Tourism/Travel Student Overcomes Obstacles and Gains Confidence Through Internship
Gurneet Kaur
ABP Tours & Travel - Web Developer, Winter 2021
My Internship Experience
My placement helped me a lot to learn and gain knowledge about the travel industry. I'm thankful to my mentor. I took great inspiration from her because she is a woman starting her own company as a local guide and she has made a great organization in the travel industry. I learned a lot from how she handles a company on her own, literally without help. She gave me great advice relating to my future career too as well as great knowledge about how to work in travel companies.
Why I Chose Tourism –Travel Services Management
I love to travel and wanted to gain knowledge about different countries in the world. As a travel person, I joined this course so that it would help me to get into the travel industry. By working in this industry I wanted to explore my interest in business as well so that I can achieve my future career in the travel industry.
The Most Valuable Thing I’ve Learned About Work and Career
The most precious thing I learned about career and work is just to explore more and get more knowledge. We have to be confident about our work and be determined.
What are some of the interesting challenges about your placement in an international virtual work environment?
For me, it's my first time doing a job as an intern. I never worked before like this in the travel industry and it was the first time in a virtual environment too. It was difficult for me in starting because of technical challenges and the time gap between countries. After some time with the help of my mentor, I was able to do all my challenges and tasks which were given by her.
How did the international and virtual element of your work placement affect your experience overall?
Overall it is a great experience and success story for me to work in this international and virtual environment. It's a great platform for me to start my career in traveling and stepping towards my future goals. This is all because of my mentor because she is really helpful. I never feel like we are from different countries even though Costa Rica is more Spanish. But also because I learned about the culture and language so I faced fewer challenges.
Words of Wisdom or Advice to Future Students
My suggestions to future students would be always to be more confident about yourself, never assume that you cannot do any task. With your dedication, you can achieve your career and future goals. Always try to learn more about yourself and explore out-of-the-box thinking.
