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Resort Director - Is it difficult to make sure everything goes well on a resort? 

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Resort Director - Is it difficult to make sure everything goes well on a resort? 

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What is the best job to get at a restaurant would it be good to work at McDonalds or would you get paid more for being a waiter at a pizza restaurant or something?                                                             What's the average pay for waiters?

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What is the best job to get at a restaurant would it be good to work at McDonalds or would you get paid more for being a waiter at a pizza restaurant or something?                                                             What's the average pay for waiters?

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[Ian] - Great question. For your first waiting staff job, you are almost guaranteed to start on minimum wage. What I would recommend is finding the best quality of restaurant you can to get into. The higher end the restaurant is, the more money the customers are spending so you will generally get better tips. Starting in a quality restaurant also means that you will learn so much more than someone working in say McDonalds or Pizza Express. Once you have the experience and knowledge you are then in a position to command a higher wage. I would encourage you to ask at interview if your employed pays living wage. More and more companies are doing this and it guarantees you a starting wage of £9.50 p/h.

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Is there any advice you can give to maybe become a luxury tourism advisor?

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Is there any advice you can give to maybe become a luxury tourism advisor?

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[Ian] - Get into luxury asap. Closest luxury hotels to you are the Chester and the Marcliffe. Being in an environment like this will give you the understanding of what a high end client expects. For looking at industry long term I would definitely recommend going and speaking to the advice centre at Robert Gordon University. Arguably the best Tourism degree in Scotland right on your doorstep.
[Emma] Know your product! Familiarise yourself with what's out there - what differentiates luxury/boutique from competetitors? What do you appreciate about 5* Customer Care? How can you meet people and extend your network so you can learn and offer something unique to people looking for luxury tourism in Scotland.

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[Ian] - It's easy to run a hotel, but it's very difficult to do it well! Day to day hotel managers are accountants, marketers, hr officers, bartenders, chefs, dishwashers and everything else in between at somepoint. It takes a broad skillset and a reliable team around you to run a hotel properly. I would advise anyone looking to get into the trade to get experience in various departments as soon as they can.

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How much do you make (salary) in travel sector?

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How much do you make (salary) in travel sector?

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[Ian] We have a variety of positions that command different salaries. Entry level members of staff start from £9.50 per hour all the way up to our hotel manager who makes £35000 per annum plus tips. Generally positions pay on scale. The bigger the property, the higher the salaries.

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I wonder if a pilot flies to a country would they get to stay there for a break, or do they just come back?

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I wonder if a pilot flies to a country would they get to stay there for a break, or do they just come back?

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[Helicopter pilot] It depends what you fly. If you're a helicopter pilot you can fly a maximum of 8 hours everyday and you need to allow for a round trip. So if the trip is longer than 4 hours you would stay at the location. If you're an airline pilot and fly planes - you can fly a maximum of 12 hours - e.g so you might do 4 short flights in 1 day and take a short break (approx. 25 minutes) on the ground whilst the plane is refuelled. I hope that helps :)

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I wonder what subjects do I need to take to become a pilot? 

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I wonder what subjects do I need to take to become a pilot? 

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[Pilot] You need to be very motivated to be a pilot as it's expensive and competitive, but everything is possible.  I'd recommend taking an active interest in aviation - read books, learn about planes and helicopters (to help decide what kind of pilot you'd like to be) and have a look at where the pilot schools are.  The following could be helpful - physics, technology/computing, mechanical subjects, maths etc.  And  you need to be able to communicate with others, so English is always good to have.  If you are seeking finance support - you might want to explore the military pilot career options, as a training route to gaining a pilot qualification and experience:)

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What's the most challenging part of your job?

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What's the most challenging part of your job?

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[Ian] - The most challenging part of my job at the moment (and indeed in my career to date) is the pandemic. Rules & regulations are ever changing and so as a business we need to adapt to those very quickly, protecting our guests but also our hard working team. If I had a magic wand the first thing I would do is remove the uncertainty from the ongoing pandemic.
[Emma] The ability to juggle lots of competing priorities and communicate effectively to manage people's expectations. With an ageing workforce, we are building Training Programmes across all areas of the business, and it's just me and 1 Administrator at the moment. Building effective relationships helps when things get busy and new things come across my desk. Making sure we build in time to listen to what's needed to so we are designing effective and realistic plans is important.

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How do the fish not get scared by the divers when they go in the tank?

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How do the fish not get scared by the divers when they go in the tank?

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We try not to make any big splashes and move slow. They are all pretty used to the divers going in and most come right up to try and steal food. In fact we spend quite a lot of time pushing the cod and saithe away so we can feed the other fish.

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So you have to be fluent in another language 

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So you have to be fluent in another language 

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Being bilingual is a great skill to have and will offer you more and wider opportunities but it is not essential here at the aquarium.

[Ian] - Although not essential it is certainly a bonus. In our sector you welcome guests from all over the world and making a connection is so important, even if it's just being able to say hello in their language.

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It depends on your contract and how many hours you work. I am not full time, I work 29 hours a week and get 34 days annual leave a year but that includes all the public holidays. This will vary from employer to employer depending on what sector you work in.

[Ian] - Generally, the standard is 28 days, however most companys (particularly multinationals) will reward long term staff with additional holiday days over time. A lot of hospitality companys also offer additional days for those who choose to work special days such as Christmas and Hogmanay.

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Marketing coordinator - What are all the medias they use to stay relevant

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Marketing coordinator - What are all the medias they use to stay relevant

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[Ian] Great question! At the moment our most relevant medias to use are our social platforms, mainly Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok and Linkedin, however to answer your question properly I would need to ask you a question. Who is your customer? Understanding your customer and where their attention is can be the difference between a successful and a failed business. For example, social platforms work best for us because we target an 18-30 year old customer base, however if I was looking at a product for 65+ plus year olds more traditional media like newspaper and radio may be more relevant. Your message should be wherever your customer is dedicating their attention.

