<ul style="margin-top: 0cm;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;">New candidates increase to three-month high</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;">Job placements jump 7%</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;">Vacancies dip to six-month low</li>
</ul>
Positive month for travel jobseekers
The number of new jobseekers searching for <a href="../../../../../jobs/">travel roles</a> increased by 18 per cent in October to reach its highest level in three months, according to the latest figures from C&amp;M Travel Recruitment.
Compared to previous years, October's total was down by 19 per cent from the same month last year, up by eight per cent from October 2021, up by 128 per cent from October 2020 (mid-pandemic) and down by 21 per cent from October 2019.
There was also a rise in the number of candidates being placed in <a href="../../../../../jobs/">new jobs in the travel industry</a>, with a <a href="../../../../../news/press-releases/travel-candidates-rise-but-vacancies-dip-in-sept/">seven per cent increase from September</a>. However, October's total was down by a steep 63 per cent from the same month in 2022's record-setting year.
Vacancies slip
New vacancies fell back in October by nine per cent from September to reach their lowest point in six months. Last month's figure was also down by 56 per cent from October 2022.
Speaking about the stats, Barbara Kolosinska, Managing Director at C&amp;M Travel Recruitment, said: "The last time candidates and placements both increased in the same month was back in <a href="../../../../../news/press-releases/new-travel-job-vacancies-jump-131-in-may/">May</a>, so there are lots of positives to take from these figures. In particular, it's great to see a healthy rise in new jobseekers.&nbsp;
"As we enter the start of winter, we're unlikely to see a big increase in recruitment until the new year. But January is always one of the very busiest months for recruitment with a much-increased level of competition for the best candidates - meaning there are real opportunities out there right now to take advantage of the quieter market and secure great talent in time for the peak season."
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All figures are drawn from the month&rsquo;s new vacancies advertised with C&amp;M Travel Recruitment.
C&amp;M Travel Recruitment was established in 1998 and is the largest and most successful specialist travel recruitment company in the UK.
For further information please contact: Owen Mckeon (Marketing and Operations Manager - 0161 238 4497 / owen@candm.co.uk) or Barbara Kolosinska (Managing Director - 07507 602 069 / barbara@candm.co.uk).

C&M Travel Recruitment’s Activity Index – October 2023

Travel candidates and job placements both up in Oct

One of the most unexpected trends we've seen recently in travel recruitment is the increasing number of candidates who don't include any contact information on their CV. No address. No phone number. No email. Nothing! A <a href="../../../../../news/job-tips/easy-ways-to-improve-your-cv/">great CV</a> should of course showcase your skills, qualifications, and experience, but it's absolutely vital that you also include contact information.
We'd like to speak
First of all, if you don't include any contact details on your CV, how can recruiters get in touch with you about any great new jobs?! It may sound obvious, but you'd be amazed at how many candidates fail to do it. Why put all the effort in to <a href="../../../../../news/job-tips/c-m-s-definitive-guide-to-the-perfect-cv/">making your CV as perfect and eye grabbing as possible</a>&hellip;and then give the recruiter no way to contact you?&nbsp;
Privacy / bias concerns
Well, a big reason may be to do with concerns regarding privacy or unconscious bias &ndash; and these worries are absolutely legitimate. In particular, more and more of us are now aware of unconscious bias - and this is why we always encourage candidates to not include a photo on their CV.
Similarly, there's no reason to include the dates of when you went to school - and if you've been in employment for a number of years, you may not want to include details of your education at all.
But contact details and your location? Both should be a fundamental part of everyone's CV.
Consider generic postcodes
If you don't want to include your exact postcode due to privacy concerns, that's absolutely fine. But many recruiters search for relevant candidates on job boards or on their own database using a postcode and radius, so if you don't want to be overlooked for new roles, it's a good idea to include a postcode on your CV &ndash; even if it's just the one for your nearest train station.
No address? No roles
Not including any address at all, means you're far less likely to be contacted about relevant jobs. You don't need to include your house number and street name, but if recruiters don't even know which town or city you live in, it becomes much more difficult to match you to appropriate roles.
While there are more <a href="../../../../../jobs/#/remote">fully-remote positions </a>out there now than in the past, they still only make up around one in four of all available <a href="../../../../../jobs/">travel jobs</a>. At the moment, around 45% of all job vacancies in the travel industry are <a href="../../../../../jobs/#/hybrid">hybrid positions</a>, with a further 30% being fully office-based.
If you don't include any location details on your CV, then you simply won't appear in any search of candidates for either hybrid or office-based roles. You're essentially ruling yourself out of three quarters of all <a href="../../../../../jobs/">available jobs</a>.&nbsp;
Ultimately, leaving your address off your CV is likely to considerably hinder your chances of being contacted about relevant jobs. And if you don't include an email address or phone number? Forget it - your chances of finding a new role are practically zero.

More and more candidates leave their address off their CV – here's why that's a dreadful idea!

Why you should ALWAYS include contact details on your CV

C&amp;M Travel Recruitment is delighted to welcome an experienced recruiter and travel professional to its Senior Appointments team.
Joining C&amp;M at the start of November, <a href="../../../../../team/pamela-harrison/">Pamela Harrison</a> has amassed ten years' experience in the travel industry as well as four years in recruitment.
After graduating in Matla as a Tourist Guide, Pamela began her career in travel insurance as a Travel Assistance Coordinator at Travel Guard in in 2010, before moving on to organise educational school trips worldwide as a Senior Tour Coordinator at Travelbound Education and then joining HolidayTaxis as its Online Partnership Support Executive and Cities Contractor.
She then made a career change into recruitment in 2018 before rejoining HolidayTaxis in the role of Senior Sourcing Manager.
Pamela's addition to C&amp;M Travel Recruitment follows the arrivals of both Jacky Docherty and Lisa Haynes last year.
Speaking about joining C&amp;M, Pamela said: "Having a love for travelling and a passion for recruitment, I decided I wanted to combine the two industries I love into one <a href="../../../../../jobs/">job</a> - and I came across C&amp;M. It felt like the perfect match for me and, now that I've joined the team, I'm excited to start this journey at C&amp;M!"
Barbara Kolosinska, Managing Director at C&amp;M Travel Recruitment, said: "Pamela's background of travel and recruitment is a perfect blend for C&amp;M and we&rsquo;re delighted to welcome her to the team. We're really looking forward to Pamela using her 14 years' experience to help her clients with all their recruitment needs, and we're sure she'll be a huge success here at C&amp;M!"
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C&amp;M Travel Recruitment was established in 1998 and is the largest and most successful specialist travel recruitment company in the UK.
For further information please contact: Owen Mckeon (Marketing and Operations Manager - 0161 238 4497 / owen@candm.co.uk) or Barbara Kolosinska (Managing Director - 07507 602 069 / barbara@candm.co.uk).

Pamela Harrison joins C&M's Senior Appointments team

C&M bolsters team with new Senior Recruitment Consultant

<ul style="margin-top: 0cm;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;">Small rise in new jobseekers</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;">Vacancies fall back</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;">Slowest month of year for placements</li>
</ul>
Travel jobseekers on the up
The number of new <a href="../../../../../jobs/">candidates searching for jobs</a> in the travel industry rose in September, according to the latest figures from C&amp;M Travel Recruitment.
The month saw a three per cent rise in new jobseekers from <a href="../../../../../news/press-releases/busiest-august-for-new-travel-jobs-in-6-years/">August</a>, while compared to previous years, last month's total was down by 12 per cent from September 2022, up by four per cent from 2021 and down by 18 per cent from September 2019.
Slower month for travel activity
Less positively, there was a fall in placements during the month, with the number of <a href="../../../../../candidates/">candidates</a> finding new travel roles dipping by 13 per cent from August to its lowest level of the year. The figure was also down by 59 per cent from September 2022.
Similarly, the number of <a href="../../../../../jobs/">new travel jobs</a> being made available dipped back to its lowest point in five months. With a 45 per cent fall from August, September's total was also down by 53 per cent from the same month last year.
Speaking about the stats, Barbara Kolosinska, Managing Director at C&amp;M Travel Recruitment, said: "It's always positive to see a rise in the number of people looking to work in the travel industry. <a href="../../../../../news/press-releases/travel-salary-index-2023-h1-overview/">Salaries are up by around 13 per cent</a> so far this year and it's vitally important that we promote the perks of working in travel and continue to do all we can to encourage candidates to join our industry.
"Travel recruitment activity remains slower than we would traditionally expect at this time of year, but that also means there are fantastic opportunities for employers to access a wider talent pool by advertising their upcoming vacancies immediately."
&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;
All figures are drawn from the month&rsquo;s new vacancies advertised with C&amp;M Travel Recruitment.
C&amp;M Travel Recruitment was established in 1998 and is the largest and most successful specialist travel recruitment company in the UK.
For further information please contact: Owen Mckeon (Marketing and Operations Manager - 0161 238 4497 / owen@candm.co.uk) or Barbara Kolosinska (Managing Director - 07507 602 069 / barbara@candm.co.uk).

