Mountain Guide Resume Example & Writing Guide
Use this Mountain Guide resume example and guide to improve your career and write a powerful resume that will separate you from the competition.
Mountain guides are outdoor enthusiasts who love to explore the great outdoors. They have a passion for hiking, climbing, skiing, paddling, and more, and they know how to help others enjoy these activities too.
If you have experience working with clients in a similar capacity—or if you’ve worked as a guide for an outdoor club or program—you might be ready to turn your passion into a career. But before you can start booking clients and planning itineraries, you need a compelling resume that will help you land the job. Here are some tips and an example to help you write yours.
How to Write a Mountain Guide Resume
Here’s how to write a resume of your own.
Write Compelling Bullet Points
Bullet points are the most effective way to showcase your experience and qualifications. But rather than simply listing your responsibilities, you can make your resume more interesting by using bullet points to describe the results of your work.
For example, rather than saying you “led group of 10 hikers on mountain hike,” you could say that you “led group of 10 hikers on mountain hike in hot weather, resulting in no injuries and all hikers reaching summit.”
Notice how the second bullet point is more specific and provides more detail about the nature of the project and the outcome? That’s what makes it so much stronger than the first bullet point.
Identify and Include Relevant Keywords
When you apply for a job as a mountain guide, your resume is likely to be scanned by an applicant tracking system (ATS) for certain keywords. The ATS looks for keywords related to the work of a mountain guide, like “expedition” and “outdoor recreation.” If your resume doesn’t include enough of these keywords, your application might not make it past the initial screening process.
To increase your chances of getting an interview, make sure to include relevant keywords throughout all the sections of your resume. You can add them into the work experience, skills, summary, and education sections. Here are some examples:
- Mountain Guides
- Climbing
- Mountaineering
- Outdoor Education
- Avalanche Awareness
- Wilderness First Aid
- Rock Climbing
- Guiding
- Backcountry Travel
- Rock climbing guide service
- Backpacking
- Wilderness Survival
- Leadership
- Trip Planning
- Working at Heights
- Land Navigation
- Outdoor Recreation
- Teaching
- Emergency Medical Services (EMS)
- Customer Service
- Coaching
- Canoeing
- Teamwork
- Event Planning
- Event Management
- Social Media
- Communication
- Event Management Services
- Public Speaking
- Social Media Marketing
Showcase Your Technical Skills
Mountain guides need to be proficient in a variety of skills in order to do their jobs effectively. This might include familiarity with GPS systems, weather tracking software, and avalanche forecasting tools. Additionally, mountain guides need to be able to use technology to communicate with other members of the team, including base camp staff and rescue personnel.
Some of the programs and systems that mountain guides are typically expected to be proficient in include: Garmin GPS units, InReach satellite communicators, and Spot satellite locators.