Sergey Kadinsky
In Manhattan
Here are some photos from my tour guide experience.
Being a tour guide is more than just spitting out facts. It is about showmanship. The job requires not only a license, but also a professional demeanor that combines the personality of a game show host, a concierge, and a bit of a news reporter.
Often, the lines to my "office" rival those of the most popular Broadway theaters. To be a New York City tour guide, you need to pass a 150-question licensing exam. Full-time Gray Line guides are eligible for union benefits.
Part of the challenge is working in extreme weather conditions. On certain days, the job requires sunscreen in the morning, an umbrella for the afternoon, and a jacket for the evening. This job certainly has its physical demands. The job also has some benefits:
To be a New York City tour guide, you need to pass a 150-question licensing exam. Thus, you become a member of an exclusive club of test-proven city trivia know-it-alls.
Full-time Gray Line guides are eligible for union benefits. Besides the union, there is also a guild that licensed guides may join.
Each bus fits up to fifty passengers, with room for another dozen downstairs. A global audience that will remember you for life!
Besides buses, I have also given tours aboard the Staten Island Ferry.
Here are some of the companies where I have performed my act:
The Dream Ride
Ultimately, my career goal is to ride one of these mobile "offices," as a news reporter or producer. Like tour guides, reporters also talk about the city's history, but as it happens before their eyes. Unlike tour guides, every day a different assignment awaits them.
Even more exciting would be a seat in command of a news room. This where I hope to work, and this is why I attend journalism school. I do not have "connections," so everything I do is a result of hard work in order to prove myself worthy of the goal.
Sometimes, dreams come true. This is my first check from a local news organization in May 2007.
May there be many more ahead!