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Would you like to join the Wilderness Scotland guiding team? Do you currently guide clients around Scotland, introducing them to our landscape, history and culture? Do you have a passion for outstanding service, a love of Scotland’s natural landscape, and a curious mind?
If the answer to these questions is a YES then keep on reading.
The Wilderness Guide plays a pivotal role in the company, ensuring that our clients experience outstanding adventures throughout Scotland. We are recruiting now for guides to work in 2020 and beyond, although there may be some opportunities to lead trips for us in 2019 as well.
Wilderness Scotland is seeking guides to deliver experiential travel in Scotland for our clients. To be an experiential guide, you do not need to have an NGB qualification (but great if you do) as any such activities would be delivered in tandem with a qualified guide. You may currently hold a formal guiding qualification (such as being a Blue Badge or Green Badge guide) or you may simply have gained experience working in the sector. You will need to hold a valid first aid qualification. You will need a curious mind which thrives on seeking out interesting new experiences and encounters for our clients.
Our experiential guides will lead small groups of clients around Scotland, sharing their passion for the destination. As well as being knowledgable with regards to Scotland’s history, heritage and culture, you will introduce our clients to Scotland’s nature through various experiences designed by our team. These are much more than regular sightseeing trips – we want to connect our clients to Scotland’s natural and cultural heritage and your role is crucial in achieving this aim. Therefore, you must be able to demonstrate a great love of and knowledge of Scotland’s natural environment.
Vitally important is the ability to demonstrate great familiarity with many areas of Scotland. Knowledge of Scottish 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 and hospitality.
Such high standards mean that we are unable to offer work to guides who have not worked in Scotland before or who have just graduated from a tourism degree but lack guiding experience in the field.
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.
While we have a lot of fun at Wilderness Scotland, our team is 100% focused on delivering 5-star world-class client experiences. As such, the successful guide will bring a professional and high-energy approach with an unwavering focus in all aspects of the client travel experience.
Wilderness Scotland is based from an incredible location in Aviemore in the Cairngorms National Park. We offer a special combination of interesting work, career opportunity and supportive culture in which to thrive as a freelance guide. We have steadily grown over the years and plan to continue this growth path, which in turn, will offer a wide range of guiding opportunities.
Wilderness Scotland is a company whose aim is to break new ground and set the worldwide standard for what adventure and experiential travel should be. We commit with passion to providing our customers with the most inspiring experiences of their lives, ensuring our experiences are delivered sustainability, promoting the value of wild places, setting new standards for tourism experiences and creating a rewarding, meaningful and truly fun place to work
Being a guide for Wilderness Scotland is more than just another freelance job. It means being part of a dynamic team that are always seeking new ways in which we can improve with guide feedback highly valued and acted upon. The successful guide will thrive in this fast-paced environment and within the wider Wilderness team but will be encouraged to bring new ideas and enthusiasm to the role and the company as a whole.
Please send a CV detailing any relevant qualifications, work experience and a summary of areas of Scotland 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.
Please also include a 1 page cover letter and send it together with your CV to [email protected]. The cover letter should detail the following:
1/ Why you wish to work for Wilderness Scotland in a guiding capacity
2/ What motivates you to guide in Scotland
3/ Your interpretation of what is meant by outstanding customer care and hospitality when guiding experiential travel holidays
To informally discuss guiding with us, please call 01479 420 040 and ask to speak to Julian.
If you wish to join us as a guide then you will be required to progress through our in-depth guide selection process detailed below. Our aim is to take on guides who are looking to work with us for many years to come and hence this should be your intention if you are keen to join our guiding team.
We believe our guide selection process 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 the opportunity 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 us and what sets you apart from all other potential guides who are keen to work with us.
Potential guide applies either through a referral from an existing guide or responding to website/other promotion.
Potential guide meets with a senior member of the Operations team for a formal 1.5 hour interview. This follows a pro-forma with set questions. This interview helps clarify and determine if the candidate should be invited to guide selection and whether they wish to attend.
Twice a year Wilderness Scotland hosts a 2 day guide selection event. The next one will be held on the 4th – 5th March 2020 followed by another event on 29th & 30th October 2020. 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. Likewise, please don’t be offended if we don’t think you are the right fit for Wilderness Scotland.
We will spend the whole selection event together – inclusive of lunch and dinner on the first day and breakfast and lunch on the second day – with both days being spent largely outside. After a brief introduction from the office team on Day 1 we will split into groups and head out following an itinerary we use on one of our live trips.
This will be a foot-based day but will not be in technical or in difficult terrain. In situations where applicants span different disciplines, part of the 2 days may be spent out on bikes etc. with the relevant applicants.
You will not be leading all day each day but every applicant will take the lead at times throughout the 2 days. The group will be made up of members of the Wilderness Scotland office team, some of the guides on selection and facilitated by a senior guide.
Hospitality will be as much a part of the two days as guiding the activity. You will be expected (with your fellow groups) to look after your assigned group when at the hotel including hosting dinner on the evening of day 1.
We will discuss all aspects of what is involved in guiding for Wilderness Scotland throughout the two days but for the most part, you will be leading both individually and with fellow guide applicants throughout.
At the end of day 2, each guide candidate will have a review with the WS team and will receive recommendations on next steps. These would likely be summarised as follows:
This one-day event will take place in the Spring (27th March 2019) and will provide a more in-depth understanding of Wilderness Scotland and your role as a guide with us. The morning will involve providing an orientation to the company and guiding in general. The day will then be structured so that as well as meeting the team you will learn about the processes and procedures we require guides to follow pre, during and post trips. The aim is for each guide on leaving this one day to feel much more comfortable with guiding for Wilderness Scotland and the requirements before heading out on a guided trip.
The hard work in getting through recruitment is finished and we can now look to allocate you onto trips!
Trip availability for the initial season following recruitment is unknown and the offer of work following these steps does very much depend upon volume of work available and availability of guides, hence it is not guaranteed. Our existing core guiding team will be given priority, however, we are in this for the long game and hopefully you are too!
Whilst the details below do not cover every element of the freelance Wilderness Guide role, they do provide a general overview of what you can expect.
April – October is the main season during which we run trips in Scotland with the majority of trips taking apace from May-September.
All locations across Scotland and its islands, with a particular focus on the Highlands and Islands
Wilderness Scotland guides are at the heart of the business. The success of any one trip depends upon many people, arguably none more so than the commitment and performance of the guide. We’re dedicated to achieving greater recognition for the guide community – as a profession which is respected by our clients and the wider tourism industry. This recognition starts with doing the highest quality job on each and every trip – be that the first outing of the season or the last when you may well be running on empty. We expect our guides to be dedicated professionals and committed to the relentless pursuit of amazing client experiences. In return, we strive to offer working conditions which lead the way for the adventure travel industry.
The role and responsibilities of a Wilderness guide are as follows:
This time I went to Argyle and the Isles. It was my second hiking trip with Wilderness Scotland and I will be back for more. I do not even have any suggestions cause everything was fantastic: the food, the hotels, the guide, the hiking places... This time we’ve had even the sun coming out everyday! Thanks for the wonderful experience!
Daniela Wiethaeuper
Wilderness Walking - Argyll & the Isles
Reviewed on 01/08/2018
Rated 4.89 out of 5 based on 5,780 reviews
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