C&M Travel Recruitment’s Activity Index – September 2023 

Travel candidates rise, but vacancies dip in Sept

<ul style="margin-top: 0cm;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;">New travel jobs jump by 40 per cent from August 2022</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;">Candidates and placements dip to 2023 low</li>
</ul>
Strong month for new travel vacancies
The number of <a href="../../../../../jobs/">new job opportunities in the travel industry </a>has risen to its highest August total since 2017, according to the latest figures from C&amp;M Travel Recruitment.
Last month's figure was up by 40 per cent from August 2022, up by 78 per cent from August 2021, up by nine per cent from August 2019 and up by 12 per cent from August 2018.
Even more impressively, August 2023 recorded the third highest monthly total of new travel roles so far this year &ndash; despite the distractions of the late summer holidays.
Summer slowdown for candidates
In contrast, the volume of new candidates searching for jobs in the travel industry fell by 18 per cent in August to its lowest level in 2023 so far. However, with the exception of December, August is traditionally the slowest month of the year for travel recruitment. August 2023's figure stands just four per cent below August 2022, 15 per cent below August 2021, nine per cent below August 2019 and up by seven per cent from August 2018.
The month also saw a fall in <a href="../../../../../jobs/">new travel job</a> placements, with August's total dipping by 26 per cent from the previous month and by 58 per cent from August 2022.
Speaking about the stats, Barbara Kolosinska, Managing Director at C&amp;M Travel Recruitment, said: "August is always one of the slowest months of the year for recruitment &ndash; with holidays and late summer childcare taking priority for both <a href="https://candm.co.uk/candidates/">job seekers </a>and decision makers. Despite that, August was a much busier month for new vacancies than we have seen in recent years.
"Lots of exciting roles have newly been made available and this should lead to an increase in job placements in the next couple of months. Also, <a href="../../../../../news/press-releases/travel-salary-index-2023-h1-overview/">travel salaries</a> have now been steadily rising for around two years and we're continuing to see monthly increases as companies battle for the best candidates in the market."
&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;
All figures are drawn from the month&rsquo;s new vacancies advertised with C&amp;M Travel Recruitment.
C&amp;M Travel Recruitment was established in 1998 and is the largest and most successful specialist travel recruitment company in the UK.
For further information please contact: Owen Mckeon (Marketing and Operations Manager - 0161 238 4497 / owen@candm.co.uk) or Barbara Kolosinska (Managing Director - 07507 602 069 / barbara@candm.co.uk).

C&M Travel Recruitment’s Activity Index – August 2023 

Busiest August for new travel jobs in 6 years

<ul style="margin-top: 0cm;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;">Placements increase for third month in row</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;">Small dip in new candidates</li>
</ul>
Travel vacancies rise
The number of new job vacancies being made available in the travel industry <a href="../../../../../news/press-releases/travel-placements-rise-but-activity-dips-in-june/">jumped by 46 per cent last month</a>, according to the latest figures from C&amp;M Travel Recruitment.
July's big increase marked the third highest monthly total of the year so far. Compared to previous years, the number was down by six per cent from July 2022, down by 24 per cent from July 2021 and down by nine per cent from July 2018, but up by seven per cent from July 2019, up by one per cent from July 2017 and up by 14 per cent from July 2016.
There was also positive news in terms of placements with a 14 per cent monthly increase in the number of candidates being awarded <a href="../../../../../jobs/">new travel jobs</a>. Placements have now risen for three consecutive months, with July's total being the highest since March. Compared to previous years, July 2023 was down by 49 per cent from July 2022, up by 27 per cent from July 2021 and down by 11 per cent from July 2019.
Small fall in candidates
The number of <a href="../../../../../candidates/">new candidates searching for travel jobs</a> saw a small dip in July with a four per cent fall from the previous month. Last month&rsquo;s total was also down by seven per cent from July 2022 and 29 per cent from July 2021, but was up by 51 per cent from July 2020, up by 35 per cent from July 2019 and up by 34 per cent from July 2018.
Speaking about the stats, Barbara Kolosinska, Managing Director at C&amp;M Travel Recruitment, said: "With new vacancies and placements both increasing, and only a small dip in new candidates, July was a positive month for travel recruitment.
"It's mid-summer with all of the usual holiday distractions, so we don't expect activity to truly pick up again until September, but last month still saw many travel companies recruiting for a variety of very attractive new roles. And it's a great time to do it &ndash; while some companies will wait until the autumn before focusing on recruitment, those who start hiring early will have the pick of the summer candidates."
&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;
All figures are drawn from the month&rsquo;s new vacancies advertised with C&amp;M Travel Recruitment.
C&amp;M Travel Recruitment was established in 1998 and is the largest and most successful specialist travel recruitment company in the UK.
For further information please contact: Owen Mckeon (Marketing and Operations Manager - 0161 238 4497 / owen@candm.co.uk) or Barbara Kolosinska (Managing Director - 07507 602 069 / barbara@candm.co.uk).

C&M Travel Recruitment’s Activity Index – July 2023 

Big rise in new travel vacancies in July

<ul style="margin-top: 0cm;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;">Travel wages rise 21 per cent since pre-pandemic</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;">Executive salaries outpacing standard travel roles</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;">Vacancies dip from 2022, but candidates rise</li>
</ul>
Wages continue fast climb
Salaries for <a href="../../../../jobs/">new jobs in the travel industry</a> continue to rise with an <a href="../../../../news/press-releases/travel-salary-index-2022-h1-overview/">increase of 12.58 per cent</a> in the first half of this year, according to the 2023 H1 Travel Salary Index from C&amp;M Travel Recruitment which surveyed all new vacancies registered with the company during the timeframe.
The jump takes the average wage for a new travel job to &pound;33,445 &ndash; up a huge 20.78 per cent (or &pound;5,755) from the first six months of 2019 (pre-pandemic).
Executive travel roles (those paying &pound;40,000 and above) were responsible for much of the overall increase, with a salary hike of 17.03 per cent in the first half of 2023 compared to the same period last year. The average figure of &pound;58,737 is up &pound;8,548 from the start of 2022.
Standard travel jobs (those paying below &pound;40,000) rose by a smaller <a href="../../../../news/press-releases/travel-salary-index-2022-h1-overview/">5.99 per cent in the past year</a>, although they were also up by 18.02 per cent from the first half of 2019. The average salary of &pound;29,290 is up by &pound;1,655 from the start of 2022 and up by &pound;4,473 from the start of 2019.
It was a similar picture in the business travel sector with a 9.23 per cent increase from the first half of last year. The average new business travel job now comes with a salary of &pound;32,034 - up by 23.33 per cent from the first six months of 2019.
Activity dips from 2022
After 2022's record highs, recruitment activity in the travel industry fell back in the first six months of this year. Vacancies were down by 35 per cent from 2022 and down by 16 per cent from the start of 2019. In contrast, the number of <a href="../../../../candidates/">new candidates</a> registering for travel jobs between January and June 2023 increased by 20 per cent from the same months last year and by 28 per cent from the same period in 2019.
Speaking about the stats, Barbara Kolosinska, Director at C&amp;M Travel Recruitment, said: "One of the big barriers to attracting talent in the travel industry has always been the comparatively low salaries on offer. Travel's seen as a fun and enjoyable sector to be in, but would you take a pay cut to work here? Well, thankfully, we're now seeing a big increase in wages across the whole industry.
"With a 21 per cent rise since before the pandemic and a 12.5 per cent jump in the last year alone, travel salaries are now finally catching up to those in other industries. It's still very much a candidate-driven market with a lack of experienced applicants, but this big jump in salaries should help to entice quality talent to explore the many excellent career opportunities out there right now."
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All figures are drawn from the salaries of new vacancies advertised with C&amp;M Travel Recruitment.
C&amp;M Travel Recruitment was established in 1998 and is the largest and most successful specialist travel recruitment company in the UK.
For further information please contact: Owen Mckeon (Marketing and Operations Manager - 0161 238 4497 / owen@candm.co.uk) or Barbara Kolosinska (Managing Director - 07507 602 069 / barbara@candm.co.uk).

The 2023 H1 Travel Salary Index from C&M Travel Recruitment

Travel salary index - 2023 H1 overview

<ul style="margin-top: 0cm;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;">Placements increase for second month in a row</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;">But vacancies down from May</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;">Candidates also see small monthly fall</li>
</ul>
Travel placements inch up
The number of candidates placed in <a href="../../../../../jobs/">new travel jobs</a> has risen for the second consecutive month, according to the latest figures from C&amp;M Travel Recruitment.
However, June's increase of three per cent meant that activity levels remained lower than in previous years, with a fall of 52 per cent from June 2022, a rise of 76 per cent from June 2021, and falls of 30 per cent from June 2019 and 50 per cent from June 2018.
Candidates and vacancies see monthly dips
The month saw a small fall in the number of new candidates searching for travel jobs, with a decrease of 11 per cent from <a href="../../../../../news/press-releases/new-travel-job-vacancies-jump-131-in-may/">May</a>. Compared to previous years, June 2023 was down by a slim one per cent from June 2022, up by 11 per cent from June 2021, up by 21 per cent from June 2019 and up by 16 per cent from June 2018.
The number of <a href="../../../../../jobs/">new jobs</a> being created in the travel industry fell back in June by 40 per cent from May.&nbsp;
Vacancy numbers slipped by 27 per cent from the same month in 2022, were up by 25 per cent from June 2021, but were down by 28 per cent from June 2019 and down by 29 per cent from June 2018.
Speaking about the stats, <a href="../../../../../team/barbara-kolosinska/">Barbara Kolosinska</a>, Managing Director at C&amp;M Travel Recruitment, said: "<a name="_Hlk140572691"></a>It&rsquo;s always great to see a rise in the number of candidates being placed in new travel roles &ndash; and while activity levels are down from last year, this allows us to spend more time focusing on each role and finding the perfect candidate for each company.&nbsp;
"Things have now reduced to a more manageable level from 2022, and with salaries continuing to rise, there are many, many fantastic opportunities out there for quality applicants.
"With summer now in full flow, we expect activity to remain around this level until everything picks up in September &ndash; leaving an excellent gap in the market for any travel company in the position to start their recruitment drive earlier than their competitors."
&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;
All figures are drawn from the month&rsquo;s new vacancies advertised with C&amp;M Travel Recruitment.
C&amp;M Travel Recruitment was established in 1998 and is the largest and most successful specialist travel recruitment company in the UK.
For further information please contact: Owen Mckeon (Marketing and Operations Manager - 0161 238 4497 / owen@candm.co.uk) or Barbara Kolosinska (Managing Director - 07507 602 069 / barbara@candm.co.uk).

