2008 Woodie Awards
True Life: I'm a Miami Tour Guide
The inside story from Miami's salespeople
Alison E. Peters
Issue date: 4/22/08 Section: Features
Prodesse Quam Conspici.
These three Latin words inscribed on Miami University's seal read "To accomplish without being conspicuous." Students can interpret this advice as finding achievement without boasting about it, and becoming known for those successes.
But for a handful of students who are Miami tour guides, this advice can be thrown out the window for an hour-and-a-half walking tour as they boast about Miami and everything it offers.
However when it comes to becoming a tour guide, it's more than just showing up and bragging about campus hotspots. Miami tour guides go through a rigorous hiring process even before being chosen for the job.
According to senior Anna Forsberg, the current tour guide manager, potential tour guides first apply and are then selected for an interview. Only a certain number of students are chosen for the interviews after applications are reviewed. During the interview process, tour guide hopefuls are asked questions such as "What is the most important thing you would convey in a tour?"
Applicants are also thrown some curveball questions commonly asked by parents such as "How easy is it for my underage child to get alcohol?" or "Are the Miami stereotypes true?"
Forsberg said she gave tours for three years before becoming manager. When it came to hiring new tour guides this fall, Forsberg said there was no shortage of applicants.
"We received over 180 applications this year, accepted 80 students to interview, and hired 40 new tour guides in the end," Forsberg said. "We had a great pool of candidates and chose the students who we believed would give an accurate picture of campus and be able to educate those on the tours."
In response to the large number of applicants, Kristine Taylor, assistant director of admissions, said the number of those hired also increased.
"The numbers ebb and flow," Taylor said, "but we had about 80 students apply last year so we definitely experienced an increase this year."
These three Latin words inscribed on Miami University's seal read "To accomplish without being conspicuous." Students can interpret this advice as finding achievement without boasting about it, and becoming known for those successes.
But for a handful of students who are Miami tour guides, this advice can be thrown out the window for an hour-and-a-half walking tour as they boast about Miami and everything it offers.
However when it comes to becoming a tour guide, it's more than just showing up and bragging about campus hotspots. Miami tour guides go through a rigorous hiring process even before being chosen for the job.
According to senior Anna Forsberg, the current tour guide manager, potential tour guides first apply and are then selected for an interview. Only a certain number of students are chosen for the interviews after applications are reviewed. During the interview process, tour guide hopefuls are asked questions such as "What is the most important thing you would convey in a tour?"
Applicants are also thrown some curveball questions commonly asked by parents such as "How easy is it for my underage child to get alcohol?" or "Are the Miami stereotypes true?"
Forsberg said she gave tours for three years before becoming manager. When it came to hiring new tour guides this fall, Forsberg said there was no shortage of applicants.
"We received over 180 applications this year, accepted 80 students to interview, and hired 40 new tour guides in the end," Forsberg said. "We had a great pool of candidates and chose the students who we believed would give an accurate picture of campus and be able to educate those on the tours."
In response to the large number of applicants, Kristine Taylor, assistant director of admissions, said the number of those hired also increased.
"The numbers ebb and flow," Taylor said, "but we had about 80 students apply last year so we definitely experienced an increase this year."
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