Have you met our new tutor in the City?
Meet Catherine O’Dea, the newest member of the ITC City tutor team. She talks about why she got into the Industry and why she decided to make the move into teaching.
“My love for travel and tourism developed while I was still at high school, so when I graduated I decided to pursue a career in the industry.
I began studying in 2004, but before the academic year was even finished Qantas Airways offered me a job as a reservations consultant. This offered me a great starting point in the industry, and I learnt about many aspects of the business, including customer service, flights, airfares and ticketing.
After two years in Qantas reservations, I applied for the role of business development officer in commercial sales and got it. The role was responsible for looking after Qantas’s small to medium clients, with a key objective to increase market revenue. This role offered me the opportunity to learn about the corporate side of Qantas and meet lots of new people.
After two years in commercial sales I felt like I needed a challenge. I moved to Jetconnect (a subsidiary of Qantas) as a short haul flight attendant. This was a dream come true for me.
The cabin crew training was very challenging and rewarding, and I was extremely excited to finally be able to put it all into practice.
I flew weekly from New Zealand to Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane and really enjoyed interacting with other crew members and passengers from different cultures every single day. No day was ever the same!
During my time in this role, a position came up at Qantas Business Travel as a corporate travel consultant. Ever since starting at Qantas, I had always wanted to work in this department, so I knew I couldn’t let this opportunity pass me by.
In this role I was able to learn about many more aspects of travel, including packages, rental cars and accommodation. It was here that I learnt about providing great customer service while helping clients with all aspects of their travel requirements.
When I saw the job of travel tutor advertised at ITC, I knew that I wanted to share my knowledge and experience with students who felt as excited about the industry as I did.
What has struck me since starting at ITC is how practically and realistically the training prepares students for careers in travel and tourism.
Like me, the staff all have experience in the industry, which mean students are not only getting the benefit of the great programmes and facilities, but they are getting genuine first-hand knowledge every day.
My goal now is to help others to achieve their goals; to help students make the career choices that are best for them by passing on as much information as I can about working in this amazing industry.”
Thanks Catherine, we know you are going to inspire, motivate and teach lots of students into this awesome industry.
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