Work-Based Experience Report: Internship at Thomas Cook Travel Company

This report details a student's work-based experience at Thomas Cook, a UK-based travel company. The report is structured around the tasks undertaken during the internship, including researching potential organizations, negotiating with supervisors, and recognizing business constraints. The student, an HND BTEC student aiming for a career in the travel sector, focused on gaining practical knowledge, particularly in HR. The report outlines responsibilities such as customer service, managing complaints, and conducting interviews. It also includes a plan for the work experience, detailing the timeline, working hours, and the role of an HR executive. Furthermore, it analyzes the benefits of the placement for both the student and the business, highlighting skill development and recruitment advantages. The report concludes with a review of the student's progress, suggestions for improvement, and references to relevant literature.

WORK-BASED
EXPERIENCE

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
1.1 Research and evaluate suitable organizations that can provide industry experience ......1
1.2 Negotiating with work and academic supervisors............................................................2
1.3 Recognise the business constraints on the work experience offered................................2
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................3
2.1 Agree and prioritise the tasks and responsibilities involved in the work experiences.....3
2.2 Produce a plan for the work experience...........................................................................4
2.3 Analyse the benefits of the proposed activities to the business and the learner...............4
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................5
3.1 Fulfil specific requirements of placement confirming to all related codes of practices...5
3.2 Produce systematic record of work undertaken................................................................6
3.3 Revise the initial plan produced.......................................................................................6
3.4 Make suggestions for improvement and review these with appropriate supervisor........7
TASK 4............................................................................................................................................7
4.1 Monitor progress against the original proposal produced................................................7
4.2 Evaluate the quality of my own performance...................................................................8
4.3 Analyse the learning which has taken place during the work experience .......................9
4.4 Recommendations on how experience could be enhanced in particular job....................9
CONCLUSION.............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
Work based experience can be defined as the process through which an individual can
take advantage of practical work in the organization. These experiences may be paid or unpaid
where an individual can learn practical aspects of working and make himself prepare for the
success in the future. Work based experiences are of different kinds which includes part-time,
internships, summer jobs, etc. One of the most common kinds of work based experience is
internship. It is an opportunity to impart knowledge by working with the employees of
organization. These are generally connected with education programs that initiates during the
summers or for some weeks. Organization that is taken into consideration in the present report is
Thomas Cook. It is one of the leading tour and travel firms in UK. This report depicts the tasks
and responsibilities involved in the work experience. It also enlightens the business constraints
that are there in work experience.
TASK 1
1.1 Research and evaluate suitable organizations that can provide industry experience
I am Emma bell and presently, I am a student of BTECH HND. I wish to pursue my
career in tour and travel sector. I want to work in an organization from which I can get practical
knowledge related with this sector. In this task, research has been conducted on different types of
organizations related with travel and tourism. It also includes the types of companies that provide
work placements. Different tour and travel organizations that can provide industry experience are
like Thomas Cook, Thomson Holiday and First Choice. These are the top companies that provide
hospitality and travelling services to customers. Data taken for research is primary as well as
secondary. Primary data is taken from my classmates and teachers about the organizations.
However, secondary data is gathered from internet and magazines. Research helped me to get an
idea about the organizations and their working environment. By conducting study, evaluation has
made on stated organizations. Thomas Cook provides healthy and safe working environment to
its employees. Organization provides practical experience about travel industry (Coulby, C. and
et.al., 2011). Thomson Holiday and First choice is also one of the leading travelling companies
in UK on the basis of employees, revenue and work environment. As I am good at speaking as
well as I am an active listener with having skills of coordinating and managing tasks, by keeping
in mind the above skills, I have opted to get internship in Thomas Cook. The organization not
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only provides holiday packages but also offers hotel accommodation, cruises and flights. Here, I
would learn foreign exchange business, exposures to work with the best organization.
