Investigate the Range of Career Opportunities in the T&T Industry - Activity
The travel and tourism industry is vast and varied. There are many different sectors providing services to all kinds of customers. But how do you get into a good job in the industry? By 'good', we mean a job or career that provides personal satisfaction and growth as well as sufficient income to live your life.
This activity aims to get you involved in thinking about these points. You will be carrying out research into key roles in the industry, entry requirements and progression opportunities, as well as assessing your own suitability for a travel and tourism career.
You should regard this work as one of the first stages in gaining a career in the industry. It should help you focus your thoughts and set goals for your own personal development. Who knows, it might help you make the right choices for your own career?
The overall aim is to produce a careers file to include:
- A list of the career paths which are suitable to you
- An outline of the job description and person specification for two jobs
- A list of the entry requirements for these jobs - how do I get from here to there?
- A plan of the progression routes through the industry: how do I get from there to where I want to be in longer term?
- A description of your individual training and development needs
Tasks
Group 1
Use the information available at the 'Prospects' Web site to learn more about some of the key roles in the tourism industry. (http://www.prospects.ac.uk/cms/ShowPage/Home_page/Explore_job_sectors/Tourism/Key_roles/p!ebflmd)
You'll find really useful information about six key roles (and many individuals) within the tourism sector. The individuals have all studied on higher education courses, but should provide a good guide to getting a career in the industry even if you're not thinking of going on to university after school or college.
Could you see yourself working on board a cruise liner? There are hundreds of different jobs in the cruise sector - just one small part of the tourism industry! Copyright: Lewis Johnston, from stock.xchng.
Select two jobs in the sector that interest you and carry out further research as follows:
- Go to the 'role in close-up' pages (accessible by following the links to the specific jobs).
- Read the case studies which are available from the 'role in close up' pages. You'll find stories there of how real people got into the various jobs examined in detail. Make sure you gather information about the problems of working in these jobs as well as their advantages.
- Note how the individuals got into the jobs in the first place. Then carefully look for indicators of how their careers progressed, as they took up opportunities to train and develop themselves.
Group 2
Business tourism is an enormous global money-spinner. Copyright: Manny Protester, stock.xchng.
Use the information available at the 'Business Tourism Partnership' Web site to learn more about some of the key roles in the tourism industry. (http://www.businesstourismpartnership.com)
Navigate your way to the 'Publications' section of the site. Scroll down to locate the 'Business Tourism Briefing' document. This is a large PDF file (266 Kb) but the sections you need for this activity are not lengthy. Read part 3 of the document, 'Careers in the Business Tourism Industry'.
Select two jobs in the sector that interest you and carry out further research as follows:
- Find out about the personal qualities and skills needed to carry out the two roles you've selected.
- What suggestions does this site offer in terms of gaining work experience in the industry? Why is this important to people looking to work in the industry? Why is it important to potential employers?
The document points to other useful Web sites (page 30) for those seeking a career in tourism. Visit the 'Springboard' site and follow links to the 'Careerscope Online' section. What advice can you gather from the information provided on entry routes into the industry?
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Group 3
Use the information available at the 'Hospitality, Leisure, Sport and Tourism HAVE' Web site to learn more about gaining relevant work experience and transferable skills useful to start a career in the travel and tourism industry. (http://www.hcima.org.uk/HAVE/index.htm)
The HAVE service is all about how you can maximise your opportunities when you're ready to seek a career in this industry:
- Read through the information and download the Information Pack.
- Pick two sectors of the industry that interest you.
- In pairs, work through the Self-Assessment Exercises contained in the pack.
- Be prepared to feedback the results of your self-assessments.
- Add weight to what you can say to the whole group by reading through and making notes on the examples given of students who have successfully used the HAVE programme.
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Feedback
Each of the three groups should now plan to make a presentation to the whole group, based on their work earlier. Each presentation should aim to help the group in the following ways:
- By providing a comprehensive list of the various sectors of the travel and tourism industry
- By highlighting how you can get into key roles in the industry
- By showing how individuals can progress through their careers in this industry
- By pointing to examples of people who have followed the various routes into their careers
- By showing how the work that you do now, can boost your career opportunities in travel and tourism
You should aim to carry out some aspects of this activity in your own time in pairs or individually. For example, if you haven't done the self-assessment exercise as part of Group 3's tasks, it is recommended that you do so. This will help you plan to maximise your chances of achieving your career aims.
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