Has anyone got any travel qualifications ?? Or work in Travel/shop, centre ??

[nutcracker]

I know i said i had decided on which career to head for, but i came across some travel courses the other day and quite liked the look of them

They were the ABTAC (i think).

Basically i think they would qualify me to work in the travel industry in some capacity ie: travel agents e.t.c.

Just wondered if anyone else has done these courses or works in the industry.

I have applied for jobs in travel agents before but never even got an interview due to lack of experiance/qualifications.

Thats a NO then

travel agency work is very badly paid on the whole - i have been in this industry now for 5+ years - it was my first "proper" job after uni and 2 years travelling - well i was stuck as to what to do and i figured if travelling was my passion then why not work in that field?
I was lucky with my first job as it was pretty much the best i think i could ever have had - but the money was shit - now i work at a different agency on a lot more money (probabaly one of the highest paying agencies in UK - which is making trying to find a new job very hard), but the work is totally dull and unchallenging.
So i traded a good travel job on shite money, for a great paying job but with no job satisfaction!
Doing a Galileo (airline reservation system)course is a good start - a lot of agencies won't want to spend money on traning you up - try applying to tour operators too - this is a better way to ensure you get to go away on freebie trips esp. A lot of tour operators are as keen in employing people who have travelled to the destinations they sell as they are of official qualifications.
I would especially advise against working for a high street multiple (lunn poly, thomas cook, etc)where the money is notororiously bad. go for an independent agency.
Finally, working in travel may seem exotic, but it's not really. it's often dealing with difficult people with unreasonable expectations who almost never have the money to pay for what the are dreaming of!!!!

sorry - i am very cynical after all these years!!!

Well i did know it was badly paid, but then i'm not qualified for anything so most jobs i could get would be badly paid.

I wouldn't really be able to travel anywhere as i have 3 kids and an uncoperative dp

Oh well, back to the drawing board.

well it's worth having a look into - and i have certainly been away on educationals wioth mums who have left their kids with their husbands, and love it as it's the only time really they have to get away with a perfectly legitimate reason, and it's almost always free too!!
i admit that i am a travel snob, and have been spoilt in the amount of travel I've been able to do over the years - so a job at Going Places just isnt for me. But then again neither is where i work now - a supposed upmarket agency catering to fussy, rich north londeners!!
All i want to do is get pregnant and give up working!!!!

DH worked for Trailfinders briefly when he left college. It was badly paid and he hated dealing with the public! Social life was good though and you got to travel v cheaply/free as they had a sort of bonus scheme which gave you free travel.

The thing he really hated was all the Aussies and Kiwis calling every day saying "what's the cheapest way to get home?" He would say "Still swimming, thankyou, goodbye" and hang up LOL!!!!

hi nutty, sorry i didnt reply to other post but my pc is about to be smashed through the window as it keeps packing up.

i didnt have any travel quals, i worked overseas for airtours as a rep for 5 seasons then when i came home to have harry, after my maternity i got my job at thomas cook, based on the experience of working abroad. i now have quals which i gained "on the job"

to be honest, the only reason i stay in my job is because they are very flexible if you have a family and my main reason is my holiday concessions. (we are off to a 4* hotel in majorca this july, 4 of us for £400 half board)
the wage is a pittance, but to be fair i can make some good money in the summer through my commision but the winters just drag. plus the people who i work with are all really good friends now.
if travel is seriously the industry that you want to work in then do the abtac at college and see if you can do a computer reservation system (CRS) course ( ie galileo or worldspan) to run alongside it as you will make yourself more employable to various travel agents with this qualification.
independant travel agents do tend to pay more, but in my experience, they only really employ people who have a broad knowledge of long-haul holidays etc or who have travelled themselves extensivly.
so yes thomas cook, lunn poly etc may pay less but they do tend to employ people and then "build them up " so to speak.
hope this helps, is the course at north b.ham college?

Thanks again emma, yes the course is at nbc, but i think i'm going to give it a miss and do my access course again, as that is what i really want to do.

I've always fancied working in the travel industry. Currently work in event management but we also offer an accommodation booking service and we use GDS. Would this stand me in good stead do you think?

being able to use GDS would be an advantage, like i said to nutcracker, its the perks of the job that keep me there, not the wage, so if you are on a good wage then id advise against it, travel is one of the worst paid proffesions in the uk.
people at burger king earn more than us ( im being deadly serious!)