C&M Travel Recruitment’s Activity Index – June 2023 

Travel placements rise but activity dips in June

<ul>
<li class="MsoNormal">Travel industry almost eliminates gender pay gap for non-executive roles</li>
<li class="MsoNormal">But pay gap for higher-salaried roles increases to 14.2 per cent</li>
<li class="MsoNormal">Women awarded 71 per cent of all roles in travel</li>
<li class="MsoNormal">Overall pay gap widens to 11.5 per cent</li>
</ul>
Gender pay split
The gender pay gap for non-executive roles in the travel industry was almost non-existent in 2022, according to new research from C&amp;M Travel Recruitment.
For junior roles (those paying up to &pound;22,000), the gap was just 0.41 per cent with the average man earning &pound;85 more than a woman, while the gap was reversed for mid-level positions (those paying between &pound;22,001 and &pound;29,999) with females earning &pound;103 (or 0.39 per cent) more than males.
There was also a very small pay gap for senior roles (those paying between &pound;30,000 and &pound;39,999) with men taking home an average of &pound;267 (or 0.81 per cent) more than their female equivalents.
However, there was a stark difference in <a href="../../../../../news/press-releases/travel-salary-index-2022-overview/">salaries</a> for executive roles (those paying &pound;40,000 and above), with the average male earning &pound;55,792 &ndash; a huge &pound;7,402 (or 14.21 per cent) more than a female counterpart. This gap has increased from 11.94 per cent in 2019 and 10.56 per cent in 2018.
Due to the difference in salaries for high-end jobs, the overall pay gap in the travel industry stands at 11.50 per cent (or &pound;3,606), which is down from <a href="../../../../../news/press-releases/c-m-reveals-travel-s-gender-pay-split-2019/">14.15 per cent in 2019</a>, <a href="../../../../../news/press-releases/c-m-reveals-travel-s-gender-pay-split-2018/">18.35 per cent in 2018</a> and <a href="../../../../../news/press-releases/c-m-reveals-travel-s-gender-pay-split-2017/">12.75 per cent in 2017</a>.
Gender role split
In terms of the overall gender split in travel, females continued to be awarded the vast majority of <a href="../../../../../jobs/">new travel jobs</a> with a total of 70.7 per cent in 2022 &ndash; up from 68.7 per cent in 2019 and 68.6 per cent in 2018.
Females took 81.6 per cent of all entry-level positions last year (up from 70.8 per cent in 2019 and 74.1 per cent in 2018) and 76.8 per cent of all mid-level roles (up from 72.9 per cent in 2019 and 75.0 per cent in 2018).
For senior roles, females were awarded 66.0 per cent of all new jobs in 2022 (compared to 69.9 per cent in 2019 and 62.3 per cent in 2018), while 55.0 per cent of all executive roles were taken by females (compared to 53.2 per cent in 2019 and just 38.1 per cent in 2018).
Speaking about the findings, Barbara Kolosinska, Managing Director at C&amp;M Travel Recruitment, said: "On the face of it, these figures make for good reading &ndash; the gender pay gap has been almost eliminated at nearly all levels of the travel industry. However, even though we are now seeing women being awarded the majority of executive positions in travel, men continue to dominate roles in the &pound;70,000+ range &ndash; and these top-end jobs account for the overall gap in pay that we are seeing.
"The travel industry has come a long way from just a few years ago, with more and more women being placed in higher-salaried roles, but more work still needs to be done. There is a real opportunity for travel to lead the way by creating true pay parity at all levels and eliminating the gender pay gap for good, but this will not happen until we start seeing more women being awarded the very top jobs."
Lindsay Garvey-Jones, Chair at The Association of Women Travel Executives (AWTE), said: "The gender pay gap is a multifaceted issue with various factors at play. While some argue that it may not always be outright discrimination, choices are often influenced by circumstances and lack of education or awareness. Although businesses are now required to submit data on the gender pay gap, this data alone does not provide a comprehensive picture.
"Many women in our industry face complex choices regarding career advancement, often due to family responsibilities or health-related events like menopause or caregiving. These challenges can hinder their confidence and progress. Additionally, women tend to gravitate towards certain roles in industries like aviation, which are traditionally lower-paying. This raises questions about the industry's role in promoting diverse career options to women during their education. To address the gender pay gap, it is crucial to prioritize initiatives that tackle these underlying issues. By taking proactive steps, we can aim to close the pay gap much sooner than the predicted 202-year timeline [forecast by the World Economic Forum] and create a better future for generations to come."
&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;
C&amp;M Travel Recruitment was established in 1998 and is the largest and most successful specialist travel recruitment company in the UK.
For further information please contact: Owen Mckeon (Marketing and Operations Manager - 0161 238 4497 / owen@candm.co.uk) or Barbara Kolosinska (Managing Director - 07507 602 069 / barbara@candm.co.uk).

C&M reveals travel's gender pay split - 2022

2022 was a fantastic year for travel recruitment &ndash; the <a href="../../../../../news/press-releases/travel-salary-index-2022-overview/">most successful in C&amp;M's 25 year history</a>. But it was always going to be an anomaly. Cut to halfway through 2023 and activity levels are roughly where we were before the pandemic.
Vacancies and placements are both down compared to last year of course, but this is no surprise. Many companies &ndash; especially TMCs &ndash; cut their headcount so deeply during the pandemic, they had to do a colossal amount of rebuilding and hiring last year.
They recruited so heavily in 2022 that they simply do not have the capacity or budget to continue at that pace in 2023. Expecting anything else would be unrealistic.
There's no reason to worry about this and it is no indication of where the year is going.
The truth is, for us at C&amp;M, last year was actually too busy. Our team were almost firefighting &ndash; they were manically busy, trying to react to the huge demand. They were working far longer hours than we would like and were stretched to capacity trying to fill all of the roles that we had on. It was our busiest and most successful year ever, but you can only maintain that level of activity for so long.
With fewer vacancies this year, it means we're able to <a href="../../../../../clients/">focus on each client</a> and manage each role much more thoroughly. And, importantly, it means our Consultants have more time to advise and guide our clients through every step of their hiring process. Although not at the level of 2022, we're still placing a large number of candidates in new travel roles every week &ndash; and we're now able to do it more efficiently with even better service and dedication.
Salaries going up and up
Wages in the travel industry have increased by around 11 per cent from the first half of 2022 and this is great news. It's long overdue but they need to continue rising as they have been historically low for far too long.
Quality candidates are still in short supply. The best were receiving four or five offers last year, with some companies even getting into price wars over certain applicants! However, with <a href="../../../../../news/press-releases/">vacancies falling and candidate numbers rising in recent months</a>, this imbalance is now less pronounced and is beginning to rectify itself.
With wages increasing across the whole industry, there are now lots of <a href="../../../../../jobs/">attractive travel jobs</a> sparking the interest of both active and passive job seekers. These factors should combine to mean that companies will hopefully begin to have a bigger talent pool to choose from in the near future.
Widen your horizons
Of course, not all of these candidates will have the appropriate experience or qualifications to be the right fit for each specific role. But more and more of our clients are listening to us about broadening their requirements and looking outside of the industry for talent &ndash; and, we're glad to say, many are finding great success with their hires.
For any companies thinking of hiring later in 2023, we would advise them to do it now. Summer is always a quiet period for travel recruitment with normal pre-pandemic seasonal variations, but from September onwards things really heat up.
That's when all companies resume their recruitment&hellip;and they all fight each other for the best candidates! So for any travel companies that have the resources and time to recruit straightaway, we would advise them to jump ahead of the competition and <a href="../../../../../clients/">secure the top talent</a> before their competitors have even written their job adverts.
By Barbara Kolosinaka, Managing Director at C&amp;M Travel Recruitment

After a monumentally busy 2022, travel companies are recruiting less in 2023 – here's why that's actually a good thing

Travel recruitment in 2023 – and why 2022 was just TOO busy 

C&amp;M Travel Recruitment is delighted to announce the launch of its new website following the most successful year in its history.
Aimed at providing candidates with the most user-friendly <a href="https://www.candm.co.uk/jobs/">job search in the travel industry</a>, the new website coincides with C&amp;M's 25th birthday year.
The new site also quickly follows the launch of C&amp;M's new logo earlier in 2023.
Clean, bright, distinctive and easy to navigate, the candm.co.uk site features hundreds of <a href="https://www.candm.co.uk/jobs/">travel jobs based all across the UK</a>, as well as <a href="https://www.candm.co.uk/news/job-tips/">career guides</a>, <a href="https://www.candm.co.uk/news/">industry news</a> and <a href="https://www.candm.co.uk/news/press-releases/">salary benchmarks</a>.
The launch of the new site comes at a busy time for travel recruitment, with May seeing a <a href="https://www.candm.co.uk/news/press-releases/new-travel-job-vacancies-jump-131-in-may/">131 per cent monthly increase in new travel job vacancies</a>.
Barbara Kolosinska, Managing Director at C&amp;M Travel Recruitment, said: "We've been around for 25 years and have just had our most successful year ever, and with the launch of our fantastic new website, we're truly excited about the next phase of C&amp;M.
"There continues to be a talent shortage in the travel industry, so when we were designing the new website, candidates were at the forefront of our minds. We wanted to create a much more user-friendly site for job seekers, allowing them to easily find and apply to relevant roles in the fewest number of steps.
"A big thanks to our friends at <a href="https://www.sourceflow.co.uk/">Sourceflow</a> who helped to design and create the site, and we can't wait for candidates and clients to experience what we believe is the leading recruitment website in the travel industry."
&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;
C&amp;M Travel Recruitment was established in 1998 and is the largest and most successful specialist travel recruitment company in the UK.
For further information please contact: Owen Mckeon (Marketing and Operations Manager - 0161 238 4497 / <a href="mailto:owen@candm.co.uk">owen@candm.co.uk</a>) or Barbara Kolosinska (Managing Director - 07507 602 069 / <a href="mailto:barbara@candm.co.uk">barbara@candm.co.uk</a>).

