Industry Experience Assignment Help

Introduction

It is often seen and experienced that the Industry Experience Assignment Help future development of an employee and also for the organisation. It is where the universities and the organisations come up together to create new opportunities for the students at the workplaces which will benefit them in future. Work based experience is those opportunities to the students by which they can learn the practical experiences of professional life which helps them in their future career. For Work based experience, sometimes the students also get paid by the organisation. It develops skills in them and makes them ready for future. (Moise, et. al., 2013)
In this assignment different organisations in travel and tourism industry has been discussed here one can gain experience and also the work plans are made. The benefits of Work based experience are received by the organisation and the learner both. The codes of practice is discussed which are important to be considered and in the last task the recommendations are given for enhancing the experience of the student. The assignment throws light on the different aspects of the Work based experience.

TASK 1: Be able to negotiate industry experience

Types of establishments for work based Experience

The first part of the task asks for various types of establishments and organisations which could provide and experience to an individual in the industry of travel and tourism. Travel and tourism includes many establishments where one can gain experience by working (Lemanski, Mewis, 2011).Various types of organisations where an individual can work for gaining experience are:

• Hotels and accommodation: Hotels are the important part of the travel and tourism industry. When the tourists visit any place, they need space to stay and hotel or accommodation facilities provides a lot of experience to an individual if he/ she is interested in getting the experience in the particular sector. The jobs or positions from which one can gain work based experience are reservation in charge, receptionist, hotel associates, finance associate, telephone operators, chefs, hospitality staff, etc. (Orr, Simmons, 2011)
• Restaurants (food and beverage establishments): In travel and tourism sector, food sector also plays an important role in providing work based experience. Food industry is wide and it is different in every country as the choices and variety of food is different in every country and place. In this industry work based experience can be provided for different profiles such as chefs, waiters, cash collection work, receptionist, managers, etc.
• Tour operatingorganisations: These are the organisations which provide tour packages to the customers and for this they also advertise their packages so that more and more customers travel through these tour operators. Tour and travel companies and agencies provide many profiles to get a work based experience like guides, booking in charge, advertising and marketing associate, customer service, etc. (Bourner, 2011)

By doing this analysis it is clear that there are many options where an individual can gain experience by working and the selection of the sector depends on the personal choices and preferences of an individual.

Negotiation

To get the job one has to negotiate with the employer so that the job seeker can get the job at the expected terms.

Methods of contacting organisations
There are many methods of contacting organisations like:

• The company’s official website: An individual can contact the employer through application on the company’s website where a section of careers is given.
• Telephone registration: A candidate can apply through telephone and get his name registered for interviews
• Emails for sending CV’s: A candidate can send his/ her CV to the company through email to the HR of the company
• Walk INS: Walk in is another option where an individual can enter the office and give interview and appear for other processes of recruitment.
• Referrals: A candidate can contact the employer through the referral of any existing employee of the company. (Orr, Simmons, 2011)

Methods of undertaking negotiations
There are two methods of undertaking negotiations through which two parties that are the employer and the candidate can resolve the conflicts and can reach to a conclusion of negotiation. These two methods are:

• Competitive Strategy- win-lose: here both the parties try to win on their part and try to seek their own advantage. One party has to lose and another has to win. This can be done when one party agrees to the conditions of the other party.
• Cooperative strategy – win –win: Here both the parties listen to each other and try to be at the conclusion where both have to compromise a little to reach a mutual conclusion. This can be done through effective marketing communication and coordination. (Mumford, et. al., 2016)

Nature of Duties

The following nature of duties an individual can perform in theorganisations for work based experience:

• Routine tasks: Routine tasks refer to those activities which are to be performed daily in an organisation. For e.g. taking reservations in an hotel
• Work in projects: Work in projects refers to the work which is to be done in the projects going on. For e.g. managing funds for an advertising campaign in a travel company
• New developments in procedures: This work is related to discovering or developing entirely new procedures or projects whileworking in an organization.

Role of Supervisors in Work based Experience

Supervisors are the persons who have the main job to administer or direct the workforce to do a particular work.

