Park Guide (Seasonal)

US National Park Service; Fairbanks (AK); On-site; USD 25,000 - 36,000; Full time

Job summary

US National Park Service seeks Park Guides in Alaska to greet visitors and educate them about natural, cultural, or historical resources. You may provide information, directions, and brief programs tailored to diverse audiences.

The position supports seasonal staffing in the Alaska Region, with entry on duty in spring and seasonal operations through autumn. Applicants should prepare resumes detailing hours and duties for evaluation.

Qualifications

• Six months general experience and six months specialized experience for GS-04 level.
• Two years of study above high school with courses related to history, science or public speaking.
• Equivalent combination of experience and education for the stated standards.

Responsibilities

• Greet visitors and provide information about park resources.
• Disseminate information on natural, cultural, or historical resources.
• Present programs and/or tours to groups; convey accurate content clearly.

Skills

Public speaking

Customer service

Greet visitors

Education

Bachelor's degree in relevant field

Two years of study above high school

Job description

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

The typical seasonal entry-on-duty period for Seasonal Staffing Office-Alaska Region is April 2027, but can be variable during these months due to weather conditions, project needs, or funding. Anticipated Entry on Duty: March - July 2027.

Open to the first 150 applicants. All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement-10/23/2026-unless otherwise stated in this vacancy announcement.

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. You may only submit one resume. Only the document submitted as the "Resume" under the Documents section will be used to determine your qualifications/eligibility and for rating purposes. In the event you submit more than one resume, only the latest submission will be reviewed.

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.
• -OR- 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.
• -OR- 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.
• -OR- 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.
• -OR- C. Equivalent combination of experience and education that, together, equal 100% of the qualification standards listed above when combined. Note: only education in excess of what is required for the GS-04 grade (60 semester hours) will be creditable toward the GS-05 grade when substituting education for experience. For example, 90 semester hours of college coursework will meet 50% of qualification requirements (30 semester hours beyond what is required for the GS-04 grade, is equivalent to 6 months of experience).

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

Qualifying experience may be obtained in the private or public sectors. The OPM Qualification Standards Handbook is available for review at: OPM Qualification Standards.

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.