C&M Travel Recruitment launches a new website following the most successful year in its history

C&M rebrands with new website and logo

<ul style="margin-top: 0cm;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;">Candidates and vacancies see big monthly rises</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;">Placements remain slower than average</li>
</ul>
Big rise in travel recruitment activity
The number of <a href="../../../../../jobs/">new travel job vacancies</a> rose by a huge 131 per cent in May 2023, according to the latest figures from C&amp;M Travel Recruitment.
Last month's total was the <a href="../../../../../news/press-releases/new-travel-jobseekers-hit-highest-point-in-18-months/">highest since January</a>, and also stands two per cent ahead of the pre-pandemic month of May 2019.
Similarly, the number of <a href="../../../../../candidates/">new candidates</a> searching for new travel jobs jumped by 24 per cent last month and also increased by two per cent from May 2022. Last month's rise was a welcome rebound from the fall seen in April and marked a 74 per cent increase from May 2021 and also a 22 per cent rise from May 2019.
Smaller increase for placements
The month also saw a small six per cent rise in the number of people being placed in new jobs in travel. However, the number remained low compared to previous Mays, with a drop of 67 per cent from the record-high month of May 2022, while it was also 27 per cent behind May 2019.
Speaking about the stats, Barbara Kolosinska, Managing Director at C&amp;M Travel Recruitment, said: "After a fall in activity around the Easter holidays, we're very pleased to see a big rebound in recruitment in May.
"In particular, it's great to see so many new travel jobs being made available. We're seeing more new roles being created than before the pandemic and, with <a href="../../../../../news/press-releases/travel-salary-index-2022-overview/">salaries continuing to rise</a>, this is further evidence that there are some truly fantastic opportunities currently out there for the right candidates."
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All figures are drawn from the month&rsquo;s new vacancies advertised with C&amp;M Travel Recruitment.
C&amp;M Travel Recruitment was established in 1998 and is the largest and most successful specialist travel recruitment company in the UK.
For further information please contact: Owen Mckeon (Marketing and Operations Manager - 0161 238 4497 / owen@candm.co.uk) or Barbara Kolosinska (Managing Director - 07507 602 069 / barbara@candm.co.uk).

C&M Travel Recruitment’s Activity Index – May 2023 

New travel job vacancies jump 131% in May

2022 was an extremely busy year for senior recruitment in the travel industry with a real jump in activity from the second quarter onwards. Business was growing, confidence was back and many companies were backfilling roles that they lost in the pandemic.
Although recruitment at the start of 2023 has not been quite as busy, it's still at a similar level to pre-pandemic times with slightly more relaxed deadlines than we saw in the previous 12 months.
Fewer active candidates
Last year was all about recruitment, with lots of new job openings and many people being vocal and proactive in terms of job searching. That isn't the case this year &ndash; those candidates have now settled into their roles and there are fewer people looking to move. This has resulted in a really limited number of quality active candidates in the senior travel market.
The candidate pool has become much more passive in 2023, with fewer people putting their CVs on job boards and applying for roles. But there is still quality out there. It may be harder to access these candidates, but if you can, then many are still very willing to consider moving&hellip;but it must be for the right opportunity.
Referrals and recommendations
One of the ways we're finding success at the moment is through&nbsp;<a title="Refer a friend to C&amp;M" href="../../../../../../news/press-releases/earn-250-by-simply-recommending-a-friend-/">referrals</a>, where candidates that we have worked with are recommending friends to us who are not necessarily active on job boards. For instance, we recently approached one person about a role and, although they weren't right for the job, they recommended someone who put us in contact with someone else who successfully got the role.
This was an experienced travel professional who wasn't on any of the job boards, wasn't actively looking to change roles and would have been impossible to find without these recommendations from past candidates.
No hybrid working? No applicants
For candidates, flexibility around hybrid and remote working is now just as important as the&nbsp;<a title="C&amp;M's Travel Salary Index" href="../../../../../../news/press-releases/travel-salary-index-2022-overview/">salary</a>&nbsp;package. This didn't used to be the case, but it is now absolutely commonplace. These days it is very rare to recruit for roles which are based full-time, 5 days a week in the office &ndash; and companies that want this are finding it a real struggle to fill these roles because flexibility is now seen as a must-have for almost all candidates.
Unlike the lower levels of the travel industry which have historically been poorly paid, salaries for senior and management roles in travel are very comparable to other industries. There are some small companies out there not offering top wages, but there are many travel tech companies, airlines or large OTAs paying really generous salaries. Of course, anything that travel companies can do to improve their salaries and overall packages will make it easier to attract top talent and stand out from their competitors.
Broaden your criteria &ndash; consider other sectors
This won't apply to all senior roles in travel, but depending on the position, we often suggest that companies consider widening their talent pool by looking at candidates from other sectors and industries. If it's a sales or marketing role, then companies will usually only consider candidates with travel experience. But if it's a finance or IT position, then there are a lot of great candidates out there from other industries who have the transferable skills to become a success in travel as well.
At the lower levels of the industry there is currently a huge shortage of talent, with the best candidates able to pick and choose from multiple offers. While this isn't quite the case for senior recruitment, those companies currently recruiting need to explore all options to find a successful hire in this challenging market.
By&nbsp;Tim Robinson, Sales Manager &ndash; Senior Appointments at C&amp;M Travel Recruitment, and&nbsp;Ben Lidbury, Senior Account Manager &ndash; Senior Appointments at C&amp;M Travel Recruitment

With a shortage of people looking for senior travel roles right now, how can companies find talent, how can we attract passive candidates and how can recruiters help?

Senior travel recruitment outlook – how can we attract passive candidates?

&ldquo;Should I include a photo on my CV? Can I leave gaps? What about hobbies?&rdquo; I&rsquo;ve been asked these (and many more) questions countless times over my 20 years in recruitment, so as the director of the UK&rsquo;s largest specialist travel recruitment company, I thought it was finally time to put together my guide to what you should and shouldn&rsquo;t include on your r&eacute;sum&eacute;.
Length / fonts / file formats
Gone are the days where your CV has to stick rigidly to a limit of two pages &ndash; if it&rsquo;s relevant and specific to the&nbsp;vacancy&nbsp;that you&rsquo;re applying for, feel free to make it longer, but there really is no point including anything irrelevant. In terms of fonts, it&rsquo;s best to keep it simple, so Arial or Verdana in size 10 is a safe bet. While there&rsquo;s nothing wrong with a basic black and white CV, you can be more experimental with the design - especially if you&rsquo;re going for a digital, marketing or creative role. However, don&rsquo;t be creative for the sake of it.
One of the key things that many people don&rsquo;t even consider is which file format they save their CV as. Most recruitment agencies and many big companies now parse candidates&rsquo; r&eacute;sum&eacute;s to their own database, and heavily formatted PDFs or those containing multiple images can sometimes create problems. So to give&nbsp;your CV&nbsp;the best chance of finding its way on to a recruiter&rsquo;s database, save it as a simple Word file and keep any uses of tables or boxes etc to a minimum.
It should (hopefully) go without saying that&nbsp;your CV&nbsp;should have a professional tone with perfect grammar, spelling and spacing, as well as consistency in terms of style and format. And it may be a personal annoyance, but I&rsquo;m instantly put off by any CV that&rsquo;s written in the third person. It should be first person every time.
Order / structure / which roles to include
Your <a href="../../../../../../news/job-tips/easy-ways-to-improve-your-cv/">CV</a> should start with your personal details i.e. name, address, email address, mobile phone number. This may sound obvious, but I&rsquo;m still amazed by how many people&rsquo;s CVs fail to include any contact information!
After this, provide a list of your experiences in reverse chronological date order beginning with your most recent&nbsp;job, with bullet points detailing your achievements and successes under each role. Even if your latest position isn&rsquo;t particularly relevant to the vacancy that you&rsquo;re applying for, you should still list it first because recruiters and employers need to know what you&rsquo;ve been doing.
How far back into your career you should go, really depends on how relevant the roles are. If you&rsquo;ve got a lot of experience then the last 10 to 15 years is the most important, but if you&rsquo;re relatively new to the industry then include all of it. If you&rsquo;ve spent a considerable number of years in one job, then break this down into the different roles that you had &ndash; and if you only had one role during that time, then split it into sub headings with separate tasks.
For every other job, list a few bullet points under each with a couple of examples of your successes &ndash; usually relating to targets, profitability and revenues. So if it&rsquo;s a marketing role, state which tasks you have been part of. If it is a sales role, detail which targets you had and illustrate how you reached them. If it&rsquo;s a customer service role, perhaps include some testimonials from clients that have been happy with your service.
Gaps
Whatever you do, don&rsquo;t leave gaps on <a href="../../../../../../news/job-tips/more-easy-ways-to-improve-your-cv/">your CV</a>. As a recruitment agency representing you, we need to know what you were doing so that we can explain it to the potential employer in the best way. However, if you sent your CV directly to the employer and it included big gaps, they&rsquo;re likely to think that you&rsquo;ve either been doing nothing, were unemployed or were maybe even in prison! The CV is your shop window and it needs to sell you in the best possible way, so don&rsquo;t make problems for yourself by leaving gaps and creating needless question marks.
Education
How much educational information you include on your CV depends on how much experience you have. Even if you&rsquo;ve been in the industry for a significant amount of time, then it is still important to put some education on your CV &ndash; especially if you are degree or A level educated. So list where you were educated and a top overview of what qualifications you&rsquo;ve gained, but you don&rsquo;t need to specify every individual subject and grade. Any additional qualifications or training should go above your education but below the employment history.
Hobbies
Something that people often overlook on their CVs are hobbies, but I think they can be really important &ndash; especially any sporting achievements. If you&rsquo;re going for a sales role, then someone with a competitive nature or a high achiever within the sporting field will always be attractive, so if you&rsquo;ve played any activity to a club, borough or country level, then this should certainly be included because it demonstrates drive and application, and potentially the ability to work as part of a team as well.
Also, what looks is good is if you&rsquo;ve coached any teams, such as children&rsquo;s football or something similar. Hobbies outside of work are quite important, especially if they are in some way relevant to the role that you&rsquo;re going for. Every recruiter is different, but I always look at hobbies on a CV.
Personal statement
All candidates should make sure they include a personal statement, which should be at the top of the CV below the personal details. In it should be everything that&rsquo;s not included in other categories, so it should include attributes, strengths, achievements that aren&rsquo;t already listed &ndash; such as if they have sat on any boards &ndash; and things that are related to the industry that aren&rsquo;t in their employment history. It should be a paragraph or perhaps two at the most, but no longer - and it absolutely shouldn&rsquo;t take up half a page.
Cover letter
Separate covering letters aren&rsquo;t really used anymore, but you should still include a version of it on the email when sending your CV in. It should be a short synopsis of the CV which needs to state what role you&rsquo;re going for, what your attributes are, why you could be good for the position, when you&rsquo;re available for interview and how close you&rsquo;re located to the vacancy. If you&rsquo;re applying to a recruitment agency then you should also say how far you would be willing to travel for the right role, what salary you&rsquo;re looking for, why you&rsquo;re leaving your current role, what notice period you&rsquo;re on and whether you&rsquo;re applying for any other roles. That should all be condensed down into about two paragraphs or, even better, use bullet points.
Photos
Don&rsquo;t do it! When applying for the average role, including a photo on your application is just ridiculous. Unless it&rsquo;s absolutely relevant (for example, if you&rsquo;re applying for a cabin crew role and the employer is interested in your appearance), please don&rsquo;t even consider it. Including a photo just opens up the risk that the employer might discount you purely for what you look like.
Also, it can potentially come across as arrogant because employers may think that you presume you have an advantage in getting the job because of your looks.
Need more help?
Hopefully that&rsquo;s covered a lot of questions, but C&amp;M Travel Recruitment have been helping candidates find great travel roles for the past two decades, so if you need any <a href="../../../../../../news/job-tips/how-to-build-up-your-cv/">extra help with your CV </a>or want to know how best to present yourself, just let us know.
Barbara Kolosinska is the Managing Director at C&amp;M Travel Recruitment