There are two types of supervisors whose role has been discussed below:

• Roles and responsibilities of academic mentors

Academic mentors are those who are specialists in research and teaching in their own subjects and lead others to gain knowledge in the particular field. (Mumford, et. al., 2016). The responsibilities of the academic mentor include:

• Seeking mutual understanding between mentor and mentee
• Make learn the mentee to take the responsibility to gain knowledge and experience
• To provide safe environment to the mentee(Mumford, et. al., 2016)

Roles and responsibilities of industrial mentors
Industrial mentors are those who are experts in their own field and teach other to become perfect in the same. Their responsibilities include:

• To bring a change in the knowledge and development of the mentees
• To improve the performance of the mentees
• To direct the mentees to work in the right direction

Expectations of learning
From learning in an organization, there are several expectations which have to be fulfilled:

• Expertise in work
• Management of time
• Critical thinking and problem solving skills
• Leadership and team work

Business constraints on the work experience offered
There are constraints in very business. There is several business constraints which are considered in the work experience offered, like:

• Time of supervision: Supervision matters when an individual gain works experience. Adequate supervision for an adequate time is necessary for gaining experience
• Workload: The workload pressure determines the quality of experience. High workload damages the quality of experience or learning (Bourner, 2011)
• Safety risks: This is another constraint. A tourist does not like to prefer a place which is not safe in terms of health or it has highoccurrence of criminal activities. For e.g. the tour packages offered by Thomas Cook to such countries where there are more criminal activities are impacted due to low demand because of health and safety concerns.

TASK 2 Understand the specific requirements of the placement

As a trainee for marketing and promotion activities in Thomas Cook UK, I have the responsibility to help and support my team so that different promotional techniques can be applied for marketing of the organisation and to attract more customers for the business. Not only new customers will be attracted but the existing customers will also be attracted by providing different attractive packages to them. I main purpose and aim is to support and contribute in marketing department to enhance the value of the business of Thomas Cook. This contribution will not only help and enhance the business of the organisation but will also enhance my personal skills and learning and will provide me with the work experience which will help me to develop my career in future and will give me an extra edge to survive in the tough competition of talents in the market.(Archer & Davison, 2008)

Prioritisation of the tasks and responsibilities involved in work experience

For a trainee it is important to prioritise the work and responsibilities given so that the work can be managed and completed in given time period and it also develops time management skills which will be beneficial for future. The work for marketing and promotion activities can be prioritised in the following manner:

• Analyse the existing promotion and marketing methods: First of all it is the prior responsibility of any trainee working in the marketing and promotion department to analyse thecurrent methods used by the company to promote its products and services so that more customers can be gained. The current methods of promotion and advertising by Thomas Cook are media promotion through television and movies and newspapers. These methods of promotion are doing quite well and attracting good amount of customers to the business.(Davies & Longworth, 2013)
• Researchthe market to know the customer’s latest preferences and trends of the market: After analysing the current methods of marketing and promotion, a research need to be done to know the customer’s responses towards the products and services of the company. Research will help in getting the latest expectations of the customers and the loopholes which the company is having and it is affecting the customer’s satisfaction. I can do a research by conducting a survey from the customers of Thomas Cook, the travellers. Latest trends will help in developing the further strategies of promotion of the company.
• Know the customer’s experience: To develop the marketing strategies with the marketing and promotion team is like developing the future of the organisation because marketing is essential for the growth of business nowadays. The man task given to me was to know that what percentage of customers are having excellent with the organisation’s products and services and how much percentage of customers has poor experience. So Ihave to host a research to get this information.
• Target the increase in sales: after getting the responses of the customers, it is important to target the increase in sales for the organisation and to increase the customer satisfaction. The increase in sales will be achieved by attracting more and more customers through attractive packages at lower prices than the competitors and by targeting the specific needs of the customers. For this, the company can start giving customized services to the customers to meet their needs (Grady, et al., 2009)
• Assist in the development of new techniques and methods: This is the main learning experience where I will work with the marketing and promotion team of Thomas Cook to assist in the development of new promotional plans and marketing strategies to increase the sales of the company. I am assisting the team by collectingthe data from the customers which will help the team to get the knowledge about the needs and preferences of the customers and about the latest trend in the industry and with the help of this, the marketing and promotion team of Thomas Cook can develop the attractive services and products for the customers to maximise their satisfaction and to gain their loyalty for the company. (Grady, et al., 2009)

The benefits of the proposed activities to the business and the learner

There are many benefits of the proposed activities to the business as well as learner, which are explained below:

Benefits of the proposed activities to the business	Benefits of the proposed activities to the learner
Increases the quality of work and skills in employees because the workers are taught all these skills right from their young age with the help of work based learning. So professionalism is been learned by them. (Bourner, 2011)	The student gets to know the practical knowledge of everything they had learned theoretically till now. This will make them aware of the real professional world and they will not face a culture shock afterwards.
Work based learning and experience gives an opportunity and facility to the business to hire the best talents from the university or college it. This will minimize the different modes of recruitment and selection and costs will be minimised.	It makes students capable of choosing their own career because they get to face the real situations in the particular field and after working practically he will have the option to join the particular field in the future or not(Crawford, et. al., 2015)
The managerial skills in the students are  developed through  work based experience which reduces the costs and efforts of the companies to teach these to the new employees	It develops various skills in students like management skills, leadership skills, teamwork, etc. Also the student learns communication skills that how to communicate with the seniors and professionals in the organisation.

