Another technique is networking, which can make the real difference for a person coming in from outside the industry with no prior experience working in it. As many of the human resources professionals interviewed in this book noted, much depends on who you know. "We get thousands of unsolicited resumes from people with marketing degrees," said the manager of central employment for TWA, "but there is a lot of networking going on."
How do you get into the network from outside? First, you ask every friend and relative, and friend of a friend or relative, whether they know anyone in the Target Company or industry, even if that person is not in a hiring capacity. Being able to telephone someone and say, "So-and-so asked that I call," or, better, being introduced by an associate, makes a big difference. You have to realize that no matter how terrific your resume looks, it is only one of hundreds or thousands that a personnel office has to consider.
Be Selective
You should try to be selective about the company you work for, but if this is not possible, take any job just to get inside and have a travel company on your resume. If you can afford to be selective, the kinds of questions you should research are: How large or small is the company? How new or old? What position does the company hold in its field? What is its reputation? How progressive, innovative, or conservative is the company? How many people are employed and in what kind of organization? What are the company's human resources policies and what kind of working environment does it offer? What has the company's record been during industry downturns; is turnover particularly high or low? Is it affiliated with trade associations? What kinds of products and services does it offer and who are its customers? Try to get a sense of what your own advancement prospects will be like by looking at the ages of your superiors and what turnover rates are like.
There are advantages and disadvantages of working at both large and small companies. The largest organizations generally have the most entry-level positions and better training and management programs (and usually but not always are better paying with better benefits). But they are also deluged by thousands of resumes and generally can afford the best schooled or trained or experienced people. Working in the largest organizations tends to be more specialized and advancement tends to be slower, though there are usually higher positions to advance into because there are more management tiers. Smaller organizations can also be training grounds because they tend to pay less and thus cannot afford the more skilled individuals. The working environment may be more cramped, but you are apt to get a more generalized education and greater responsibility more rapidly than in a larger organization. Frequently, smaller companies are used as steppingstones to larger ones, but they can also provide a more close-knit and comfortable atmosphere.
Getting In
To get a job, you have to see yourself as an entrepreneur; you must find a need and fill it. Frequently, this means creating your own position.
Do not regard yourself as a novice looking to break into the industry. The travel and tourism industry draws on every professional background. From reading the chapters in this book on the specific industry segments, you should have a better sense of how you can present your own work or life experience as an asset in a position in a travel entity, even if you are just graduating from school. If you are trying to change careers, it may be necessary to move into a parallel function in travel, even if you would really prefer to leave as far behind as possible what you were doing before (say, accounting, teaching, or clerical work). Those who are returning to the work force after raising a family should recognize their assets as managers and also realize that many organizations appreciate the maturity gained by this experience.
No matter where you are coming from or what your prior experience, your strategy should be to just get into the organization because, once inside the company and the industry, you can move within it or to another company much more easily. Getting in is the hard part; once over this hurdle, you can go as far as your abilities and ambition let you.
Given the fact that deregulation, automation, and growing professionalism are probably the most significant developments underway in the industry, the greatest opportunities for new hires are in marketing and research, sales, computer services, information management, telecommunications, training and development, quality control and customer service, and operations.
The Resume
The resume is a necessary document, but it will not be what gets you a job (it could even lose a job for you). The objective of the resume and its accompanying cover letter is to get you an interview. A resume should be neatly presented, with absolutely no spelling mistakes or typos, preferably word-processed or offset but definitely typed on a quality white or off-white paper (not blue or gray), and should not be longer than two pages. It should state your name, address, and telephone number. If you are cold-canvassing, the resume should also specify a job objective, which can be as specific as "salesperson" or "travel counselor" or as open as "a marketing position in which I can use my knowledge and contacts in the travel agency industry." The objective should not read: "a rewarding career in travel."
The organization of the resume varies, but, depending upon what arrangement best presents your case, it should contain your work experience, listing dates, employer, title, and a brief description of your duties, responsibilities, and any major accomplishments. The kinds of details you should mention are the number of staff managed, how sales grew during your tenure, and any new program or innovation you created or implemented. Example: "During my tenure, sales increased 50 percent; opened new territory; won company's top sales award; introduced new product; market share improved." Use active words and do not keep repeating the same ones. Examples: managed, directed, oversaw, initiated, created, conceived, and designed. Always specify whether you managed people (how many), called upon clients (corporations, travel agencies, church groups), made presentations, and/or wrote proposals. The point is: show results.
You should list your educational background, including dates of graduation, degree, name of school, and any special awards or honors you received. (If you are a recent graduate, emphasize your educational background and stress any internships or summer employment.) You might include a list of extracurricular activities.
The resume should also include any military experience. You should list any memberships in professional or community organizations, awards, honors, distinctions, any published works, job- related activities, certificates or licenses (pilot's, driver's), and special skills (computer, foreign language, photography) or assets (extensive travel; lived abroad).
Instead of ignoring what might be perceived as a negative (hoping that the employer will not notice), turn a negative into a positive. For example, some employers are skittish when they see that someone has changed jobs every two years. You need to note that you had a rapid advance with a steady increase in responsibility. Explain that you were contracted for a one-year project, recruited by the president for a one-year project, or recruited by a client. Express the fact that the position was moved to Minneapolis and you chose not to move with it, or that the company was merged or went out of business. Since potential employers will generally ask why you left the last job, have a good answer planned. (You do not have to say you were "fired." You could say instead that there was a wave of layoffs when the company was forced to cut costs.) Never lie; just choose your wording strategically.
Remember the key themes and try to weave them into your resume and cover letter. Travel companies look for people who are service oriented, people oriented, and detail oriented, and who have good communications skills. If you have broad experience, say so; if you are a specialist, say so.
Do not assume that the person reading your resume is going to understand how your experience applies to his or her organization. Explain how your experience is relevant. If you are coming from outside the travel industry, you can use a summary of job expertise-sales and marketing, operations, public relations, calls on corporations, made presentations-all of which are directly applicable to travel. Use the fact that you bring experience from outside the industry to your advantage. For example, you can speak the language of another industry and have wide contacts in order to better sell corporate clients on your travel services.
Ideally, it is best to tailor the resume to specific companies and positions, which is not so difficult if you have a word processor. If this is not practical, you can get around this issue by writing a convincing sales presentation in your cover letter.
