Meet Kate, 25, a travel consultant working at Diverse School Travel, an educational travel company based in Birmingham. Find out more about how she uses Spanish in her role. Part of our Bitesize world of work series.
Kate's ability to speak different languages is essential, as her role involves arranging trips for schools to Spanish-speaking countries. She will often speak Spanish to local suppliers from those countries, in order to book specific activities, transport and accommodation.
I love the opportunity to travel and use my languages everyday.
Kate:
Hola, me llamo Kate. Soy consultante de viajes para una empresa de viajes escolares. - My name is Kate. I'm a travel consultant for an educational travel company.
My name is Kate and I'm a travel consultant for an educational travel company.
Hola, te llamo de Diverse School Travel. - Hello, I’m calling from Diverse School Travel.
A veces es lindo no hacer nada. - Sometimes it's great to not do anything.
Kate’s colleague:
Sí, sí, por supuesto. - Yes, yes, of course.
Kate:
I specialise in arranging educational trips in the UK and abroad for schools. I speak to teachers about where they want to go and then create the whole itinerary for them. From speaking with local suppliers to organising the flights and accommodation. To organise the activities, I contact local businesses, who we call suppliers, and I always speak to them in their language.
Quiero saber si tienes disponibilidad para un grupo escolar en julio. - I’d like to know if you have availability for a school group in July.
I specialise in French, Spanish and Italian speaking countries. The thing I love most about my job is receiving great feedback from teachers. I love hearing that students have enjoyed the trip that I've created. It’s the best feeling in the world. I also love the opportunity to travel and to use my languages every day.
Fue muy relajante porque estaba preparando para ir a Ginebra. - It was really relaxing because I was getting ready to go to Geneva.
My mum encouraged me to do French lessons when I was in primary school. I loved it and I went on to do French and Spanish at A-level and later at university.
To improve my language skills, I used to listen to music in different languages. I think there's something in the way that we hear music that can help us reproduce the sounds in a way that we can't when speaking normally.
When I graduated university, I knew that I wanted to use languages in my job, so I didn't lose this skill. I found my current job through an online job advert. I didn't get the job I originally applied for, but the company got back in touch later when they were hiring again and here I am. My company only hires people who can speak different languages to a high level, which was a big draw for me.
Arribos. - Arrivals.
Llegadas. - Arrivals.
Salidas. - Departures.
Partidas. - Departures.
La terminal. - The terminal.
La pista. - The runway.
You need to have very good organisational skills and have a good attention to detail, when putting together detailed itineraries. It's also important to be friendly because we're always dealing with customers and suppliers.
"Oh, that's so exciting. Yes, of course. How many students would you like to be taking?"
When I started working, I felt very out of my depth. I wish I could tell my younger self that you're not meant to know everything at the beginning. You can just try your best and learn as you go, and ask for advice and eventually you'll get there.
Kate’s colleague:
¡Sí, pero es casi el fin de semana, solo un día más! - Yes, but it’s nearly the weekend, only one more day!
Kate:
Sí, es verdad. - Yes that’s true.
My top tip is to see as much of the world as you can. I travelled to the places that I'm making itineraries for. It's made it so much easier to visualise the trip that I'm organising. There are lots of opportunities to progress using language skills.
For me, in the future, I'd love to work with charity programmes in South America. Before I went to university I went on a gap year and I absolutely loved it. I'd love to be able to create experiences for people in the UK to go over to South America and have as much fun as I did.
- The main skills Kate uses in her role, include having a strong attention to detail, effective communication and ability to be highly organised
- At work, she specialises in dealing with suppliers who speak Spanish, French or Italian
- After taking French lessons back in primary school, she fell in love with learning languages. She went on to study French and Spanish at both A-level and university
- To improve her language skills, she used to listen to music in Spanish, as it helped with remembering and reproducing different sounds from the language
- Kate finds her role particularly rewarding, as she'll often get really positive feedback from customers. She finds it empowering to be able to speak Spanish to organise memorable activities abroad for teachers and students
- In the future, she would love to create itineraries for people from the UK who want to travel and explore South America.
Top tips
- It's normal to feel out of your comfort zone at first when starting a new job and having to speak another language but don't worry,you're not meant to know everything. Just try your best, learn as you go and don't be afraid to ask for advice
- Having a language will make you stand out in the job market. The skills it gives you go beyond just the language itself too, as you learn all about different people and cultures across the world.
A travel consultant can also be known as a travel agent. Travel agents book business and leisure travel for customers.
What to expect if you want to be a travel agent
- Travel agent average salary: £18,000 to £27,000 per year
- Travel agent typical working hours: 37 to 40 hours per week
What qualifications do you need to be a travel agent?
You could get into this role via a college course, an apprenticeship or working towards this role.
Sources: LMI for All, National Careers Service
This information is a guide and is constantly changing. Please check the National Careers Service website for the latest information and all the qualifications needed.
For careers advice in all parts of the UK visit: National Careers Service (England), nidirect (Northern Ireland), My World of Work (Scotland) and Careers Wales (Wales).
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