Encourage transferability

Press Releases: TTG Business Article

Why is it that companies so often want to pigeon-hole people? It is one of my pet hates (along with pigeon’s in their own right!). At Gail Kenny Recruitment I always encourage my team to think laterally about the candidates that they meet and how their skills could be transferred to other sectors of the travel industry. Transferability between leisure travel and business travel is a good case in point.

People with professional qualifications in disciplines such as finance, HR, IT, and Marketing are clearly very transferable, but in other areas such as account management and business development roles, there is scope to move from Leisure to Corporate. Some one who has good account management skills i.e. strong on communication, relationship building, commercially aware etc can apply those skills just as easily in business travel if their background has been on the leisure side. In fact there are often many advantages to taking someone from a different sector as it will bring in fresh ideas and approaches, and other members of a team can learn and develop from them.

We have recently recruited someone for a TMC from a tour operating background, and the client was more interested in the quality of the candidate, their experience, their skills and the companies that the candidate had worked for, rather than whether it be in business travel or leisure travel. In fact the client had also previously worked on the leisure side.

The migration of businesses from offline to online has generally been greater in the leisure sector and people with web development and online marketing skills would be very welcome in the corporate travel arena, coming from a leisure travel heritage.

The corporate travel sector is on the up again, having adapted to and now prospering from a new business model. TMC’s are actively recruiting business development/account managers. At a time when the big four vertically integrated tour operators are about to become two, what better time for those on the leisure side with these types of skills and experience to open their minds to the opportunities in the world of business travel.

Top Tips for Candidates looking to move in sectors:

• promote your attributes and skills over your industry experience
• keep an open mind looking at new job opportunities
• think of experiences that you have had in one sector that would be relevant in the other

Top Tips for Clients looking to attract candidates from other sectors:

• promote the benefits of working for your company rather than the sector it’s in
• keep an open mind when looking at new job applications
• work with Gail Kenny Recruitment who always encourage a lateral approach!

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