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Where could the jobs in this sector lead you? 

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Where could the jobs in this sector lead you? 

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It depends very much on where your interest lay. Some of our team members have go on to academia and moved to research based jobs, some have gone into aquaculture, some have gone on to other similar public facing roles with nature organisations like the RSBP and some have gone into large scale retail and are now store managers.

[Ian] - It completely depends on the sector you are interested in. What I would say is that there is a huge variety of jobs within the industry and it gives you a huge amount of transferable skills. We as a company employ everything from receptionists, waiters and bartenders right through to architects, accountants and logistics personell.

[Emma] There are over 300 different job roles at Johnstons of Elgin and many of the skills you will learn are transferable - they can be used in Textiles Manufacturing, Heritage, Hospitality and beyond. Having an eye for detail, a focus on providing quality service and product and being able to work effectively with others, responding proactively and positively to challenges, are really useful in all lines of work. Textiles Manufacturing is a booming industry in Scotland and for those who work hard and invest their energy, we have seen people move from Saturday jobs to becoming Sales Director, or Apprentice to Dyehouse Manager.

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What do you love the most about the industry you work in?

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What do you love the most about the industry you work in?

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It's dynamic and people-centric.
I like that no two days are the same and that you can never predicts what is going to happen on any given day.
I also enjoy the role that I can play in positively impacting a visitors experience, to make it a lasting memory that they will share with others and maybe even inspire change in their practices to make them more environmentally conscious.

[Emma] I love seeing our craftsmen and women at work, taking the raw fibre all the way through to the finished product. Their passion for quality and eye for detail to make sure the end customer receives the best product possible, whether that be a scarf, a blanket, a jumper, is inspiring. The ideas the creative team come up with and how these ideas are 'translated' onto our dobby and jacquard looms blows my mind. The skills that have developed over 225 years, and the fusion of the most cutting edge technology provides excitement. It sometimes feels like the impossible becomes possible!

[Ian] I love the diversity of skill within our industry. Hospitality isn't about one thing, it's about everything, so as hospitality professionals you being to appreciate the importance of detail very quickly. I also love that it is customer led. It means in order to get the product right you really have to understand it at a customer level first.

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Where do you think the jobs will be in 5 years time?

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Where do you think the jobs will be in 5 years time?

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I would like to think that this industry will continue to grow in our area. We have so much to offer.
There is room to diversify and offer very niche experiences. For example, people are becoming more interested in the provenance of the products they use and I think farm to plate tours and artisan product tours will become very popular.

[Emma] Textiles in Scotland is booming. Due to Brexit and the drive to reduce carbon footprint, there is a growing trend to 're-shore' skills. There is a growing need for people who want to learn sewing, weaving, tailoring, cutting/making/trimming. Customers are seeking more and more intricate designs and we are excited to be the second biggest employer in Morayshire, as well as a significant one in the Scottish Borders, selling products all over the world. I think there is going to be more opportunity to multi-skill, for example, you might learn to operate the sewing machines, then you might be involved with 3D printing new parts for it! People with an interest in how things work, curious about how to get the most out of machines and keen to develop their skills and 'think outside the box' are going to be even more in demand. The abilty to get on with a range of people, collaborate and solve problems constructively are core parts of any job at Johnstons of Elgin.  There will be growing opportunities to work towards internationally recognised qualifications in the flow of work through adult apprenticeships, including the Modern Apprenticeship and Graduate Apprenticeship programmes.

[Ian] - Hospitality in Scotland is struggling for staff at the moment and I suspect this is likely to continue for the foreseeable. One of the benefits of this is that the market is finally recognizing industry professionals for what they are worth and paying the money. I suspect that people coming into industry who are willing to work at it will have far more opportunities at an earlier age than my generation did as the roles simply are not being filled.

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What school subjects do you use the most in your job?

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What school subjects do you use the most in your job?

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For my role I use biology and English the most. I do a lot of writing, for proposals, interpretation materials and educational materials that fuses my knowledge of the marine  environment with language to make it accessible for everyone.

[Emma] It's more the transferable skills that I learnt at school which I use in my job, rather than the 'subjects'. The ability to conduct research, present it, speak publically, stay calm, prioritise my workload, not take things too personally! I need to be comfortable with technology, including computers, and be numerate and literate so I can be trusted and have credibility when communicating with colleagues and those outside the business.

[Ian] - Great question. Honestly day to day, business management. The principles of how to deliver a product and make money I still use to this day. Unfortunately maths is a close second although technology has made that infinitely easier for me! I would not underestimate the influence that higher and advanced higher art plays on my work too. Appearances are so important to our business, I think without it I really wouldn't be able to do my job.

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Good communication skills are the most important skills in this and many other industries.  If you cannot communicate your ideas, products and information you will have no luck securing investments, customers, goods or services.

Other crucial skills are thinking on your feet to solve problems, and time management. I believe that if you have these skills you can succeed in any industry.

[Emma] I need to be able to see things from a variety of perspectives, ask questions, think creatively to engage a variety of people. I need to communicate data clearly so that the Senior Team can understand the value that learning delivers to the business, both now and in the future. I need to stay curious and learn new technology and learning methods so I can weave that into workshops and on-the-job training activities.

[Ian] - I think the basics are always essential. Communication, numeracy, planning and work ethic are needed everywhere. What I would say is essential to my job particularly is the ability to anticipate the requirements of our future customers and how to get that message to them.