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Name: Arron Mitchell
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Age: Not Known
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Tour Operator: My Travel
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Countries have worked in:
Cyprus, Tenerife, Spain
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In the beginning
I decided that I wanted to be a
holiday rep at the age of 14 when I saw one of those holiday
rep programmes. I got into it when I was spending the summer
in Kos and became a local transfer representative for Golden
Sun and I loved it! When I returned from Kos I applied to
Airtours (this is before they were all one brand!) I chose
Airtours as I had been on holiday with them and I had the
best time with them!!! It is a good idea to work out which
tour operator you want to work for so that you come across
more passionate in the interviews
The
interview
After applying to Airtours I got an
email saying that I had been successful and would have a telephone
interview. They called me when I was at the station waiting for the
train to Gatwick to take me on holiday!! I stood on the Platform in
February, teeth chattering and shivering answering questions like
"Give me an example of when you have provided excellent customer
service? and how did you go the extra mile?" There was four
questions in total after answering these I was invited to an
assessment day in London!
I had to prepare a two minute presentation on an excursion of my
choice. I chose one that I had been on in Kos and made a nice map
and board to take with me!
On arrival at the Tiger Tiger in Piccadilly Circus I was the first
one there. Feeling a bit of a lemon for about two minutes the others
started turning up and we all started chatting. It is a good idea to
be really outgoing and chatty at this point because I later found
out that the assessors were watching us on CCTV! They then showed us
into a room where they went through the day in a life of a rep. They
also shared some horror stories!!
They put us in groups of five and we had five minutes to come up
with a song and dance routine, we chose "We're all going on a summer
holiday!" with this ridiculous routine!
After a short break we had the presentations! I was shaking like a
leaf (I had a real fear of public speaking!) I completed the
presentation rather too quickly as I was jabbering away! We then had
a series of tests to complete.Then we were called into a room one by
one and we were assessed on our
customer service skills. I was shocked!!! I was confronted by this
raving Scottish lunatic screaming at me about her sofa! (you get a
briefing of what you do but not what the problem is so you have to
really delve to find out what it is) The raving Scottish lunatic
ended up being my resort manager at a later resort!!!!
Mine was that the sofa hadn't been delivered so I arranged an
emergency delivery for her for later that afternoon and apologised
profusely! (ALWAYS APOLOGISE!!!!)
After that we had lunch and then it was the one to one interviews!
Mine were really nice, we talked about my history, what I have done
and they ask you questions (mine were similar to the ones in my
telephone interview so I gave those again!).
My
Travel new entrant training course
I knew they were going to call me at
some point the next day and couldn't stop shaking and was terrible.
I was at work when I got the call. I was really happy but they
needed me to go on the course that Sunday (I think it was a Friday
when they called me!) I spoke to my boss and she was fine with it!
That Sunday I boarded a train for a LONG journey to Blackpool.
I didn't arrive until 8pm. I went to the resturaunt and met two
girls. And they were the only ones there. After dinner we went into
town for a few drinks. Where we bumped into the rest of the group!!!
They were very drunk! WARNING: MYTRAVEL HAVE SPIES EVERYWHERE AND
THEY KNEW EVERYTHING WE GOT UP TO! After a few more drinks some of
us went back to the hotel to get some much needed sleep ready for
the following morning!
The next morning we got a telling off!! Some of the group had been
clubbing and invited people back to the hotel and had a party in the
rooms! One was sacked on the spot and the other five people were
given final written warnings!
WARNING: Ok you aren't getting paid but the company are providing
your meals transport costs and also a lot of time, money and effort
into your training. You are an employee of the company so you need
to treat it like work and behave! You have an opportunity to let
your hair down on the final night!
After that little blip we got to work!
We had a presentation about what to expect and what was going to
happen throughout the week. Sorry it may be a bit vague was
over four years ago!! They go through reports, welcome
meetings and how to deal with complaints!