TASK 3 be able to undertake work experience as identified

Every organisation has its own regulations and code of conduct which is to be followed by the learners who are joining the organisation for getting work based experience. The code of conduct means that it determines the behaviour of the workers that how they should behave in the organisation and what is right and wrong to do. Just like every other organisation, Thomas Cook has some particular practices and code of conduct which is to be followed by all those who get placed to the firm. The code of conduct of Thomas Cook is given below:

• Working hours: In Thomas Cook the working hours starts from 1.00 A.M. to 6.00 P.M. which is total to 8 hours a day and the five days are working in a week. Saturday and Sunday is an off. These workinghours are decided according to the norms of government for working hours of employees in the organisations. The employees have to reach place of work at 10. 00 A.M. sharp otherwise penalty is marked (Higher education, skills and work-based learning, 2011)
• Dress code: The dress code for the employees is formal clothing for Monday to Thursday and casual clothing for Friday.
• Payment: I was placed for raining in a company so company provided me with certain benefits like allowance for travelling, lunch, allowance for stay, etc. No financial pay was provided to me as the company is not liable to pay the same to anyone on the training period.
• Discrimination: there was no discrimination in the organisation on the basis of caste, gender or religion. Every employee and also the customer are treated equally followingthe equal opportunity law.
• Information disclosure: No confidential information is disclosed in the organisation to the one who is not authorised for the same. I was placed as a trainee in the organisation so the organisation gave me an access to the information of customers and other information about thepackages and products which I have to provide it to the visitors.

Systematic records of work undertaken

While working in an office as a trainee, certain records are to be maintained so that they can be considered at the time of audit in the company. These records will prove to be the evidences of work done and will further be used by the company for future planning of the organisation. These records can be maintained in the form of logbook, diary, portfolio and spread sheets. (Jerrard, Norman, 2012)

• Logbook: Logbook is that document which includes the complete and important details about the placed student in a sequence, his position, contact no, permanent and temporary address, emergency contact numbers, employer name, the course done, qualifications, role and responsibilities required to perform work, etc. (My logbook in appendix)
• Diary: A diary maintains all the records for the work done and on time. In diary the work done is noted down each day and at the end it is used to evaluate the work and also used in the audit of the company by the auditors.
• Portfolio: Portfolio is the document which can be used to study the progress of the student while working with the employer. This includes the assessment of the students on the basis of the quality of their work by the employer.
• Spread sheets: These are the computer applications which store the data andorganise it. It is in the tabular form and it makes it easy for the employer to refer the data stored and analyse it for making improvements in future business. It is also very easy to make calculations in spread sheets. These spread sheets are very helpful at the time of audits in the company.(Jerrard, Norman, 2012)

Revise the initial plan

The original placement plan has to be revised according to the practical experiences gained while working. The changes may be because of the changes in regulations, type of work, policies, etc.

• The initial plan of work in Thomas Cook has to be revised by getting myself involved in the customer satisfaction reviews so that the need of customers can be known with the help of reviews.
• A mentor was allotted to me and he was a senior manager of marketing and promotions department. He helped me throughout my learning period.
• I conducted a research which included the survey of customers and I surveyed many arrogant customers who were dissatisfied with the services of Thomas Cook. This helped me in handling the arrogant and dissatisfied customers and increased my learning towards the features which causes dissatisfaction to the customers. I can suggest this to my seniors who develop strategies, products and services for the business.
• After looking at my work, the organization decided to pay a small amount of stipend for the training period of six weeks.
• The training dates postponed to 15 May instead of 1st May due to the high flow of business on 1^st may 2016. The company was not able to focus on the trainees at that time and called them to join the organization at 15^th May 2016.

The changes applied in the work plan helps in learning the responsibilities in a better way and this revision helps me in getting comfortable in the changed scenario. These changes are made according to the requirements and changes are made because it was required.

Methods used to review activities

The work plan can be revised by training notes of the work in the organization or bymemorizing the work and its requirements.

• Taking notes: make notes for all the important points to consider which are taught by the superior to follow in further work. These notes should be properly arranged so that they can be referred whenever required. Like if the work plan is to review one can refer the important notes to implement the changes according to them. (Böhle, et. al., 2012)
• Memorizing: The main and significant points which are been taught by the senior in the organization can be learned and memorized without noting it down and when the activities of the work plan are reviewed, these points can be considered.

