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momo-de-avis · 1 year

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Olá! I'm currently very confused about which career to follow because I'm entering a post licenciatura crisis. However, I've always loved tourism and history. I was wondering how you got into your line of work, if that's alright? Do you need a specialized course for it?

I didn't.

You can become an accredited tour guide, and if I understood what someone explained to me, these days anyone can go ahead and do the exam (they changed the law a few years ago). If not just about anyone, then it seems people with majors like tourism, history, art history, etc. Keep in mind it's a REALLY DIFFICULT exam, with a writing component and a practical one, and you need to have a C1 level certificate in at least two foreign languages to get one of the certificates (one agency is AGIC, the other I don't remember the name sorry). To summarise: you have to KNOW the WHOLE COUNTRY.

I know that accredited tour guides are the only ones that can do certain things. I think days-long tours involving buses etc, and especially outside of the country the guide is from, is one of those. I was under the impression that only accredited tour guides were allowed to do tours in monuments and museums, but apparently that isn'hasn't been true in the past few years, so I have to clear that up.

I sort of just stumbled into this. I was looking for jobs and honestly did a bit of soul searching in trying to figure what exact type of jobs fit my personality, and one of them was tour guide, so I took a shot. I was lucky enough to have been hired by one of the biggest walk tour companies currently in Lisbon that, when it comes to walking tours, they've become like a school. They have amazing guides that will then go on and just specialise and work for other companies.

I think it's important to mention that to be a walking tour guide (or actually a city guide) there's a set of soft skills you MUST have

One, you gotta like talking to people. You have to enjoy being surrounded by people of all races, ethnicities, nationalities, political backgroun, and basically everything you can imagine. You have to enjoy being a talker. Nobody enjoys a silent tour guide. Some of the worst tours I've had was when the whole group was silent.

Two, you have to have a good undertsanding of the ground you're walking. It's not just about knowing Lisbon. You have to know its streets, be able to explore the hidden corners of Lisbon and find your way out of everywhere, because you're never going to do the same tour twice. You WILL WANT to change your path eventually, cause it gets painfully repetitive. These days, I chose the route on the spot mostly. There will also be groups that will really, really want to see That One Thing, and you have to find a way to include it in the tour. You can use google maps, of course, but just don't let them see you, cause it really makes them feel a little unsafe lol

Three, you have to have a certain presence not just for the group, bu the streets you're walking. One of the best things to have come out of this job for me is the fact that I now know half the ladies of São Miguel in Alfama. Yes, they're going to pester you to go have a ginjinha. Just tell the group they can stop and try it. They're super thankful to you. Built a good rapport with everyone you bump into every day, and especially, if you're doing tours that involve going into establishments definitely keep a good relationship with them, cause if you're in trouble one day, you want them to help you (to give you an example, I have two wallets, one is mine and the other has the company's money. I once forgot the company's wallet and only realised while I was about to pay the drinks for the clients. Thankfully, this was the Ginjinha spot in Rossio, and Sr Fernando is cool and he likes me so he let me go back later to pay).

Four, you have to have an open mind. Genuinely forget everything you might have heard or think you know about nationalities, cause you're going to be surprised. But I especially mean, be open minded to people's questions. Redefine "stupid question". People are going to ask you if Portugal still has a monarchy, what type of government Portugal has, if we have a prime minister and a president -- these sounds stupid, but remember there's really no reason why they should know, especially if they're from another continent). Always be kind to people's questions. I promise you can tell when they really want to learn and are asking out of pure curiosity.

Five, you have to be creative at problem solving. You're going to have to deal with everything, and you have to find solutions. I mean things like, there's someone on the tour on a wheelchair. How are you going to solve this? You need to figure out a way around Alfama that has the least stairs possible (it's possible, and it has happened to me not with wheelchairs but with prams). You're going to have people with bad knees, who have trouble walking, who have an extremely slow pace. you need to adapt to everyone. You need to figure out a way to accomodate everyone. Believe me, it's possible to do Alfama without stepping on a single step, but you have know the path.

Six, you need to be ready to answer all sorts of questions, in a different way to number four. You really, really need to know your country. A colleague of mine has been asked where can a guy find hookers. They will point at every shit they can see and ask "what is that". Now don't worry, I've been telling them that Graça Viewpoint is the completely wrong one for months LOOOL shit happens. And you absolutely can say "I don't know". But some things are basic (our company turned an internship away because my man didn't know where Santa Catarina Viewpoint was).

Now I'm answering for walking tours. There's also what we call Full Days and Half Days, which involve driving. I'd say most of what I've said applies to those, but the "van realm", as we call it, is completely distant from us.

If you're interested in knowing more about my company, DM me. They actually are looking for tour guides right now since strong season is about to start (and on god, we need it), so you could give it a try. If they interview you, they'll send you on three tours to get your training and if that happens it's very likely they'll send you to me 😭

YOu could always try the free tours for a short period of time. I'd help you but I don't even know their companies names, I just know their colours lmaooo personally, I don't like the yellow ones, the white ones are cool, the blue ones are also super nice, the red-and-yellow I don't know them so well tbh I've just seen them around.

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