Being a Tour Guide
Think you’re too busy? Think again! Flexibility and variety are two of the best parts of the best job on campus. We work with you to match your schedule, availability and interests.
Flexible Scheduling
The full-time staff works hard to accommodate our busy schedules and to make allowances for time commitments – whether it’s being an athlete, going abroad, being a frosh RA, doing a research project, or taking a scary 20-unit quarter. Guides generally work 5 hours per week (but can work more if they like), and shifts are carefully scheduled around our outside time commitments. Guides can also take a quarter each year to work on a minimized schedule if they need to, or even take a quarter off (with approval) if necessary for other commitments (such as going abroad, being an athlete in season, doing research or working on a capstone project, being in charge of a theatrical production, etc.).
Programs
We offer a number of specialty tours for visitors that you can sign up to give if you are particularly interested. A wide variety of tour offerings makes the job much more flexible, as you can indicate which of our specialty tours you’d want to give during any given quarter.
Here’s a list of the programs we currently offer:
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Prospective Undergraduate Tours: This tour is designed for prospective undergraduate students and their support systems to help them learn more about academics, campus culture, housing, and dining.
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Engineering & Computer Science Tour: This tour covers the history, sustainable building technology, and details on Stanford’s world-renowned engineering and computer science programs.
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Humanities and Arts Tour: This tour provides an overview of programs and facilities in the humanities and arts at Stanford, covering academic and extracurricular opportunities, and showcasing the facilities in the Main Quad and the Arts District.
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Social Sciences Tour: This tour highlights the programs, academic and extracurricular opportunities, and facilities of the social sciences at Stanford.
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Student Forum: Have things you wish you’d asked or known about Stanford when you were applying? Twice a week, 3-5 Tour Guides host a casual lunchtime Q & A just for prospective students (no parents allowed!). It’s a great opportunity to talk openly to high school students about the Stanford experience and provide relatable, friendly faces for their campus visit.
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Virtual Student Forum: An online program, held on Zoom, in which visitors from all over the world can submit a wide range of questions to be answered by a panel of Guides.
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Office Shifts: In addition to all of our tour programs, there’s also working at the front desk! Office shifts are spent assisting visitors in person and over the phone. They’re also a great chance to spend time with fellow Guides and full time staff who are also in the office!
Additionally, we are constantly thinking about new programs that we can offer to improve the visitor experience, so if you have any ideas about things you would want to bring to VIS, Tour Guides are more than encouraged to work with full time staff on these ideas.
Being a tour guide doesn’t stop there! We also have our monthly staff meetings on the first Friday evening of each month (includes a pre-meeting social and meetings are always done by no later than 7:30pm!)
Want to Learn More?
Join us for an information session to learn more about being a Tour Guide and ask any questions you may have. We will host information sessions during weeks 1 & 2 of winter quarter both in person and virtually.
Attendance at an information session is completely optional and will not be taken into account as part of the hiring process. If you choose to attend an information session, there is no need to attend more than one session, as the information presented will be the same.
