The Seligo sales and marketing executive talks to Travel Weekly about how he got started in the industry, and the highlights of his current job
What was your first job in travel? A junior sales clerk working for Midlands Co-op Travel’s telesales department.
How did you climb the career ladder? I asked my colleagues millions of questions a day. I attended night school to broaden my education. I worked in as many areas as possible and got an overview of the industry by moving into telesales, fare analysis and marketing. I also took a marketing management degree at university.
What makes you good at your job? Being able to see an opportunity and seize it, combined with the ability to listen and deliver.
What are your biggest challenges? Working in an ever-changing industry. It’s such a fast-paced and changing environment and we all need to adapt or suffer. I think it’s harder to predict now, so everyone has to remain flexible and be able to react to the market quickly.
What’s the best part of your job? Seeing ideas I have put forward being implemented and watching the sales roll in.
And the worst? Going home at night as I love my job.
What’s the best piece of career advice you have received? Take criticism constructively and never be afraid to ask as many questions as possible.
If you weren’t working in travel what would you be doing? I would have loved to have been a professional footballer or an RAF pilot.