Pros
- A fun environment with potentially cool creative people and the chance to be on a working studio lot, with the occasional celebrity sighting - Opportunity to work with the audience on the talk shows on the lot and see live tapings
Cons
- GROSSLY under-compensated for the work we do. $14 an hour at 20-30 hours a week is not even close to enough to survive in LA, and it's laughable that management thinks the incredible amount of work we do is worth about $25 per tour. $14 an hour to drive a 14 seater golf cart around an insanely busy 100 acres of space and script an entirely new tour each time, all with perfectly accurate information and an entertaining story that, again, YOU come up with. They give you the facts, but it's your responsibility to weave it into a narrative for guests who couldn't care less. - Absolutely garbage mandatory union. Dues are $56 a month, and when you're barely making $250 a week, it seriously hurts. They don't care about your complaints, sometimes just outright ignoring you until you either give up or quit the job. And when you DO quit, the union will still charge you dues until you bust down their door demanding to withdraw from it. - Productions on the lot won't give you the time of day. They will look at you like you are gum on the sole of their shoe, seriously bottom of the totem pole kind of stuff. Hiring management like to tell you there are opportunities to move into these productions or other areas of the company from tours, but it'll be a cold day down under before any other employee looks a tour guide in the eye, never mind hire one. - Some days it will feel like it's worth it, like when you see a celebrity or get to visit a set from a show you love, or even have a positive guest experience, but most days, it's just a suped-up retail job that will consume your soul, if you let it. Not bad as a side gig or as a first job in the industry, but don't stay too long, and take any other job if you can. - Overall, don't bother.