb/Mar. It is emphasised that the selection is a two-way process as outlined above. At any point, a potential guide should feel free to leave the process if they don’t think guiding with Wilderness is for them. One day will be spent indoors providing an orientation to the company and guiding in general. The second day in the field with Myles + other senior guides as required.

Stage 4 – In the Field Assessment

Assuming the potential guide passes through the 2 day selection, they will then be asked join a trip to shadow for 1 or 2 days. The “assessment” word is used advisedly because it isn’t a pass/fail scenario. However, it should very much be seen as part of the extended selection/interview process and will likely take place in the season following the Guide Selection.

Stage 5 – Recommendation & Shadowing

Following either option at Stage 4, the potential guide will receive recommendations on next steps. These would likely be summarised as follows:

– the potential guide is ace and could go out with a group asap

– the potential guide would really benefit from working alongside a senior guide for at least one trip

– the potential guide at the moment requires further support and training to get to the required standard

In all cases, we believe it makes total sense to have a new guide work alongside an existing senior guide wherever possible. For most trips which have a minimum of 2 guides this should be achievable e.g. biking, sea kayaking, Agent Partner work.

The offer of work following these steps does very much depend upon volume of work available and availability of guides.  Our existing core guiding team will be given priority, however, we are in this for the long game and hopefully you are too!

Available Opportunities

Employment opportunities are posted below as and when they arise so please click through to the relevant opportunity.  We are always interested to hear from potential new guides so please do follow the steps above if you are interested in a freelance guiding career with Wilderness Scotland.  In 2017, we will require an increased number of guides from northern England who are familiar with the Lake District, Yorkshire Dales sand North York Moors so if this is you then please do get in touch using the process outlined above.

ISKGA

Wilderness Scotland is an Accredited Training Centre for the International Sea Kayak Guide Association (ISKGA)
ISKGA is a professional and dedicated association representing the commercial sea kayak guide who guides others on the ocean.

The ISKGA Coastal and Advanced Guide are professional awards for people wanting to make a career in the industry. It is internationally recognized as the benchmark of a professional sea kayak guide, employers can employ with confidence, knowing that each individual has received thorough training and assessment, over a period of time and is current and active in ALL aspects of guiding.

Myles Farnbank & Howard Jeffs two of our Senior sea kayak guides are both ISKGA Advanced Guides & module providers for the full spectrum of ISKGA courses.

If you are interested in finding out more or to book onto our ISKGA training courses please contact Myles Farnbank.

To find out more about ISKGA please visit www.iskga.com