Next week I will start an exciting new job as an Audio Visual Technician at Encore Global. I am thrilled to have this opportunity to advance my multimedia skills while helping my new team produce amazing events for our clients. However, every new beginning requires an ending, as I am leaving my position as a State House Tour Guide that I held for the past nine years. I will miss my fellow tour guides, but I will take with me lessons in customer service and public speaking to my new position and beyond. 

The most important of these lessons is to be flexible in changing situations. Since the Massachusetts State House is a public building, you can never predict who will come in for a tour on any given day. Scheduled tours could be much larger or smaller than predicted, legislators could schedule day-of tours for their constituents, and rooms like the House and Senate chambers could be closed for events to name a few examples. I’d also sometimes have to make quick adjustments during my tours, such as stopping early so my group could meet with their legislators, avoiding rooms that were occupied for events, and using the elevator and wheelchair lift to accommodate visitors with strollers or mobility issues. I quickly learned that our daily schedule was not set in stone, as tours could be canceled, adjusted, or added at any time. The COVID-19 pandemic made this even more clear, as I needed to work from home for the initial months of the State House’s closure and switch to creating digital educational content for the State House website.

Another lesson I learned was to calmly handle rude and difficult patrons. We would sometimes get visitors who had come to complain to their legislators about an issue, visitors with mental health issues, and irate callers who were trying to reach other State House officials. Although I hated getting yelled at, I handled difficult visitors and callers as calmly and professionally as I could. If I had difficulties with them, or felt unsafe, I would discuss the issue with my Manager, and we would determine if the case needed to be escalated to the Rangers office. I also was patient and empathetic with visitors and callers who needed to access essential services like unemployment benefits and were frustrated that I couldn’t help them. For those cases I made sure I gave the visitor or caller accurate contact information to the department they needed to reach, and made clear that my job was to help them find accurate information to resolve their issue. 

Finally, I learned about the importance of careful listening in the workplace. Although I soon picked up on common questions, such as “where’s the bathroom?” and “why is Massachusetts called a Commonwealth?” I sometimes got vague questions from visitors who had heard an offhand story about state history or the State House building, or based their inquiry off of inaccurate assumptions about how state government works. I needed to carefully listen to these questions and ask the visitor more questions if I was confused in order to interpret what they were asking about and give a good answer. I also found that solid communication was essential for giving visitors clear instructions about tour policies, logistics, and directions around the building and to nearby tourist sites in Boston.

I know that these skills will serve me well at my new position with Encore Global, as effective communication, handling frustrated clients, and adjusting to changing plans are needed to organize and pull off successful events. I look forward to seeing where this new opportunity will take me in my future career.