Student soars to success with British Airways
Former Burton and South Derbyshire College (BSDC) student, Keite Vysniauskaite has successfully started her Cabin Crew career with British Airways - the company she aspired to work for as soon as she set her heart on becoming a Cabin Crew member.
Keite worked hard to achieve her goals, completing an additional year of study to achieve an English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) course, before starting a Level 1 Travel and Tourism course and progressing all the way to achieve her Level 3.
Keite is Lithuanian and wanted to improve her English to prepare her for further studies and work. She said: “I wanted to be ready to do Travel and Tourism; I wanted to develop my language skills and increase my vocabulary so I could understand and answer questions.
“The ESOL course helped me to do this and to secure a part-time job where I developed my customer service skills to progress to where I am now.”
During her ESOL classes, Keite had the opportunity to meet lots of different people from all over the world, which gave her an insight into what working in the travel and tourism industry would be like and encouraged her to progress her studies in Travel and Tourism.
Keite has since returned to BSDC to speak to current Travel and Tourism students about her experiences at British Airways so far.
She spoke about the challenging and thorough interview process, including uniform checks and punctuality tests. Keite felt the role-playing assessments in her Travel and Tourism course were what helped her the most: “I think the role-play was one of the biggest things I took to the interview because in Travel and Tourism, we are assessed on that and it really helped me to succeed in my interview.”
Marie Toone, travel and tourism course Leader at BSDC explained that role-playing is an important part of the course: “Students complete a mixture of role-play assessments to boost their confidence and knowledge of the travel and tourism industry.
“Keite completed a Resort Representative unit, where she had to complete transfer speeches and a welcome meeting to her holiday makers in a particular resort.
“She also took part in our showcase event, where all our learners create a mock aircraft in our BSDC Bistro to complete an airline Health and Safety demonstration and food service to external visitors of the college.
“Keite’s positive attitude to learning, high attendance and relevant work experience have supported her in achieving her dream role. We all wish her the best of luck!’
Keite has already been to many destinations including New York, which is her favourite so far. Looking ahead, Keite has ambitions to progress even further in her career: “My aim is to become an In-Flight Lead or an In-Flight Manager. It is a difficult job - it comes with a lot of responsibility, but I think within five years, I will be able to do it.”