1.2 Negotiating with work and academic supervisors
To accomplish the proposal for work experience in Thomas Cook, I would arrange the
contact number of concerned authority. For detailed information about the organization, I will
search over internet about the working in particular field and sector. I focus on getting expertise
knowledge as I want to apply for HR executive. Thus, I can get appointment to meet and to
convince them that why I am good for the organization. Even I would also try to contact through
email at their website so that I can get an online directory of staff. I would prepare a CV in which
the above information added that defines my skills and knowledge towards the organization..
After this process, I will meet the concerned authority and would explain my skills, qualities and
abilities along with the reason that why I want to work in that particular organization. I will make
them sure of following all policies and rules of the organization. Along with that, I aim to within
the boundaries of the organizational policies and procedure. In addition to this, I would also
analyse the way in which employees work and take part in routine tasks and projects. I am going
to follow the instructions given by my mentors so that I can learn things in the best way. I will
also focus on improving my performance from the day one. My aim of working is to maximise
the knowledge and make good relations with other employees. I will focus on time management
so that I can complete the tasks on stated time. I also try to solve my problems at my own so that
I can develop the problem solving skill (Kirschner, Sweller and Clark, 2006).
1.3 Recognise the business constraints on the work experience offered
Every organization has its own constraints and the tourism business of Thomas cook also
have some constraints. It can be seen that tourism is a seasonal business where the demand of
this industry is high at holiday season. I face many constraints at the organization at the time of
training. I found that in the off seasons less tourist so the interactions is also low so the learning
is also affected. I found the supervising authority has prioritized their work instead of
supervising my work. At the time of work load they I found them engaged with their operations.
I was ignored at that point of time. I recognised that there is no proper health and safety
considerations in the organization. I also noticed that due to shortage of staff their management
of work is not proper. At the time of heavy work load they are not able to manage their
customers and not able to fulfil their satisfaction level. As I was expecting to get good
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knowledge but faced different issues. The training quality of the company expects high-quality
work but being a learner I could not offer that time started ignoring my work. I found budget
constraints as these training requires time and efforts. To conduct training, funds are required but
the organization did not properly contribute towards the training material. These are the issues
that I have faced at the time of work offered (Picard and et.al., 2008). But somehow I managed
these issues and tried my best to impart maximum knowledge. By keeping in mind the aim and
motive I came with I focused on my work. It helped me get required amount of training from the
organization.
TASK 2
2.1 Agree and prioritise the tasks and responsibilities involved in the work experiences
I applied in Thomas cook as a trainee and analyse the customer services in the
organization. I was required to assist the customer service to manage the customer feedbacks and
complaints. As I came here to trained as HR executive. I had to manage customers and their
complaints as well. Managing human resource will help me to improve my personal learning and
increase my experience to perform well in the future. The responsibilities involved in work
experience are given below.
Human resource experience: Initially I had to work with service team feels like a part of
organization. The main role that I had to perform was to make sure the guest has good
experience with the organization. The role performed by me was to take care of the satisfaction
level of customers. The important responsibility that I performed was to treat each and every
customer with respect and courtesy. But later on the training provided in which I was taught to
conduct recruitment programme, selection, training etc. (Kolb, D.A., 2014).
Solving customer queries: It was one of the toughest task to solve customer issues being a
trainee. At that point of time I had to deal customers with courtesy specially when they are angry
and unsatisfied. It was important to clarify all the issues and problems face by customers on time.
Conduct Interviews: Practical aspect of learning was given by the organization's
management. They showed me how to conduct an interview, how the candidates are selected.
How their screening and orientation program is conducted.
It is important to prioritize the task because the task that are required to accomplish first must get
done first. I used to divide the task on hourly basis so that the given work can completed on time.
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2.2 Produce a plan for the work experience
The plan of my work experience with Thomas cook is given below (McNay, I., 2005).
Date and time duration: I completed six weeks of training at Thomas cook. The period
started from May 5th to June 17th.
Working hours: I used to work for 10AM to 6 PM
Position: HR executive
Work Arrangement and transport : The organization provided me a cab to pick and drop
in morning and evening. And I was given two time meals in a day including lunch.
