Cultural Interpreter
- Program stream:
- Young Canada Works in Heritage Organizations
- Job title:
- Cultural Interpreter
- Organization name:
- Fort McMurray Heritage Society
- Job location:
- Fort McMurray, Alberta
- Length of assignment:
- 2018-05-08 to 2018-08-24 (12 weeks)
- Hourly wage:
- $16.00
Last July the Fort McMurray Heritage Society opened Heritage Village to the public for the first time since 2013. Now we must ensure we deliver the highest visitor experience possible. While the buildings and exhibits are the core of this experience, visitor interactions with staff also contribute significantly. Therefore we are looking to increase staff staff presence at Heritage Shipyard and Heritage Village and to expand our tour offerings.
Our Cultural Interpreters are intended to supply these experiences. They will make sure that guided tours are entertaining and informative, that the spaces in both of our museums are engaging, and that the sites are clean and safe. They will also take a role in guest services.
The desired outcomes for this project are as follows: 1) improving existing cultural offerings at the Heritage Shipyard; 2) continuing the high expectations from the Heritage Village re-opening; 3) running both sites smoothly and efficiently; and 4) ensuring that the Village and the Shipyard are safe, clean, welcoming spaces.
Work Description
The Cultural Interpreters comprise the primary face-to-face interaction with visitors in the Fort McMurray Heritage Village and the Fort McMurray Heritage Shipyard. Interpreters will lead visitors on tours of the museum and answer visitors' questions. They will also work in the gift shop and at the admissions desk. Since Interpreters are among those employees who spend the most time in our various buildings and exhibits, they will also take responsibility for ensuring that Heritage Village and Heritage Shipyard are attractive, safe, and clean.
The employee will:
• Become familiar with regional history and with the Fort McMurray Heritage Society's offerings
• Lead visitors with a variety of ages and backgrounds on guided tours
• Work in the Village and Shipyard gift shops
• Work at the Village and Shipyard admissions desks
• Ensure visitor experience is welcoming, engaging, and educational
• Perform basic cleaning and caretaking
• Share responsibility for museum safety and attractiveness
• Prepare for events
• Attend training sessions as available
• Prepare evaluations and reports for tours
• Perform other work as necessary
Work Plan
Week 1: Orientation and training
Week 2-13: Giving guided tours and other interpretation
before May 21st: Prepare Heritage Shipyard and Heritage Village for open
after May 21st: Ensure Heritage Shipyard and Heritage Village remain safe and clean during operations
before June 21st: Help events staff set up for National Aboriginal Day
before July 1st: Prepare for Canada Day event
before July 27th: Prepare for Taste of Fort McMurray events
before August 6th: Help events staff set up for Heritage Day
Week 14: Wrapping up, final report, exit interview
Employability Skills
• Customer service skills: In staffing the gift shop, addressing visitor questions, and leading guided tours, interacting with the public will comprise most of a Cultural Interpreter’s work. Therefore they will have ample opportunity to learn customer service skills such as empathy, friendliness, politeness and perceptiveness.
• Communication skills: As already mentioned, the Cultural Interpreter will need to communicate a lot of information to a variety of visitors; successful applicants will therefore develop significant customer service skills in the course of this work.
• Memory skills: The Cultural Interpreter will be expected to have a working knowledge of the stock at both gift shops. Furthermore, the successful applicants will be expected to take visitors on guided tours of both museums and to answer visitor questions. In learning to be familiar with a large inventory and the region’s history, the successful applicant will develop their memory and recall.
• Team building skills: Because the FMHS is a medium-sized organization, staff necessarily work closely with one another. The ability to work in a team will be critical to this position in order to maintain the cleanliness of the museums, to coordinate tours and performances, and to pick up in the gift shops. By doing this work, the Cultural Interpreters will learn team-building skills.
• Improvisational skills: The inherently unpredictable nature of guided tours, in which visitors often defy expectations, means that Cultural Interpreters will learn to improvise when adapting tour scripts to specific situations.
• Research skills: Although the majority of research will be done by contractors or permanent staff, Cultural Interpreters will have opportunity to follow up on questions that visitors ask for which we do not currently have answers available, giving them experience in regional history research.
Candidate Profile
Required Qualifications
• Currently pursuing a degree in a program such as Anthropology, Archaeology, Conservation, Drama, Fine Arts, History, Museum Studies, or Restoration
• Qualification for Canada Summer Jobs is required for this position
• Fluent spoken and written English are required; Cree and French are an asset
• An interest in northern history an asset
• Experience in guiding tours or customer service an asset
• Excellent communication skills
• Ability to work with others
• A willingness to learn and to develop new skills
• A proactive personality: responsibility, creativity, and a problem-solving approach
Equal Access
The Fort McMurray Heritage Society is open to hiring any qualified candidate from across Canada. We will post positions with HRDC, the Fort McMurray Community job boards, and job boards of heritage sites.
Deadline
The deadline to apply for this position will be determined. Poster and advertisements will be put forward as soon as possible. Dates are subject to grant approval.
Orientation and Supervision
All new employees are introduced to staff and have an in-depth tour of the facilities. This tour will reflect the history of the site and policies on safety.
The individual will spend the first week learning about the museums, regional history, and in-house practices. They will be trained by the Collections Technician and the Programs Manager to learn about the sites and the work required for the summer season. The Society trains new hires through verbal instruction, job shadowing, and occasional workshops, and also uses manuals and procedure lists created by previous occupants of each position. Daily meetings also help ensure that new hires can ask questions and clarify instruction.
Hiring Process
The FMHS will advertise this position in various venues, including but not limited to Young Canada Works, local job websites, and local newspapers. To each interested response, the FMHS will reply with a series of questions. If the applicant’s responses do not disqualify the applicant, the FMHS will follow up with one or two telephone interviews, depending on time constraints. Lastly, if the telephone interview goes well, the FMHS will conduct an in-person interview, after which the FMHS makes a final decision about extending a job offer. The initial series of questions will, among other things, check to ensure that the candidate qualifies for Young Canada Works, and the FMHS will ensure that any successful applicant has registered with YCW before final hire.
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