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Working Abroad Job Vacancies Job Hunting Guide Voluntary Work Working Part-time and Temping Useful Job Hunting Resources Working in Somerset Wages and Employment Rights Travel Agency Clerks in Somerset CLCI: GAX CRCI: MC Travel agency clerks help people make holiday and travel arrangements. They need to be good with people, well organised and able to work accurately. Using computers and telephones is an important part of the work. In many ways the job is a mixture of office and shop work. It is a popular job so you will need to try hard to find an opening. To find out more look under the above CLCI/CRCI headings in your careers or Connexions library THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT TRAVEL AGENCY CLERKS IN SOMERSET It is estimated that around 600 people work in travel agencies in Somerset. There are travel agencies in all the large towns and many smaller towns in Somerset. Some are owned by big companies with branches all over the country. Others are small local businesses with just a few branches. Around six or seven people work in a typical travel agency in Somerset. Some employ more (but may only have two or three staff.) A small number of Somerset businesses (including coach companies) run their own tours and employ staff to make arrangements and take bookings. HOW DO I GET STARTED?   Get work experience when at school to see if it’s the career for you   Go to college/sixth-form full-time to do a business or travel & tourism course (but choose carefully)   Start as a trainee – or Apprentice – in a travel agency and go to college as part of your job (this often being the most common way) USEFUL QUALIFICATIONS   Good GCSEs in subjects like maths and English are a good start   Vocational A-Level, BTEC and GNVQ qualifications can be good for jobs in tourism (but not necessarily travel agency work)   NVQs in travel services (either at college or through an apprenticeship)   Ongoing training as part of your job (learning about booking systems, customer care and new products) More about qualifications, courses and training can be found in Moving On (published by Connexions Somerset) DO YOU KNOW? Many customers prefer to design their own holidays rather than buy a package deal. Travel agents can be a big help in putting these holidays together WHAT IS THE PAY LIKE? Around £80 per week (maybe more) if starting as a new employed trainee or apprentice. Once trained you can expect to earn between £8,000-14,000 a year. You may earn more depending on how many holidays you sell (with perks like cheap holidays and travel). FINDING A JOB   Connexions centres   Job centres   Through applying for work apprenticeships   School and college careers notice boards   Speculative letters/visits/emails   Newspaper and industry publications adverts   Adverts displayed at premises and on industry/company websites   Job offer after work experience   Word of mouth   A Guide to Job Hunting gives tips on CVs, interviews and job letters. To view click here OTHER THINGS TO CONSIDER ABOUT THIS WORK   Most travel agency clerks are in their twenties or thirties. The majority are female with a minority of males   The job involves selling holidays, handling foreign currency, making bookings, ordering brochures and arranging window displays. It’s not always as glamorous as it sounds (and you probably won’t travel as part of your job)   You need to work accurately, have IT skills, be enthusiastic and good with customers   It’s often best to get in on an apprenticeship when you are sixteen or seventeen. Unless you’ve done the right course at college you’d still have to start from scratch if you were starting later   There are still plenty of travel agencies because people like the personal touch. Job prospects can be affected by things like people using the internet and world events and security fears   Going to college for travel and tourism courses can be worthwhile if you’ve got managerial aspirations with a tour operator, a tourist board or a tourist attraction. After college there are all sorts of university tourism courses WHO DOES THE WORK? Ryan (27) is the deputy manager of a travel agency in Bridgwater. He started as a trainee after GCSEs and has done several jobs in the branch (including specialising in foreign exchange). Working for a business with 500 branches he’s hopeful of promotion and is prepared to move away Ali (22) works for a small travel agency in Yeovil. Her company has four other branches so Ali is hopeful of getting a manager’s job fairly soon. Sometime in the future, when she has more experience, Ali would like to run her own travel agency More Info: A-Z Careers Careers information dates rapidly. Every effort has been made to ensure information is accurate but please check details before making firm decisions. Make text larger Make text smaller Text Only Display Privacy Policy/Terms of Use