Being an HR executive various responsibilities were performed by me. I had to focus on
conducting interview process for a vacant job. How to fill the vacant position with right person is
the important task done by HR. The process of interview is initiated with recruitment in which
the right candidate is searched out for the job. After selecting the right candidate, various
questions are asked to know more about the candidate. How their screening and orientation is
done (Ife, J., 2012).
2.3 Analyse the benefits of the proposed activities to the business and the learner
Work based placements are benefited both the business and the learner that invites
chances to the students. The analysis of the benefits of proposed activities to the learner given
below.
 The learner can develop professional skills and can implement the theories to
practical aspects with the help of work based experiments.
 It helps the learner to improve its current skills and abilities to manage with
practical; world.
 It aids a learner to make career choices and evaluate the other sector attracts them
or not.
 It also helps them to understand the role, responsibilities, and the particular job
profile they going to work for.
 It remains useful for the students to make career decisions and to evaluate
themselves for future needs.
 It makes a learner to become dynamic and cope up with practical exposer of the
organization (Bullock, Gould, Hejmadi and Lock, 2009).
The analysis of the proposed activities to the business
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 The organization provides platform for the students to improve the quality and
prepared them for job market.
 Work based experiments helps the organization to minimise recruitment cost in
future
 It also helps the organization to provide vocation qualification for the students to
grow and enrich their career.
 It helps the organization to make positive image in the society by providing
placement to the students.
 It also helps the organization to attract young talent without using promotional
activities.
 It aids the organization to act as a influencing agents for the career options
(Papadaki and Scott, 2005).
TASK 3
3.1 Fulfil specific requirements of placement confirming to all related codes of practices
The organization provides the work placement defines their own requirement and
individual learner had followed the code of conduct. The organization also follows the code of
practices on ground of employees. The organization keep in mind the equality act. According to
this act, Thomas cook provides equal opportunity and salary to its employees. The organization
does not discriminate on the basis of caste, sex and creed. At Thomas cook the working time for
all employees Is of 8 to 9 hours. But the students are allowed to work more than stated time so
the organization remained punctual and managed time. The organization makes sure the time
management and the employees has to report on time. The organization follows confidentiality
law in which the employee's details will not be disclosed and will be confidential (Zhao and
Rosson, 2009).
The company maintains the health and safety regulations act, according to this act it is
important for the organization to provide required resources in office premises. Thomas cook
keep in mind the health and safety law and provide healthy environment in the organization. The
company has provided insurance to its employees and also benefited to members. The company
provides retirement benefits to the employees so that they can take advantage after leaving job.
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The company makes sure the minimum wage act and pay its employees according to their
qualifications and abilities. They do not discriminate on the basis of sex, caste, creed. For
successful operations, it important for the company to follow the stated code of conduct and
benefit the employees on the ground of employment. The organization makes sure non of its
employee feel discriminated at the workplace (Miller, 2008).
3.2 Produce systematic record of work undertaken
At the time of work placement it is important to maintain a systematic record of
performed tasks so that it can be audited, that helps to act as evidence. Maintain proper record of
training shows that proper planned and organized work. The work can be maintained by keeping
a work schedule, log book, diary, portfolio and spreadsheet.
Work schedule- The work scheduled contains the details regarding the work is scheduled for the
learner during the day. It contains all the task and roles that are to be performed by the candidate
on daily basis.
Log Book- It is a document that contains the detailed information about work placements like
student's name who has placed in the organization, contact details, roles and duties to be
performed in a day are mentioned in a log book (Shimokawa, Jürgens and Fujimoto, eds., 2012).
Portfolio: Portfolio includes the information that are taught by the supervisor while conducting a
task. As I got training as HR executive, my portfolio contained the process of recruitment,
selecting a candidate. It can also remain useful on future perspective as the learner will become
an employee at the time of employment he can cross check to perform operations done by him.
Spreadsheet: Spreadsheet is useful to maintain the work record on the basis of weeks. Like the
training given on the first day regarding how to manage the recruitment process. What are the
activities that are conducted in this process.
The above records are useful for different purposes to perform and maintain certain work. These
documents are helpful for personal evaluations and revising a work on time. An individual can
keep diary so that at the time of hi employment he can use the record for performance of work
(Busby, 2005).
