tour guide

photographer

freelance photographer

writer

paranormal investigator

US Ghost Adventures

Overall I really LOVE my job as a tour guide with US Ghost Adventures! This is my part time evening gig and as a performer and lover of horror movies, true crime and the paranormal- it's a great fit for me! 

Ofcourse, it has some flaws much like any other job. In my particular area, ghost tours are still a pretty new concept especially when done year-round and outside of Halloween time frame.

 I've given a handful of tours but more than half of them have just been practice tours for my friends/co-workers. 
You can get scheduled for quite a few throughout the month every month but depending on your area, you might not always get people who book your tours or you might end up with pretty small groups.

 I'm a very creative person and I really love being able to have fun with it and let my creativity shine when I'm giving my tours...dressing up and telling jokes,ect.... some people enjoy seeing how enthusiastic I am, but I've found that others don't appreciate my efforts nearly as much though. Some people are just a tough crowd and even when you're doing best at keeping a good balance of being funny and telling scary stories, they'll just stare at you stonefaced but the way i see it is as long as you're having a great time and keeping the tour rolling along, that's what really matters. 

We can accept tips but people don't tip for the tours as often as I'd like..  I do understand it's not something that is required though. Aside from that the overall pay isn't bad and they give opportunities to earn a bonus In your paycheck from time to time as well.

The scheduling manager for my area is awesome! He keeps in contact with me and does a great job at answering my questions and talking with me about any concerns I bring to him so I feel like I have great support there. 

I can see myself doing this job for quite a while and I have so many ideas to keep expanding on my tour that I'm excited to implement!  

I had a very pleasant experience applying, interviewing, auditioning, and preparing for my tour guide work with US GHOST. However, this was for a new location. They had not prepared the site well enough to start getting any tours for it. But they hired me and another tour guide anyway, scheduling us for tour dates despite never having any tours to lead. When asked why they did not after a month into the lack of work, I was told that they had not properly turned on their online automated advertisers. Still, no tours came anyway after I was told they had turned them on. Now, three months since onboarding and two and a half months since my first scheduled tour, we still have never worked. This is a grave disappointment for me. I scheduled what amounts to about 90 hours of work time for this company and never got any work at all. 

When I contacted my regional supervisor about this problem, I received no responses after the first email, more than a month ago, that I could expect something soon. With the last two emails getting no response, it is clear that they do not yet care about this new tour site nor their hired workers for it. 

Regarding culture for this company, it's all online. There is none. I had nice interviews and good responses from a tour guide hotline, so that's nice. But I had to go take a tour with another tour guide up in Hollywood to really talk to someone about the experience. The work is individual. I've been alone and left alone. 

The tour I was to lead was rather poorly planned and written. But it would have at least been a tour. I did a lot of research and work to improve it, but I never got a chance to lead any tours to see if it went well.

My employment started as followed, first interview, then video audition, then I did a shadow tour where I watched a tour guide to see if I would like the job, the day before I started my first tour I had a welcome call where after I had already asked several days before and to several different employees I finally got the answer to my questions….how am I supposed to do the tour? When I haven’t received the transcripts or maps of the tour when I was supposed to receive them after my shadow tour so I knew what to say or where to take the guest so I finally got the paperwork 12hrs before my first tour with over 20 guest! I tried to back out but they offered me double the pay to do it without having the time to mesmerize the script, after  driving an hour to work I attempted to do the tour most of the guest were understanding and some were upset but that was completely understandable I would be too, after the tour I stated I didn’t feel comfortable doing anymore without any training and the supplies to properly do the tour, which they understood as I was waiting to receive everything I got an email stating they were letting me go due to being unreliable and how my first tour went, I ignored it and went on with my life a few weeks later I noticed I never got paid for the work I did so I reached out, they at first only wanted to pay me regular pay then I told them I was told I would get double pay which they verified and found to be true of course so they were going to send 100$ then I still never got the money so I sent another email finally they sent the money and I got 75$ I emailed asking where the other 25$ is as taxes don’t get taken out since we’re independent contractors they stated “due to the multiple absences had a deduction of $25 from the $100 for covering the one tour”  never EVER work for this company 

My time with USGA has this far been a lot of fun - while you may occasionally get a tour group that's a bit rough, that's to be expected and most groups seem to really enjoy the experience.

The tours themselves don't take long to do (an hour and a half to a couple of hours, depending on if you're doing an extended route, group size, anything going on on your route, etc.) and the scheduling is fantastic - you essentially pick your available days a month in advance and will be scheduled based on those, so flexibility is very high, which is excellent for a second gig for folks who need to work around another job, kids, etc., but also allows those with more time to often take more nights.

Management changes fairly frequently, but all managers I've had have been friendly, polite, professional, and generally easy to get a hold of. The same goes for the schedulers.

My only complaint, if any, is that compensation could be somewhat higher - you're paid the same for a tour regardless of number of people attending it or whether it is extended. Still, as long as you give a good tour, tips usually make up for this (though larger groups often have the problem of everyone assuming someone else will tip - this isn't USGA's fault, just the nature of the beast). On the upside, if you arrive for a tour and the guests don't show, you do still get paid a half rate for it, which is, I think, very nice to compensate for what ends up being under 15 minutes of your time and any gas/parking charges.

