My Career: ‘It can be hard to switch off’

Name: Joanne O’Brien

Age: 36

Lives: Ballincollig

Job title: Travel Counsellor

Salary bracket: €20,000 to €40,000, but it can vary.

Education background: Second-level education with lots of additional product and destination training.

Hobbies: Travelling, going to the cinema, being outdoors.

Describe your job in five words: Varied, spontaneous, engaging, interesting, and fun!

Describe yourself in five words: Ambitious, loyal, hard-working, honest and kind.

Personality needed for this kind of work?

You definitely need an outgoing personality as it’s very much people-based.

How long are you doing this job?

I’m working in the travel industry for over 10 years, I’ve been with Travel Counsellors for the last two years.

How did you get this job?

When I left school, I trained in beauty therapy and not long after I finished my training, I started working on cruise ships, sailing around Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific Islands. That really re-enforced my love of travel.

I left the beauty industry to move into an istrative role, still on cruise ships.

When my time on ships was over, I held various roles all relating to travel, working for a major travel company in the UK and Ireland, before deciding to start my own travel business with Travel Counsellors.

Do you need particular qualifications or experience?

To work with Travel Counsellors, you either need substantial experience in the travel industry or else there is a very in-depth training that can be done (Travel Counsellors Academy).

Describe a day at work:

I’m usually at my desk about 9 after doing the school run with a cup of coffee, ready to go. My morning will have one or two Zoom meetings or client calls. The destinations I’ve booked in the last week are the deep south in the USA, cruises, safaris, Galapagos and Japan.

I’ll do an initial call to discuss the trip outline and get to know new clients if they haven’t booked before. From there, I will create an itinerary for them and discuss it in detail.

I then take , make adjustments if needed and get the trip booked from there.

In between client calls, I will catch up on istrative tasks. In the afternoon, I will finish my as well as prepare pre-departure information for clients who are about to travel. This involves reconfirming some elements of the trip as well as touching base to make sure all questions are answered.

Later in the day, I will make time to brush up on some training. I specialise in luxury, long-haul and tailor-made itineraries so there’s a lot to know!

How many hours do you work a week?

I would say on average 35 hours a week – some weeks it’s more like 45 and other weeks it might only be 20.

Is your industry male or female-dominated?

The travel industry is very female-dominated.

Does this affect you in any particular way?

It’s great to have lots of strong, focused female colleagues.

Is your job stressful? How? Rate it on a scale of 1-10:

On a day-to day basis, the work, although very engaging, is not stressful. However, from time to time there can be a crisis (natural disasters, airline strikes etc) in which case I will prioritise my clients and my business to make sure everyone is well looked after.

Do you work with others or on your own?

My business is my own, which means I’m looking after my clients from start to finish. As a one-woman show, I’m also responsible for ing, marketing and istration. However, I do have from Travel Counsellors’ Head Office (NCS Campus, Mahon) with some elements of the business, such as for in-resort issues as well as use of their wonderful technology like my TC app, which allows all my clients to have their travel documentation in one place.

When do you plan to retire or give up working?

I’m planning on working for the next 25 years anyway!

Best bits: I love the flexibility I have with Travel Counsellors, I’m there when my family needs me. Its also quite an exciting job and it’s very interesting to meet new clients and chat about their exotic destinations – my bucket list is always growing!

Worst bits: It can be hard to switch off and it can be hard to relax when there’s always quite a large to-do list waiting for you!

Advice to those who want your job?

I would chat to some people who are already doing it and weigh up the pros and cons. Running your own business is a big commitment, and it’s not for everyone. But the flexibility can be life-changing.

Any other comments?

I’m just back my own holiday – a luxury two-week trip around Thailand. We had lots of different experiences included and stayed in some lovely accommodation, so I have lots to share on Thailand if anyone is interested in travelling there.

Outside of that, I have lots of experience in creating tailor-made itineraries and I love chatting with new (and existing) clients, so please don’t hesitate to get in touch for a chat – [email protected].