3.3 Revise the initial plan produced
The original plan has to be revised if the alterations required that can cause due to certain
circumstances and regulations. The changes have made to form new policies and procedures.
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According to my initial work I had to focus on recruitment process and selection process. But the
plan was revised by putting me in customer services so that customer satisfaction can meet out.
At the time of initial plan the superior described the process in precise form. Earlier the
organization used to conduct telephonic interview of the candidate. But now the plan has revised
and telephonic interview is not conducted and personal interview is taken. According to the
initial plan the organization used to allow all the candidate for vacant job. But now the
organization focus on evaluating the candidates' qualification and compare with the vacant
position. These are the alterations that are needed. According to the revised plan the organization
should add the group discussion part so that the communication skills can be evaluated. Even the
organization can evaluate the behaviour of an individual in front of group. How one can use his
point or idea among a group. The stated revision are important so that the organization can take
benefits for long period. It will also help the organization to minimise the cost of recruitment
(Hornung, Koschmider and Lausen, 2008).
3.4 Make suggestions for improvement and review these with appropriate supervisor
On the basis of revised plan the old polices are renewed by considering the new one's.
Because the old regulations were carrying of long period. For example the recruitment process,
earlier the organization used to follow telephonic interview which is not reliable but over
telephone one cannot judge the behaviour. The supervisor understood the needs of implementing
the new policies. Now, to higher the human resource various stages has to clear by an individual.
Recruitment, selection etc. With the revised policy one has to clear the logical exams and
interview conducted by the interviewer. For better analysis group discussion must be conducted
so the communication skill can be analysed by the interviewee. It would help the organization to
choose the desired employee for the required place. The trainee may continue the job after
completion of studies. It helps the organization to have a candidate without conducting the
interview process (Moroney and Carey, 2011).
TASK 4
4.1 Monitor progress against the original proposal produced.
As I joined the organisation Thomas Cook on the position of HR executive . I would try
to monitor my work from the first day of my job. As monitoring include the observations,
discussions with the seniors, checklist was prepared etc. so on my first day of my job I would try
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to observe my senior HR as how they work in their field. After watching all work of my HR for
7 to 10 days I learn how to do the job. Then I talk to my senior HR that they have give me some
work after 7 days. After completing my assigned work I go to my senior and asked to them
whether my work is good or not. I asked about the quality that I have given to them regarding
work. I also prepare the checklist according to the standards that are required for the HR
executive and at that particular industry. After that I do all the day to day work which was
assigned to me by my seniors. After completing my work and taking reviews and comments
from my senior about the work. I would check my checklist which was prepared by me. I tick
mark the standards which was meet by me. I also ask to my senior about my weakness and
problems which was done by me during my work. So I prepare a list of my problem and try to
overcome with my problems. I also take the regular feedbacks from all my staff and all the
seniors which would help me lot in improving my performance. By all this plan I improved my
job position which I joined at Thomas cook (Wollenberg, Merino, Agrawal and Ostrom, 2007).
4.2 Evaluate the quality of my own performance
When I joined the organisation the quality of my work is not good. I did not meet with
the performance standards that are set by the company. As company set the various standards to
check the performance of the employee. They check the performance through graph rating,
taking regular review, meetings etc. I faced various kinds of difficulty at my work. In the starting
I am unable to do the work which was assigned by me this will give the negative comments
fro0m my seniors. They told me about lot many things related to my work. That I did lot of
mistakes. Your work is not good, they also told me that try to improve your work otherwise you
will be fired from your job. This will also give me motivation that I try to improve my work.
After that comment t try to improve my quality of work. I work with too much of care which
wi9ll help me lot in improving my performance. I always try to take help from my supervisors
and take lot of training to improve my quality of work. I always do lot of research to improve my
quality regarding a particular work. After adopting all the measures I improve a lot in my quality
related to my job. I completed my work with full dedication which will help in improving my
quality. I receive the positive feedbacks from my seniors that my quality of work is very good
and In measuring the performance standards I meet all the standards of the performance
(Grossman and Chester, 2013).
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