C&M Travel Recruitment’s Barbara Kolosinska shares her ultimate guide to creating the perfect CV

C&M's definitive guide to the perfect CV

<ul style="margin-top: 0cm;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;">Placements slip to 16-month low</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;">New vacancies and candidates also down</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;">May sees stronger start</li>
</ul>
Slow month for travel recruitment
The number of candidates being placed in <a href="../../../../../jobs/">new travel jobs</a> has fallen back to its lowest level in 16 months, according to the latest figures from C&amp;M Travel Recruitment.
April's total was down by 41 per cent from March and was the lowest figure since December 2021. Compared to previous years, last month's number was down by 64 per cent from April 2022 and 47 per cent below April 2019.
After reaching a <a href="../../../../../news/press-releases/new-travel-job-seekers-hit-5-year-high/">five-year high in March</a>, the number of new candidates also dipped in April. Last month's total was down by 38 per cent from the previous month, but remained up by ten per cent from April 2022. The number was up by 39 per cent from April 2021 and up by nine per cent from April 2019.
Vacancies dip
There was also a fall in new vacancies which decreased to their lowest level since December. April's total was down by 49 per cent from March and by 61 per cent from last April. The figure was up by 67 per cent from April 2021, but down by 47 per cent from April 2019.
Speaking about the stats, Barbara Kolosinska, Managing Director at C&amp;M Travel Recruitment, said: "April was the slowest month for travel recruitment that we have seen for some time. Much of this downturn can be attributed to Easter, which appeared to have a larger impact on activity than usual, with many decision makers taking time off during the month. However, May is already looking like a much more positive month &ndash; despite the multiple bank holidays.
"After a <a href="../../../../../news/press-releases/travel-salary-index-2022-overview/">historic year for travel recruitment</a>, 2023 has had a much more mixed start, with placements and vacancies both increasing in two of the first four months of the year and falling in the other two. With quality candidates still being in short supply, it is vitally important that we do all we can to entice talent to work in the industry by making our new job opportunities as exciting, well-paid and attractive as possible."
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All figures are drawn from the month&rsquo;s new vacancies advertised with C&amp;M Travel Recruitment.
C&amp;M Travel Recruitment was established in 1998 and is the largest and most successful specialist travel recruitment company in the UK.
For further information please contact: Owen Mckeon (Marketing and Operations Manager - 0161 238 4497 / owen@candm.co.uk) or Barbara Kolosinska (Managing Director - 07507 602 069 / barbara@candm.co.uk).

C&M Travel Recruitment’s Activity Index – April 2023 

Travel job activity falls back in April

<ul>
<li>Candidates reach highest point since 2018</li>
<li>Vacancies edge up</li>
<li>Placements rise from Feb, but down from 2022</li>
</ul>
Travel candidates rise again
The number of <a href="../../../../../../candidates/">new candidates</a> searching for <a href="../../../../../../jobs/">jobs in the travel industry </a>has risen to its highest level in five years, according to the latest figures from C&amp;M Travel Recruitment.
The volume of job seekers has now increased for three consecutive months and has reached a peak last seen in March 2018. Last month's total was up by 14 per cent from February and up by 39 per cent from one year ago.&nbsp;
There was also a monthly rise in <a href="../../../../../../jobs/">new travel job vacancies</a> which edged up by 10 per cent from February. Despite being down by 63 per cent from last March's all-time record figure, March 2023's total was comparable to previous years, and stands just 12 per cent below March 2019.
Mixed picture for travel placements
It was also a contrasting month for placements with the number of candidates being placed in travel jobs rising by 35 per cent from February, but falling by 47 per cent from the ten-year high recorded last March. Compared to previous years, last month's total was up by 81 per cent from March 2020, but down by 19 per cent from March 2019.
Speaking about the stats, Barbara Kolosinska, Managing Director at C&amp;M Travel Recruitment, said: "To see that candidate registrations have reached a five-year high is very, very welcome news. But we're in a strange position because despite there being a big increase in the number of new applicants, we're still in an extremely candidate-driven market. Ultimately, the sheer scale of the talent shortage that we've experienced over the past three years is still massively impacting travel recruitment and it will take many more months before the situation rectifies itself.
"Quality candidates still have all the power, with the best applicants receiving multiple offers from various companies and are often receiving counter offers from their current employer as well. Those travel companies looking to attract top talent right now need to act fast because the best candidates are being snapped up extremely quickly."
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All figures are drawn from the month&rsquo;s new vacancies advertised with C&amp;M Travel Recruitment.
C&amp;M Travel Recruitment was established in 1998 and is the largest and most successful specialist travel recruitment company in the UK.
For further information please contact: Owen Mckeon (Marketing and Operations Manager - 0161 238 4497 / owen@candm.co.uk) or Barbara Kolosinska (Managing Director - 07507 602 069 / barbara@candm.co.uk).

C&M Travel Recruitment’s Activity Index – March 2023 

New travel job seekers hit 5-year high

How can you compare one&nbsp;candidate against another? How can you be sure an applicant is right for your company? Which questions should you ask to find out the most about each potential employee? Conducting a great job interview can be a tricky business, so here's C&amp;M's guide to getting the very most from each meeting.
Research and prepare
You would expect all candidates to have done their research before attending an interview, so why should the interviewer go in unprepared? In advance of meeting the applicant, you should attempt to get an idea of who will be stepping into the room. So look at their social media profiles, re-read their CV and have a copy in front of you during the interview to refer back to.
If you're using a&nbsp;<a href="../../../../../../about-us/">recruitment agency</a>, then take on board everything that they've told you and have this information with you throughout the meeting.
Also, have an appropriate amount of time booked free in your diary and make sure you have secured an appropriate room in advance. Private interviews should never be conducted in public.
Explain the process
Most candidates will have taken time off work to see you, so at the start of the interview it's important to let them know the expected duration, process and format that the meeting will take.
Many companies also like to introduce potential recruits to some of their existing employees to see how they may fit into the team. If this is the case, then let the candidate know this before you begin asking questions. Don't wait until the end of a 90-minute interview to let the candidate know they're required to be here for another hour while they meet their potential colleagues.
Make them feel at ease
It's entirely normal for candidates to feel nervous and on edge in the run-up to an important job interview, so try to put them at ease. Ask them how their journey was and whether they would like a glass of water.
A lot of candidates have an 'interview persona', but you should aim to get past that and find the real person, so make them feel comfortable and try to get them to talk naturally to you.
There's also no point in asking questions that are designed to provoke candidates or make them feel uneasy &ndash; you want to get to know them rather than annoy them.
Keep it consistent
Some interviewers tailor their questions to each applicant, but it's a good idea to have a list of questions that will be asked to all contenders for a particular role. This creates a level playing field and will let you compare candidates against each other far more easily.
"What do you know about this company?" "Why do you want this role?" "Have you ever had to deal with performance management issues?" "Tell me about a problem you encountered in the workplace and how you dealt with it?"
Also, make sure to ask them about any gaps in their CV and, if it's a customer facing role, then you may want them to do a presentation.
Let them know the next steps
At the end of the interview, ask them how they thought it went &ndash; "do you think you would like to work here?" It's then important to let the candidate know where they stand or, at the very least, what the next part of the process is and when they can expect to hear from you.
If the meeting didn't go well and you have the confidence to tell them this, then let them know immediately because although it may be tough to hear, they will appreciate your honesty.
Equally, there's nothing wrong with taking your time to make a decision. But if you're convinced that this is the candidate for you, then you may want to offer them the position straight away to demonstrate how keen you are to have them as part of your team.

