Visitor Services

Sharing the history and culture of the campus, as well as their experiences as a Berkeley student, ambassadors help people get to know and appreciate UC Berkeley. As prospective students and their families primarily gain knowledge about a university though campus tours, campus ambassadors can play an important role in college decisions.

Campus ambassadors lead in-person walking tours, participate in virtual tours, serve visitors at the Visitor Center and the Campanile, and staff special events such as Cal Day, College Information Day at UC Berkeley (previously called Berkeley Showcase), Homecoming, Power in Community Day, Golden Bear Welcome, as well as a growing number of other unique assignments. Visitor Services offers walking tours for individuals and families (prospective and newly admitted students, tourists, and alumni) and groups (middle and high school students, distinguished guests, donors, guests of campus departments, and government officials). Tours are usually 60-90 minutes long. At the Visitor Center, ambassadors act as campus concierges by greeting guests, signing guests in for tours, providing information, and answering questions. At the Campanile (Sather Tower), ambassadors staff the ticket desk and assist in elevator operation.

Visitor Services operates seven days a week! Ambassadors are scheduled to work as their availability permits. During the Fall and Spring semesters, ambassadors must be available to work a minimum of 10 hours on weekdays between the hours of 8:30am-5:30pm with additional hours on the weekends, work at major campus events, and attend monthly staff meetings. Ambassadors must be available at least one day a week (Monday-Sunday) to give our 9:15-11:00am guided walking tour. This results in actual work of 5-7 hours a week with opportunities to pick up additional shifts. During training, expect to work 4-5 hours a week over several months. Being an ambassador is a fun and rewarding job, but know that it provides a limited number of hours of work per week. We enthusiastically accept workstudy students, but it's not required.

New ambassadors are required to work in-person in Berkeley for the Summer of 2027 from Monday, May 24 - Sunday, August 15, 2027 (twelve weeks) where no extended vacations are allowed (breaks of 3 or more consecutive days).During these twelve summer weeks, ambassadors are required to be available to work at least 4 days a week (most of each day, including weekends) in order to actually work approximately 10-20 hours per week. Many ambassadors also choose to take summer courses, engage in research (part-time only), or pursue an internship (part-time only). There is an opportunity to additionally work from May 15-23 and August 16-24 (the short time between semesters). Please Note: Accommodations can be made, if necessary, for those applicants who plan to graduate in Spring 2028 as we understand this would be your last summer prior to graduation. Returning ambassadors are very welcome to work future summers, but it is not required.

We look for students who reflect the diversity of the student population, are active on campus and in the community, love to share their enthusiasm for the university, and have customer service experience. Speaking another language is a plus, but not required.

Submit your application by the published deadline. Qualified applicants will be invited to a comprehensive group audition. We will notify you a few days after the audition whether you were accepted to the role and explain the training process.

Training can be intense as we are preparing you to give a 90-minute walking tour while projecting and walking backwards. A wealth of information must be memorized and we will give you tools to interact with visitors with a customer service oriented view. Paid training occurs from October - February (five months), with 2-3 meetings a week, weekly quizzes, a written test, and many opportunities to give parts of your tour leading up to giving an entire tour by yourself. Since we invest a lot of time training each new ambassador, the expectation is that every ambassador will work this job through graduation. For our juniors, working through graduation is required. This job is a long-term investment in yourself! 

Yes! If you are an international student, please review UC Berkeley's On-Campus Employment website to ensure you are able to have a campus job. F-1 students will need a foreign passport, I-20, and I-94 while J-1 students will need a foreign passport, DS-2019, and I-94. If hired, you will need a Social Security Number (SSN) which you’ll apply for after you receive our job offer.