Park Guide (Seasonal)

US National Park Service; California; On-site; USD 42,000 - 54,000; Full time

Job summary

The U.S. National Park Service is seeking Park Guides to greet visitors and educate them about the park's natural, cultural, and historical resources. These positions are open to the first 400 applicants and may require money-handling duties in some assignments.

Qualified applicants must meet GS-04 or GS-05 requirements, including general and specialized experience or equivalent education. The resume must clearly show duties, dates, and hours worked; strict formatting rules apply.

Qualifications

• Experience presenting information to groups.
• Experience greeting visitors and handling information.
• Resume shows duties, dates, and hours worked.

Responsibilities

• Greet visitors and provide information about resources.
• Educate visitors on natural, cultural, or historical resources.

Skills

Public speaking

Oral presentation

Customer service

Greeting visitors

Education

Two years of college

Bachelor's degree in related field

Job description

Likely entry on duty: March - May 2027.

Park Guides greet visitors to educate and inform them in our National Parks. Work can include providing information on natural, cultural, or historical resources.

Open to the first 400 applicants

To qualify for this position at the GS-04 level, you must possess one of the following

• A. Six (6) months of general experience and six (6) months of specialized experience for a total of one year of experience. General experience is any type of work that demonstrates the applicant's ability to perform the work of the position, or (2) experience that provided a familiarity with the subject matter or processes of the broad subject area of the occupation. Examples of general experience include, but are not limited to: selling merchandise, collecting and accounting for fees or other monies, greeting visitors, disseminating information, providing directions, or other work which required dealing with people on a recurring basis and that indicates the ability to acquire the knowledge and skills needed to perform the duties of this position. Specialized experience is experience that involved oral presentation of historical, scientific, or program information to groups; or developing and/or revising technical, historical, or scientific information for oral presentation to groups. Examples of specialized experience could include park guide or tour leader, naturalist, environmental educator or teacher, or other similar work.
• B. Successfully completed two years of study above high school (60 semester hours or 90 quarter hours) which included at least 12 semester hours in subjects such as American History, science and/or public speaking.
• C. Equivalent combination of experience and education that, together, equal 100% of the qualification standards listed above when combined.

To qualify for this position at the GS-05 level, you must possess one of the following

• A. One year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-04 level. Specialized Experience is experience that involved oral presentation of historical, scientific, or program information to groups; or developing and/or revising technical, historical, or scientific information for oral presentation to groups. Examples of specialized experience could include park guide or tour leader, naturalist, environmental educator or teacher, or other similar work.
• B. Successfully completed four years of study above high school (120 semester hour or 180 quarter hours) leading to a bachelor's degree with courses related to the occupation, such as American History, science, public speaking, parks and recreation, education or communications.
• C. Equivalent combination of experience and education that, together, equal 100% of the qualification standards listed above when combined.

Note:

This position includes money handling preference for optional consideration. Money handling requires a higher background check.

Credit will be given for all appropriate qualifying experience. To receive credit for experience,your 2-page resume MUST clearly indicate the nature of the duties and responsibilities for each position, starting and ending dates of employment (month/year), and the resume must reflect full and/or part-time or total number of hours worked (i.e., work 40+ hours a week, rather than indicating full-time). If part-time, the hours must be annotated to be able to pro-rate the amount of qualified specialized experience.

Resumes must not exceed two single-sided pages and resumes longer than two pages will not be accepted. The minimum font size is 10-point for all body text. Headers may be slightly larger but must remain legible. All resumes must maintain a minimum 0.5-inch margins on all sides to ensure readability and prevent excessive content compression. Including supplemental pages or attachments disguised as resume extensions are prohibited and will not be reviewed to determine your eligibility/qualifications.

Credit will be given for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

Volunteer Experience:

Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community, student, social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

ICTAP/CTAP Statement:

Current surplus and current or former displaced Federal individuals who have special priority selection rights under the Agency Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP) or the Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (ICTAP) must be well qualified for the position to receive consideration for special priority selection. Well qualified means that the applicant meets the following: OPM qualification standards for the position; all selective placement factors, where applicable; special qualifying conditions that OPM has approved for the position, where applicable; is physically qualified with reasonable accommodation, where appropriate to satisfactorily perform the duties of the position upon entry; and is rated by the organization at least at the well qualified level on all competencies.

OPM Qualification Standards Handbook is available for review at: OPM Qualification Standards