Travel Agent Interview Preparation Guide

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When clients return from their vacations and sing your praises with the experiences they had! Referrals are the highest form of compliments.

You’re not a perfectionist! Be honest in a constructive way and turn it into a positive.
i.e. I have struggled previously to plan out my day and manage my time. So I have learnt to use my outlook diary and use this to prompt me and help organise my time to complete my tasks to given deadlines.

Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times, Talking to others to convey information effectively, Actively looking for ways to help people, Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents, Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.

Acknowledge their pain - empathize with them. Then apologize and offer a solution to fix the mistake.

Don't try to sugarcoat the answer by listing something ambitious as a fear, unless you truly mean it (for example: I fear being a great leader) - Share your real fears but discuss how you would overcome them.

Working in a travel agency needs you to be patient, efficient, and you are to show your customer service skills. This job can be stressful if you are not mentally and physically ready. There could be a lot of challenges, which only experienced individuals can cope up with. Do you have previous experience? It is the commonest question asked by every employer. You don’t need to tell a lie. If you have prior experience then well and good, but if you don’t have then ask them to give you a chance so that you can prove your skills and can gain some knowledge about how to work in professional environment.

My work style matching exactly what cashier job requires by: being careful about detail and thorough in completing work tasks, being reliable, responsible, and dependable, and fulfilling obligations, being honest and ethical, being pleasant with others on the job and displaying a good-natured, cooperative attitude, maintaining composure, keeping emotions in check, controlling anger, and avoiding aggressive behavior, even in very difficult situations.

It would be good to have an example from school and from work. Explain what you did and why you wanted to work hard, and how you managed your time.

Travel agent responsibilities are to compute cost of travel and accommodations, using calculator, computer, carrier tariff books, and hotel rate books, or quote package tour's costs; provide customer with brochures and publications containing travel information, such as local customs, points of interest, or foreign country regulations; collect payment for transportation and accommodations from customer; book transportation and hotel reservations, using computer terminal or telephone; print or request transportation carrier tickets, using computer printer system or system link to travel carrier; plan, describe, arrange, and sell itinerary tour packages and promotional travel incentives offered by various travel carriers; converse with customer to determine destination, mode of transportation, travel dates, financial considerations, and accommodations required.

☛ What excites you about being a travel agent?
☛ How has your work experience prepared you for this position?
☛ How do you feel about working in sales?
☛ What would you differently if you saw that you weren’t meeting sales goals?
☛ How much, in percentages, do you book for air travel, hotels, and cars?
☛ Rank your air travel, hotel, and car bookings by volume. What do you book most?
☛ What GDS systems have you used before?
☛ How do you find the lowest fees for your client?
☛ You’re on the phone with an angry customer. How do you calm them down?
☛ What kinds of questions would you ask a walk-in client?
☛ What would you do if your customer couldn’t afford the package you suggested?
☛ Describe a time you impressed a customer. What did you do, and what did you learn from that experience?
☛ Describe your approach to planning a complex itinerary.

☛ Tell about yourself and why you think you are successful travel agent?
☛ Why do you like to work as travel agent?
☛ What could you do not like to work as travel agent?
☛ What are your future steps after experience you'll gain from your travel agent job?
☛ As travel agent, what training courses or extra education that you think will improve your work performance?
☛ What salary do you expect you'll get from being travel agent employee?

Talk about the positives from your current company and then focus on why you want to leave and work for this company.

i.e. I have been in my current role for five years and feel it’s time for a change and a new challenge. I feel this company could use my skills and challenge me to stretch further as I am keen to progress and develop. From the job specification and the research I have done, I feel this company is where I could achieve this.

The Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction, principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life, principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems, principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits, the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.

Travel agents can help each others. They are responsible to book flights, find the best deals, and plan vacations for the clients. It is important that you build excellent professional relationship with other travel agents of the same company. Remember that no one can work alone in this world. So, learn how to work efficiently in team because the job of travel consultant is going to give you a lot of challenges. Some more questions in the series are:

☛ Do you know how to use computer systems for helping clients find the best deals?
☛ How can you handle frustrated customers?
☛ Are you a well-organized travel agent? If yes then prove it!
☛ Do you enjoy traveling alone or with friends/family?
☛ Have you ever booked a tour package through a travel company? How has been your experience?

This is you’re chance to summarise your suitability or the role and demonstrate your understanding of the company and what you are looking for. It’s no good saying that you can smash sales targets if it’s a customer service based role!

This is another important question that is likely to be asked from you by the employer. For positions with tour companies, theme parks, or cruise lines, the focus is always on how to satisfy the needs of the confusing customers. You are to present them information about best tourist attractions. For this, you will be asked ‘do you have knowledge about tourist attractions of local and international level?

Only you know this! But something relevant to this particular role would impress the interviewer. If you are being interviewed for a sales role, focus on a particular big account you won. Or if you are being interviewed for a role within a long haul tour operator, saying you’ve extensively and independently travelled would be appropriate.

Make sure you research the industry first. Then find at least 3 core things about that industry that you're passionate about (for example: how their solutions impact clients, their culture, the leadership, etc)

Have fun with the answer, just make sure you back up your answer with a genuine reason.

In the next five years, I hope to have traveled to new corners of the world and grown professionally/personally in the travel industry. The role of a Director interests me and I am currently taking steps in that direction.

I have the ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences, communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand, speak clearly so others can understand you, identify and understand the speech of another person, read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.

There are so many to choose from but the top five are: Turks and Caicos, Bahamas, Dominican Republic, Hawaii and the Virgin Islands.

Pick three adjectives but then back up each with a real life story that demonstrates those characteristics.

If you haven’t done your research on the company or understand why your skills and experience are relevant to this company, you will fall flat. Use the company’s ‘Unique Selling Points’ and relate them to your skills and career direction.

First, find out what the root of the problem is. Second, determine the best steps to remediation with the best possible outcome. Third, take action to put remediation plans in place.