Task 4 be able to monitor and evaluate own performance and learning

Monitor and record the progress against original proposal

My work proposal reflects my job description in Thomas Cook. As I am working as a trainee is Marketing and Promotion department of Thomas Cook, I have to monitor my progress against my work proposal.

• I have studied the type of products and services which are provided by the company so that I can gain complete knowledge about the working style and procedures of the company.
• I conducted a research through a survey questionnaire from the customers of Thomas Cook to know their basic needs and expectations from the company and what their satisfaction level is by using the services of the company.
• This research helped me in assisting the superiors for developing the new strategies for the betterment of the company
• I also learned about the competitors of Thomas Cook in the industry and how do they work in the industry to compete.
• I learned about eh codes of practice which has to be followed in the company and the industry standards according to which the work should be done.

Evaluation of own performance

My own performance in Thomas Cook as a trainee in Marketing and promotion department is evaluated in the following points:

Quality of work

• The quality of my performance was good. The research conducted gave the results which helped the company. The quality performance is shown by meeting the policies and standards of the organization.  I learned by observing my seniors and worked on my weaknesses to show quality in my work and also used my strengths to increase the quality of my work. (Alpaslan, et. al., 2013)
• Meeting Industry standards
• I kept in mind the industry standards of Travel and tourism industry so that the work can be done free from any legal procedures.
• Management of change
• Every industry goes through some changes and these changes have to be considered while doing normal operations of business. These changes are adapted by me positively and I worked in the right direction. (Archer & Davison, 2008)

Supervisors’ comments

My supervisorsin Thomas Cook rated my work as good. The comments says that I met all the requirements of training and work allocated to me and that too without constant supervision on me. The work I have done is completed on time and all the required paperwork is completed. Few errors which are done are acceptable. (Jerrard, Norman, 2012) The supervisors commented that I was punctual and reached on workplace on time. Work allocated is completed on time with good quality and have good record of attendance. The comments of supervisors can be summarized in atable given below:

Criteria	Poor	Bad	Average	Good	Outstanding
Quality of work				·
Dependability			·
Cooperativeness					·
Adaptability				·
Communication				·
Decision making				·

Reflective report

Working with ThomasCook as a trainee was a very good experience. I learned so much during my training period which will definitely help me in future to gain advantage in my career. I learned the industry of travel and tourism and about its regulations which are to be followed while doing business. I also learned to conduct survey and to handle different types of customers as it is difficult to handle the ones who are dissatisfied from the company. I learned communication skills by this activity. Also I learned how to cooperate others by cooperating with my seniors so that they can develop strategies for marketing and development. I also learned how to manage time to complete all the tasks according to their priority. Also interpersonal skills are learned by me because it was needed while communicating with the customers during survey. Also I learnedabout different techniques and skills which are required by the marketing professional. I also learned how to work with a team and learned the tactics for critical thinking and problem solving by my mentors. During the training, I also learned how to develop Cost effective promotional techniques for the better business of the company and to gain more revenue (Alpaslan, et. al., 2013)

I learned all the new procedures which are followed in a travel and tourism company and learned how to develop a skill to present the details of evidence of the training. Like a management report or portfolio of evidence. (Adams, 2014)

Recommendations to enhance learning experience

The following are the recommendations to improve and enhance the work learning experience while working in Thomas Cook:

• Allocate different types of tasks: mentors should assign different tasks to the student so that the capability of the student can be enhanced for working in different fields. Doing the same task will make in perfect in that filed but ignorant of the other tasks which is considered as incomplete learning for the learner. For a complete learning experience, experience should be gained for different tasks.
• Time management: Proper time management should be learned by the learner for this the mentor can involve the learner in the activities which needs allocating time to the activities according to the priorities.(Adams, 2014)
• Less support: The mentor should provide less support to the learner so that he can first try every task on its own and then ask for help. It will make the learner self-dependent for every work and will increase his own experience and knowledge.

These will help the learner surely in enhancing his learning experience.

Conclusion

It can be concluded after the completion of the assignment that work based experience helps in the growth of career of an individual. Learning different skills and knowledge in an organization will help in the development of an individual as a professional. I worked in a travel and tourism industry, in Thomas Cook as a trainee in marketing and promotion department and I learned different skills like communication, team building, team work, cooperation, problem solving, etc.  The role of industrial and academic supervisors has also been discussed. I developed a work proposal and work plan for my training in Thomas Cook which will direct my learning and training in the organization. The assignment also covers the benefits of work learning experience to the organization and learner. It is seen that work based experience is beneficial for both the organizations and the learner.

References

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