They go over all of these over Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. We
didn't leave the hotel once and were up late every night with
activities and preparing welcome meetings (in twos).
Thursday was the most horrific day! We were woken up at 4am with an
emergency call. Most of us legged it down to reception to be told
there was an emergency, we were sent into the car park to find a car
registration and report back, make, model and colour of the car.
Some people went to bed others stayed up chatting before getting an
early breakfast and putting finishing touches to welcome meetings!
At 9am it is welcome meetings where you have to do a full welcome
meeting and deal with two customer service issues.
After lunch we were taken to the ball
room where we were told we had three hours to put together a cabaret
to perform at 8pm!!! After a quick discussion about what to do we
split into groups to get organised! At 8 pm we put on our two and a
half hour cabaret!!
After which they told us that we had all passed!!! We went out on
the town and got slaughtered, trainers included! Mine got me
hammered!!! Finally got to bed at 4am!!! So had been up for 24
hours!!! The next day we checked out and had our final presentation
on how to look after yourselves and what to
expect. Some of them shared personal experiences.
Then we had to sit in reception while we were called in one by one!
They tell you what you excel at and what you need to work on. They
are also telling you where you are going! I was off to Cyprus!!!
The
first few months in resort
Me getting to resort was soooo last
minute!!! I went out on the Wednesday night with friends and on
Thursday they called me to say I was flying to Cyprus on Sunday. I
have to admit I was a bit shocked and was expecting a bit more
notice! It was a bit of a rush and I had to run around town with a
hangover and speak to my two bosses (had two jobs!) and my flat
mates. I felt really bad letting them all down but fortunately they
were really understanding!
I spoke MyTravel and they told me I was flying out from Manchester so I had to
get from Brighton to Manchester for a 9am flight! I explained my problem and
they were really helpful and put me up in a hotel. I decided to fly from
Heathrow to Manchester as it would be easier than lugging my stuff around on the
train (they paid for my flight too! But only because it was cheaper than the
train!). When I arrived at Manchester I went to the Airtours desk to pick up my
uniform and made my way to the hotel! In the hotel I thought I would try on my
uniform to see what it was like and the fire alarm went off, not having time to
change I had to stand outside in my uniform!!!
On the flight I sat next to another rep who I didn't realise that she was until
we landed at Larnaca! She is lovely and looked after me for the next few weeks!
When we landed we met a team leader who put us on a coach to Paphos (2.5hrs
away!!!) When we arrived we were put in a hotel that was not yet open to the
public! I wasn't bothered as the rooms were lovely! The next day we had the day
to chill out and get our bearings. My team leader told us later that morning
that he was short staffed as some staff had to go home that evening and he would
need us to do welcome meetings!
I was given the Airtours exclusive property and I was really worried as I didn't
know anything about Cyprus! I could do the bit up to the hotel but after that I
was stuck!!! They took me to the hotel were I met the entertainer, she was
really understanding and said to do up to resort knowledge and she would do the
rest!
The next day I did my first welcome meeting in front of 350 people!! I was
totally honest with them all and I said I had only arrived the day before and I
didn't know where a lot was!!
The next few weeks were really unsettling and I felt a bit lost for a while. I
was moved around a lot as well! after a couple of weeks I was told I was going
to Limassol to meet the new reps and to go on all the excursions. I joined them
a bit late as I had to wait for a rep to come and cover me so i could go on the
course. It was really awkward at first because they had the first three days to
get to know each other but they soon helped me settle in! The course was great
and I had a great time and made some close friends there!
How
it all turned out in the end
I loved Paphos and I was really sad to
go. I was being sent to Tenerife for the Winter and looked forward
to returning the next season! I never did go back to Cyprus as a rep
though!
I Went to Spain the following summer as they were
short on experienced reps! I had a great time as a rep and I really miss it now!
To the extent that I am planning to go back!!! Have my interviews coming up and
after writing all this I look forward to it even more!
Arron Mitchell
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