Conducting a great job interview can be tricky, so here's C&M's guide to getting the very most from each meeting

Job interview tips for clients

JOB ADVERT - KEY DETAILS 
JOB TITLE&nbsp;&ndash; Despite the urge to grab attention in your job title, it makes far more sense to keep it simple and generic, so if you're recruiting for a Business Travel Consultant, then your job title should simply be 'Business Travel Consultant'. This is because when a candidate searches for a role, job board algorithms mean the roles which most closely resemble the search term will be featured first. Think about it from a candidate&rsquo;s perspective - most people will just search for a simple job title, so anything with extra detail (such as 'Business Travel Consultant &ndash; South West London' or 'Business Travel Consultant &ndash; excellent salary') will feature down the list of search results below adverts with simpler job titles
LOCATION&nbsp;&ndash; In complete contrast to your job title, you should be as specific as possible with your location. Candidates are much more likely to search by a postcode, town or city than by a region or county, so never advertise your role as being in the 'South West' or 'North East'. Ideally include the postcode, but if you don't want to specify the exact location, try using the postcode for a nearby train station or coffee shop instead
SALARY&nbsp;&ndash; Job adverts that feature a salary are far more likely to grab the attention of job seekers so always include pay levels if you can. If you don't want to include the exact figure then include a salary band, but if you can't mention numbers at all, then highlight another reason for someone to join your company - for instance 'excellent salary and uncapped OTE' or 'competitive salary plus great career growth potential'
JOB TYPE &ndash; Specify whether the role is a permanent, temporary or contract position
JOB ADVERT &ndash; MAIN BODY 
Job Title&nbsp;- this should be bold and in capitals. For SEO reasons, you will want to repeat the job title around four or five times in your advert. A great way of doing this is to use the headings in bold below.
Description &ndash; in lower case, use a couple of sentences to sell your company, briefly detail the role and tell candidates why they should work for you. For instance: 'A fantastic opportunity has arisen to join this established and expanding independent TMC based in wonderful modern offices in the heart of the City. Due to continual growth, we are looking for the best Business Travel Consultants around to join our friendly team and will pay up to &pound;40,000 plus an amazing bonus, benefits and opportunities for career progression.'
Job Title - Responsibilities&nbsp;&ndash; i.e. 'Business Travel Consultant - Responsibilities'
<ul>
<li>Using four or five brief bullet points, list the key responsibilities or duties of the role. For instance:</li>
<li>Look after a range of high-profile accounts booking their worldwide travel arrangements using Amadeus</li>
<li>Deal with enquiries including complex itineraries by phone or email from start to finish including flights, accommodation, car hire, rail etc.</li>
<li>Offer the best solution for each customer while optimising profit opportunities</li>
<li>Liaise with suppliers and offer a high level of service to clients</li>
</ul>
Job Title &ndash; Required Skills&nbsp;&ndash; i.e. 'Business Travel Consultant &ndash; Required Skills'
<ul>
<li>Using four or five brief bullet points, list the key skills that are needed in the role. For instance:</li>
<li>5 years' experience working as either a Business Travel Consultant or Senior Business Travel Consultant</li>
<li>Knowledge of Galileo or Amadeus is a must</li>
<li>Excellent Fares knowledge</li>
<li>Strong ticketing experience</li>
</ul>
Job Title &ndash; Additional Information&nbsp;&ndash; i.e. 'Business Travel Consultant &ndash; Additional Information'
<ul>
<li>Using four or five brief bullet points, list the benefits of working for the company including the salary, perks, bonuses, potential for travel, free car parking etc. For instance:</li>
<li>Earn up to &pound;40,000 plus an excellent bonus, benefits, pension and healthcare</li>
<li>Free on-site parking and free use of on-site gym</li>
<li>Educational trips to long-haul destinations, plus discounted holidays for family members</li>
<li>Excellent scope for progression &ndash; this is a brilliant time to join this company</li>
<li>Work Monday to Friday from 0900 to 1730</li>
</ul>
Finally, you need to let the reader know how they can apply for the role, so end the job advert with a short sentence stating that if a candidate is interested in the position, they should send their CV to ### or call ###.

Here's our indispensable guide to creating a great job advert

C&M's job advert guide

<ul>
<li>New travel job seekers reach highest point since July 2021</li>
<li>Vacancies see single-digit fall from 2022</li>
<li>Job placements fall back in Feb</li>
</ul>
Job seekers increase again
The number of candidates searching for <a href="../../../../../../jobs/">new travel jobs </a>has risen again to reach the second highest total since mid-2018, according to the latest figures from C&amp;M Travel Recruitment.
Increasing by&nbsp;three per cent from January, the total volume of&nbsp;<a href="../../../../../../candidates/">new job seekers</a>&nbsp;jumped to a 19-month high in February 2023. It was also the highest February figure for six years - up by 39 per cent from last February, up by 109 per cent from February 2021, up by 76 per cent from February 2020, up by 39 per cent from February 2019, up by 20 per cent from February 2018 and down by less than one per cent from February 2017.
Mixed month for new vacancies
It was a less encouraging month for&nbsp;<a href="../../../../../../jobs/">new travel job vacancies&nbsp;</a>which slipped by 33 per cent from January's highs. However, last month's total was very comparable to previous Februarys, with a fall of nine per cent from February 2022 and a rise of four per cent from February 2020.
It was also a slower month for placements, with the number of candidates being placed in&nbsp;new travel jobs&nbsp;falling back in February by 22 per cent from the previous month and by 29 per cent from February 2022. Excluding the pandemic-affected month of February 2021, this was the lowest February total since 2014.
Speaking about the stats, Barbara Kolosinska, Managing Director at C&amp;M Travel Recruitment, said: "February was a very mixed month for travel recruitment, with a much-welcome rise in new candidates, but a fall in both vacancies and placements. However, March is already looking like a stronger month for activity.
"The industry is still crying out for talented travel candidates, so the increased number of job seekers that we have seen in both January and February are a great first step, but we need these strong figures to continue throughout the early months of 2023 and beyond."
&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;
All figures are drawn from the month&rsquo;s new vacancies advertised with C&amp;M Travel Recruitment.
C&amp;M Travel Recruitment was established in 1998 and is the largest and most successful specialist travel recruitment company in the UK.
For further information please contact: Owen Mckeon (Marketing and Operations Manager - 0161 238 4497 / owen@candm.co.uk) or Barbara Kolosinska (Managing Director - 07507 602 069 / barbara@candm.co.uk).

C&M Travel Recruitment’s Activity Index – February 2023 

New travel job candidates reach 19-month high

Test your tech&hellip;and yourself
Firstly, make sure you know your way around the technology. Find out whether the call will be made through Zoom, Google Meet or any other software and practice in advance. Download the apps or software and have a practice call with a friend to ensure you feel comfortable connecting to the call and turning on your microphone and video. Also, if you live in an area with sporadic wi-fi, consider using an internet cable as these can often result in a more successful connection.
Next, think about where the call will take place. Try to find a room in your house with a plain wall or window &ndash; something that won&rsquo;t be too distracting for you or your interviewer. Try not to use a virtual background because these can create visual issues when you move around and can become very distracting, but if you really have to, then use a very simple and neutral backdrop.
Ensure that your screen is at the correct height so that you feel comfortable with the image displayed and are not looking down all the time. Then use the record function in Zoom to do a practice run, and watch it back to assess your body language &ndash; maybe even send it to a friend to get their thoughts.
Keep it professional
You may be preparing for a video conversation rather than an in-person meeting, but this is still a&nbsp;job interview, so <a href="../../../../../../news/job-tips/how-to-prepare-for-a-job-interview/">prepare in exactly the same way as you would normally do</a>&hellip;and yes, that does mean putting on trousers.
Do your hair and your make-up and make sure you&rsquo;re suited and booted. If you look the part, then you are going to exude confidence. You don&rsquo;t want to go into an interview looking unkempt because you will then come across as being scruffy and sloppy. It may seem shallow, but job interviews are your chance to let the interviewer see the best version of you - both aesthetically and verbally.
Dress the part, prepare,&nbsp;<a href="../../../../../../news/job-tips/the-secrets-of-job-interview-research/">do your research&nbsp;about the company,</a> and ensure you have some questions ready to ask at relevant intervals.
Take advantage of the situation &ndash; bring notes
Of course, one of the main differences in a Zoom job interview is that your interviewer won&rsquo;t be able to see what&rsquo;s on your desk - and there is nothing wrong in using this to your advantage.
You shouldn&rsquo;t simply read your answers off a script, but why not have various bullet points or key words to refer back to? So prepare thoroughly, and place your research below the screen so that you can subtly glimpse at it occasionally.
Let your personality shine
Most job interviews start with a handshake, but any physical interaction is of course impossible online. Instead, welcome them with a smile and try to begin with a succinct, upbeat and positive introduction.
Even though you will be meeting your interviewer over a screen, they won&rsquo;t necessarily be able to read your body language (and you won&rsquo;t necessarily be able to read theirs). Passion can easily be lost on video interviews, so it&rsquo;s even more important than normal to make sure that your personality comes across. Practice what you want to say and ensure that your ambition, experience, drive and determination all come across as you want them to in order to stand out.
Don&rsquo;t panic about unexpected visitors
We&rsquo;ve all seen the clips of children and dogs running wild in the background of video calls &ndash; and some things just can&rsquo;t be helped. If you are interrupted during your interview, then don&rsquo;t ignore it &ndash; if you can sense that something unexpected has happened, then there&rsquo;s a very good chance your interviewer can too! Instead, apologise, acknowledge what has happened and try to make light of it &ndash; you could use it to bring some humour to the interview and give you a chance to display some personality.
However, you should try to do all you can to minimise the chances of disturbance. So if you have children or animals in the house, then arrange for someone to look after them while the interview takes place &ndash; just as you would if you had to visit an office for the interview.
Try to ensure that no parcels are due to be delivered while you&rsquo;re on the call, and if you live in a shared house, put a note on your door saying that you can&rsquo;t be disturbed.
Ultimately, some things are inevitable, but if you&rsquo;ve done all you can to&nbsp;prepare for your interview&nbsp;and have minimised the chances of any interruptions, then you&rsquo;re more likely to be fully engaged and presenting the best side of yourself throughout the meeting. Best of luck!

