>Guides are 1099 independent contractors, not employees There are no employment benefits and no protections associated with the position Management has been known to terminate people abruptly without clear communication or warnings The general work culture feels very fearful and gossipy as a result In addition, pay rates go up only a small amount based on performance every year and scheduling tends to be irregular and unpredictable If you are looking for stable income this is not the job for you
>Management has very little sense of work-life balance in the Madison office or in the field If you request time off you risk losing work all together The schedule does not allow for personal planning of life outside of the job, and the erratic nature of the schedule doesn't make work dependable or predictable When you sign up to guide you are signing away your life outside of Trek Travel (friends, holidays, personal travel, ect)
>Tania Burke's management style seems disconnected from reality Many of these reviews state that she needs to step down and allow someone else to manage the ship This is an accurate statement She is very concerned with "constant improvement" but this is really just a sacrifice of anything that would keep the company heading in a consistently upward direction, replacing dysfunctional systems with new dysfunctional systems She doesn't trust anyone that she has worked so hard to hire, which is a shame because there are some very smart people who want the company to succeed In general Tania does not take feedback or criticism very well so it seems like people rather avoid it
>The general culture at Trek Travel feels clique-ish and inauthentic Tania has asserted that she wants TT to be open and fun but high turnover in the office and the field says otherwise
>The work load expected in the job is way too high for the number of staff in the office, and the number of hours in a day in the field Everyone is constantly spread too thin
>There is very little appreciation for staff A mandatory once yearly reunion is not enough to keep everyone motivated and positive through the year when things constantly go crazy in the field There is a lot of use of the word "rockstar" but "rockstar" doesn't pay the bills or fix the broken system or make anyone feel like they are valued truly To have longevity at this job you have to be able to work like a dog and be okay limping home at the end of the season with a "super job, rockstar!" at the end of it all
>There is no upward mobility whatsoever As a guide, there isn't even seniority You don't get preference on your schedule, trips you work, or even who you work with You hardly even get a raise There is no incentive to be a better guide because at the end of the day you might be making one dollar more per day than your rookie partner who bumbles their way through everything and you have to pick up their slack