Working at a well-known historic site can be interesting, especially during the busy season in October when work is more consistent.
In my experience, pay and scheduling were unreliable. Pay is biweekly, but hours were majorly reduced over time, making it difficult to rely on this job for steady income. Outside of October, it was especially hard to make decent money, and even then, hours were closely monitored rather than supported. There was a clear difference in how hours were handled between departments. Housekeeping hours were heavily restricted and frequently cut, while guide positions appeared to receive more consistent scheduling. This imbalance made it frustrating to maintain income and felt unequal. Policies and expectations were not always applied consistently. At times, attendance issues such as no-call no-shows were not addressed, while other employees were closely monitored for hours. This lack of consistency created confusion and made it hard to understand workplace standards. Work-life balance was also poor. I was contacted to work on scheduled days off, and boundaries around time off did not always feel respected. Overall, this position may be suitable for short-term or seasonal work, but it was not a stable option for consistent pay, clear expectations, or a healthy work-life balance.

Working for this company has been a nightmare. There is no local management, leaving you in an embarrassing bind whenever an issue arises. The most common issue is that the tour is set to start in the middle of a busy market, making it difficult for guests to find. This immediately makes things awkward when you first manage to engage with guests. Management is aware of this issue and has done nothing to address it.
To exacerbate the lack of local leadership, offsite management (as in located in a different state), has called and antagonized local businesses along the tour route, particularly bars and restaurants, ensuring that our presence in the neighborhood is not welcomed or appreciated. Guests who interact with these local businesses before arriving for a tour will sometimes receive not-so-great feedback about the ghost tour from other businesses before they even arrive for the tour.
If the management issues are not bad enough, the advertised pay and gratuities are also greatly exaggerated. The idea of walking away with over $200 a night is laughable.
I’ll be taking my leave from this company soon, and I recommend that everyone stir clear of them. It has been a disappointing experience from beginning to end, as it never came close to living up to what they promised from the onset. 

I've always wanted to try tour guiding as a career. US Ghost Adventures allowed me to showcase my performance skills and knowledge of a city I love. My passion for ghosts and the paranormal were encouraged. While the tours I gave were at night, I usually had enough advanced notice before giving a tour. 

If you are going to consider this career or job, the most important thing is to be passionate about the subject matter. You are required to learn a lot of information in a short period of time. However, if you love what you are talking about it will come easier.

The tours are given year-round so be prepared to work during the winter. Management is great and does its best to work with your schedule. They were supportive and I felt like they did their best to make things easier for me when giving a tour.

This is really a job for someone who likes to work on their own and with people. You will make most of your money in tips, so always have a good attitude. 

Overall, I enjoyed the experience of working with US Ghost Adventures.

You are not working with an employee, you are working with people, supportive genuine people.

The type of culture and teamwork in this workplace is the best that I have encountered in my years of work.

When someone is out, everyone pitches in to cover, if not some, then most of the work.

The guides are very fun to work with. They are just awesome people. They quickly respond and pull up their sleeves when they need to, even at rare times, at a moment's notice.

The management are great. They help and assist you. They are very responsive, and they communicate and answer your questions. Furthermore, they make you feel that you belong. One time, I didn't expect him(you know who you are), from the management to have time because I know that they are pretty busy, but he made time to genuinely ask me how I am, how's work treating me, etc. a simple chat and this is in the middle of a very busy day. This was only about 10-15minutes, but I really appreciate it that someone in higher management does this and show that he really cares.

Very flexible schedule and the schedulers are happy to help you make changes even after you have submitted your schedule for the month. Tips are really good, and I think they compensate fairly most of the time. The amount of information you have to memorize very quickly after being hired was very daunting. Guests are, for the most part, very respectful and nice and I rarely have issues with unruly or rude guests. I mostly took off one star because one of my biggest struggles is that all of the managers or higher-ups are not located anywhere near you, and do not know what is going on in your city and do not know anything about how your city's tours actually run. Because of this, it's almost impossible to ask for help or advice from highers up, when it comes to specific questions about your tour. I know they want to help, but are just so seprated there's really nothing they can do. 

Almost every night, I get to dress up like it’s Halloween and go out into my amazing city and literally tell ghost stories for an hour and get paid to do it! I also meet people from all over the country and world and get to show them Annapolis and talk about the history and recommend fun things to do and places to visit. 

A lot people seem entitled and think that every gig and job needs to be all about them and that if it’s not perfect, the managers and people and company must be horrible and it’s time to tell the world.

 This company has done nothing but help me make money and have fun. My managers (there are a few of them) are always support and communicate and respond when I text or call or email. How many managers and bosses of yours do that consistently? 

No one is perfect but I love this gig and I would recommend it to ANYONE. It might not be for everyone but work is work and luckily this job is one of the most fun jobs I’ve ever had and will continue to have! 

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Tour guide 10 salaries reported	$42.50 per hour
Photographer 39 salaries reported	$250 per day
Freelance photographer 1 salary reported	$200 per day
Writer 10 salaries reported	$145 per day
Paranormal investigator 4 salaries reported	$33.13 per hour

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