How do video job interviews differ from face-to-face meetings? How can we make the most of them? What replaces the handshake? And, most importantly, do you need to wear trousers? Here's the answers

Five keys to a great video job interview

<ul>
<li>Candidates jump 33% from last Jan</li>
<li>Best January for new vacancies since 2017</li>
<li>Travel placements also rise year-on-year</li>
</ul>
Busy start to 2023 for new candidates
The number of&nbsp;candidates searching for <a href="../../../../../../jobs/">new travel jobs</a>&nbsp;has reached its highest point in 18 months, according to the latest figures from C&amp;M Travel Recruitment.
January 2023's total was up by 157 per cent from&nbsp;December&nbsp;and was the second highest figure in the past four years behind only July 2021.
It was also the busiest January for new jobseekers since the index began in 2012, with January 2023's figure up by 33 per cent from January 2022, up by 122 per cent from January 2021, up by 13 per cent from January 2020 and up by nine per cent from January 2019.
Travel vacancies and placements also rise in Jan
New&nbsp;vacancies in the travel industry&nbsp;also rose healthily at the start of 2023 with January's figure up by 391 per cent from December to hit its highest point since March 2022.
It was also the highest number of new vacancies for the month of January since 2017, with last month's total up by one per cent from both January 2022 and 2020, up by two per cent from January 2019 and up by four per cent from January 2018.
The month also saw an increase in the number of candidates being placed in&nbsp;new travel jobs, with January's figure up by 49 per cent from December. It was also up by 34 per cent from both January 2022 and 2020, but down by 34 per cent from January 2019.
Speaking about the stats, Barbara Kolosinska, Managing Director at C&amp;M Travel Recruitment, said: "2023 has got off to a very healthy start with vacancies and placements both rising and, most importantly, we also had a big increase in new jobseekers.
&ldquo;Last year was the busiest period for travel recruitment that any of us can remember, but the one thing that held it back was the lack of quality applicants. With new travel candidates reaching their highest January level in at least 12 years, 2023 has started exactly as we needed it to. The big challenge now is to continue this momentum and keep doing all we can to attract talent into the industry."
&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;
All figures are drawn from the month&rsquo;s new vacancies advertised with C&amp;M Travel Recruitment.
C&amp;M Travel Recruitment was established in 1998 and is the largest and most successful specialist travel recruitment company in the UK.
For further information please contact: Owen Mckeon (Marketing and Operations Manager - 0161 238 4497 /&nbsp;owen@candm.co.uk) or Barbara Kolosinska (Managing Director - 07507 602 069 /&nbsp;barbara@candm.co.uk).

C&M Travel Recruitment’s Activity Index – January 2023 

New travel jobseekers hit highest point in 18 months

<div style="text-align: center;">Travel Salaries Jump 11.5% in 2022</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">C&amp;M Travel Recruitment and C&amp;M Executive Recruitment&rsquo;s</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">Travel Salary Index &ndash; 2022 Overview</div>
<ul>
<li>Standard travel wages up 17%</li>
<li>Pay for senior travel roles falls</li>
<li>Travel job placements and vacancies jump to near-record highs in 2022</li>
<li>Candidate numbers rise but at slower pace than vacancies</li>
</ul>
Record year for travel wages
Salaries for the average&nbsp;<a href="../../../../../../jobs/">new job in travel</a>&nbsp;jumped by a huge 11.53 per cent in 2022 to stand at a record &pound;30,617, according to the 2022 Travel Salary Index from C&amp;M Travel Recruitment which surveyed all new vacancies registered with the company during the year.
The figure was&nbsp;up by 8.59 per cent from the last pre-pandemic year of 2019&nbsp;and was also up by 14.01 per cent from 2018 and by 17.62 per cent from 2017.
The rise was even larger for standard&nbsp;new travel jobs&nbsp;(those paying up to &pound;40,000) which increased annually by 17.36 per cent to stand at an average of &pound;28,496. Compared to previous years, 2022's total was up by 14.25 per cent from 2019, up by 14.95 per cent from 2018 and up by 23.52 per cent from 2017.
However, salaries for the average new senior travel role (those paying &pound;40,000 and above) dipped by 6.77 per cent in 2022. This was largely due to an increasing number of roles in the &pound;40,000 to &pound;45,000 range which pushed down the overall average salary for senior positions.
Huge increases in travel jobs and placements
The number of people placed in new travel jobs jumped by 181 per cent in 2022 to reach a near-record high. Trailing only 2017 by just three per cent, 2022 stood above every other year since the index began in 2012. Last year also set many monthly records including all-time highs for placements in the months of March, April, May, June, July and August.
Similarly, the number of new travel job vacancies was up by 96 per cent in 2022 from the previous year and reached the second highest level since the index began. Behind only 2017 by just three per cent, last year set monthly records for new vacancies in March, April and May.
It was a more mixed picture for&nbsp;<a href="../../../../../../candidates/">new candidates&nbsp;</a>which rose year-on-year but could not keep pace with the increase in vacancies. The number of new candidates searching for travel jobs was up by 26 per cent from 2021 and up by eight per cent from 2019, but fell by nine per cent from 2018 and was down by 22 per cent from 2017.
It was also an impressive year for business travel recruitment, with the number of candidates placed in&nbsp;<a href="../../../../../../jobs/?query=business%20travel">business travel jobs</a>&nbsp;jumping by a huge 1,387 per cent from 2021 and by 174 per cent from the pre-pandemic year of 2019. There was also a big increase in salaries for new business travel jobs, which stood at an average of &pound;30,241 in 2022 &ndash; up by 2.47 per cent from 2021 and up by 11.54 per cent from 2019.
Speaking about the stats, Barbara Kolosinska, Managing Director at C&amp;M Travel Recruitment, said: "Whichever we look at it, 2022 was a historic year for travel recruitment. After suffering hugely as a result of the pandemic, we all needed 2022 to be a bumper year &ndash; and was it ever!
"Last year set numerous records for vacancies and job placements, with spring and summer 2022 being the busiest period for travel recruitment that we have ever seen in the past 25 years. Almost all companies in the travel industry searched for new employees last year and we're seeing very few signs of this changing as we begin 2023.
"The last 12 months have also seen travel salaries rise to a record high with a huge 11.5 per cent year-on-year jump. The shortage of talented candidates continues to be the biggest challenge, but with wages increasing and great new roles being created every day, the next year will hopefully be another extremely healthy one for travel recruitment."
&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;
All figures are drawn from the salaries of the new vacancies advertised with C&amp;M Travel Recruitment.
C&amp;M Travel Recruitment was established in 1998 and is the largest and most successful specialist travel recruitment company in the UK.
For further information please contact: Owen Mckeon (Marketing and Operations Manager - 0161 238 4497 / owen@candm.co.uk) or Barbara Kolosinska (Managing Director - 07507 602 069 / barbara@candm.co.uk).

The 2022 Travel Salary Index from C&M Travel Recruitment

Travel salary index – 2022 overview

<ul>
<li>New travel job vacancies fall to 22-month low</li>
<li>Slowest month of 2022 for job placements</li>
<li>Candidate numbers rise to highest December since 2018&hellip;</li>
<li>&hellip;but also drop to annual-low</li>
</ul>
Winter holidays hit travel job market
Festive distractions have caused the number of&nbsp;<a href="../../../../../../jobs/">new travel job vacancies&nbsp;</a>to fall to its lowest level for 22 months, according to the latest figures from C&amp;M Travel Recruitment.
While traditionally the quietest month of the year for travel recruitment, December 2022's total still dropped by 39 per cent from December 2021 to hit the lowest figure since February 2021. The number was also down by 58 per cent from the pre-pandemic month of December 2019.
Candidates and job placements also fall in December
Despite also falling to its lowest level this year, it was a somewhat more impressive month in terms of&nbsp;new <a href="../../../../../../candidates/">candidates</a>, which posted the highest December total since 2018. December 2022's figure was up by six per cent from the same month in 2021, up by seven per cent from 2019 and down by just two per cent from December 2018.
Similarly, the number of candidates being placed in new travel jobs also fell to an annual low in December, with volumes falling by 40 per cent from&nbsp;November,&nbsp;but was still up from December 2021 by a considerable 95 per cent. Compared to previous Decembers, 2022&rsquo;s figure was down by 10 per cent from 2019 and down by 30 per cent from December 2018.
Speaking about the stats, Barbara Kolosinska, Managing Director at C&amp;M Travel Recruitment, said: "As expected, December was the slowest month of the year for travel recruitment. The holiday distractions and the fact that many people simply take a well-earned break from work for a considerable amount of time at the end of the year always results in a big dip in activity.
"However, this shouldn't diminish the fact that 2022 has marked a huge recovery for travel recruitment from both 2021 and the depths of 2020. And, thankfully, January is already looking like a much stronger month, with&nbsp;many excellent new roles being made available across the industry."
&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;
All figures are drawn from the month&rsquo;s new vacancies advertised with C&amp;M Travel Recruitment.
C&amp;M Travel Recruitment was established in 1998 and is the largest and most successful specialist travel recruitment company in the UK.
For further information please contact: Owen Mckeon (Marketing and Operations Manager - 0161 238 4497 /&nbsp;owen@candm.co.uk) or Barbara Kolosinska (Managing Director - 07507 602 069 /&nbsp;barbara@candm.co.uk).

C&M Travel Recruitment’s Activity Index – December 2022

Travel recruitment eases in run-up to Christmas

Candidate-driven market
Experienced travel candidates have all the power right now &ndash; they can pick and choose their next role, so if you're not offering a distinct reason why they should work for you, you're likely to be left behind.
Flexible working used to be a real selling point for a vacancy, but now it's expected. However, while the majority of travel roles are now hybrid positions, there's still a lack of pure homeworking positions &ndash; and these roles are highly sought after by candidates.
Travel wages MUST increase
Salaries have always been an issue for our industry. We commonly say that people work in travel because they love it, and while that's still true, it's not enough anymore.&nbsp;Wages simply have to increase&nbsp;across the whole industry. It's unacceptable to just offer minimum wage &ndash; especially when there's such a fight for talent going on. Many, many people have left travel, so how do we expect to tempt them back if we continually offer such derogatory pay?
Why should talent choose your company?
The pandemic has made many people question what they want from life and where they want to spend their working day, so travel companies really need to spend time thinking about their <a href="../../../../../../about-us/">brand </a>and what they stand for. What does your company represent? What are your values? Why would someone want to work there? What's your reputation? And, if necessary, how can you turn it around?
Candidates &ndash; particularly younger ones &ndash; are now focusing much more on these aspects. Any company that can offer a positive and engaging working environment, attractive salaries and benefits, as well as mentoring or career development opportunities will find they have a much bigger talent pool to choose from.
Identifying your key players
With the entire industry experiencing recruitment challenges, it is crucial to do all we can to keep our current talent content and happy &ndash; and, in particular, our key players.
Whether it's to do with their fantastic sales skills, morale-boosting positivity or guidance for other colleagues, we all have these star performers, and it is vital to assess what would happen if they leave.
How would team morale be affected? What would it mean if they joined a competitor? Would our company reputation be impacted? Could we replace them - and if so, how long would it take and how much would it cost?
With demand for talent far outstripping current supply, this is achallenging time for travel recruitment. But the opportunities are clear for us all to see. And by adjusting a few aspects of our <a href="../../../../../../clients/">recruitment</a> and retention policies, we can give ourselves the best chance of making the next year a hugely positive one. By Barbara Kolosinska, Managing Director at C&amp;M Travel Recruitment

So how do you stand out from your competitors when recruiting? What are candidates looking for? How can you keep hold of your current employees? And have you got a plan in place if your key players leave?

How to recruit top travel talent and retain your key players

<ul>
<li>Placements fall from Oct, but still rise from 2021</li>
<li>Travel vacancies see large monthly dip</li>
<li>Candidates also fall marginally</li>
</ul>
Market eases in run-up to Christmas
Recruitment activity in the travel industry slowed in November, with vacancies, candidates and placements all seeing month-on-month falls, according to the latest figures from C&amp;M Travel Recruitment.
There was a 20 per cent monthly fall in the number of candidates being placed in&nbsp;new travel jobs, although the figure was still up by 17 per cent from November 2021. Compared to the same month in previous years, November 2022's total was level with November 2019 and up by seven per cent from November 2018, but down by 27 per cent from November 2017.
Similarly,&nbsp;new <a href="../../../../../../jobs/">job opportunities in the travel industry</a>&nbsp;slipped back in November, with a 28 per cent fall from&nbsp;October&nbsp;and an eight per cent dip from November 2021. Last month's total was the second lowest of the year behind only August, and was also down by five per cent from November 2019, down by 25 per cent from November 2018 and down by nine per cent from November 2017.
Candidate numbers rise from 2019
It was a slightly more positive month for new&nbsp;jobseekers, with the number of candidates starting their <a href="../../../../../../jobs/">search for a new travel job</a>&nbsp;dipping by three per cent in November,&nbsp;but jumping by 65 per cent from the same month in 2021. The figure is also up by 33 per cent from November 2019, but down by six per cent from November 2018 and down by 15 per cent from November 2017.
Speaking about the stats, Barbara Kolosinska, Managing Director at C&amp;M Travel Recruitment, said: "Whichever way you look at it, November was one of the slowest months of the year for travel recruitment activity. We saw monthly falls in the number of new jobs, placements and candidates, but it's worth remembering how far we have come in 2022.
"Compared to the last pre-pandemic year of 2019, placements have increased in seven of the 11 months of the year so far and have been even in another two, while new vacancies have also risen in seven of the 11 months.
"The one concern of course is candidate numbers, which have increased in six months of 2022 so far, but have fallen in five. For the travel industry to fully recover in the long-term, we all need to do whatever we can to attract new talent into our sectors and entice those who have left to come back &ndash; and this should be a real goal for us all in 2023."
&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;
All figures are drawn from the month&rsquo;s new vacancies advertised with C&amp;M Travel Recruitment.
C&amp;M Travel Recruitment was established in 1998 and is the largest and most successful specialist travel recruitment company in the UK.
For further information please contact: Owen Mckeon (Marketing and Operations Manager - 0161 238 4497 / owen@candm.co.uk) or Barbara Kolosinska (Managing Director - 07507 602 069 / barbara@candm.co.uk).

C&M Travel Recruitment’s Activity Index – November 2022

Travel recruitment activity slows in November

<ul>
<li>Candidate numbers reach highest point since summer 2021</li>
<li>Job placements rise monthly and annually</li>
<li>New travel vacancies see small dip from Sept</li>
</ul>
Busy month for travel candidates
The number of&nbsp;new candidates&nbsp;searching for&nbsp;<a href="../../../../../../jobs/">travel jobs</a>&nbsp;has jumped to its highest level since July 2021, according to the latest figures from C&amp;M Travel Recruitment.
With a&nbsp;29 per cent increase from September 2022, last month's figure was up 34 per cent from last October and was the highest number recorded since July 2021.
However, the figure was marginally below previous Octobers, with a dip of two per cent from October 2019, five per cent from October 2018 and eight per cent from October 2017.
Travel job placements see monthly rise
It was also a busy month for&nbsp;new travel job&nbsp;placements which rose by 18 per cent from the previous month and by 56 per cent compared to October 2021. Compared to previous years, October 2022 was up by 24 per cent from October 2019, up by one per cent from October 2018 and down by five per cent from October 2017.
Last month also recorded the second highest number of new travel job vacancies in the past five months, despite a small four per cent fall from September.
Compared to the same month in previous years, October 2022's total was down by six per cent from October 2021, up by nine per cent from October 2019, down by five per cent from October 2018 and down by four per cent from October 2017.
Speaking about the stats, Barbara Kolosinska, Managing Director at C&amp;M Travel Recruitment, said: "With a shortage of quality candidates affecting all industries at the moment, it's very encouraging to see a big increase in jobseekers in the travel industry last month.
"This was the highest monthly total since July 2021 and the second highest since autumn 2019, so this increase in candidates should come as welcome news to us all as we try to encourage and incentivise new talent to work in travel."
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All figures are drawn from the month&rsquo;s new vacancies advertised with C&amp;M Travel Recruitment.
C&amp;M Travel Recruitment was established in 1998 and is the largest and most successful specialist travel recruitment company in the UK.
For further information please contact: Owen Mckeon (Marketing and Operations Manager - 0161 238 4497 / owen@candm.co.uk) or Barbara Kolosinska (Managing Director - 07507 602 069 / barbara@candm.co.uk).

C&M Travel Recruitment’s Activity Index – October 2022

New travel job candidates jump to 15-month high

Research the company
Do you enjoy awkward silences? If not, it's probably a good idea to research the company and find out as much information as you can before the job interview. It's commonplace these days for employers to ask what you know about their company, as this shows attention to detail and gives an indication that you want this particular job rather than any old role.
There's plenty of ways to find this information out, but a good place to start is on their website. Scour the "About Us" page and take notes on what the company does, when it was founded and where it's based.
Find out who its competitors are, whose in charge, what the individual market is currently like and if there have been any recent notable developments that could affect the sector. Even try searching for its most recent financial records - not only will this give you an idea of how well the business is doing, but also whether your <a href="../../../../../../jobs/">job</a> is likely to be secure if they offer you a role.
Finally, it's a great idea to get as comprehensive an understanding as you can of what the company is actually like. Is it a fun place to work? What are their customers like? What kind of consumer does the business attract? Does it have a smart or casual dress code? Is it modern or old fashioned?
As mentioned before, start by looking on the company's website for clues, but also search on Google for any mentions of the business in news articles or on forums. This can sometimes provide a more honest insight into the business - but obviously don't believe everything you read on the internet...
Research your answers
This is unlikely to come as a shock to you, but you'll be asked many questions in your <a href="../../../../../../news/job-tips/how-to-prepare-for-a-job-interview/">job interview</a>, so it's obviously worth taking the time to prepare your answers. You can't guess everything that they'll ask, but the same types of questions pop up in most interviews, so you can certainly revise these.
Essentially, recruiters and employers want to find out three things about their candidates, so answer these questions positively and you'll have a far better shot at landing the job:
<ul>
<li>How much do you want the job?</li>
<li>Do you have the skills to do the job?</li>
<li>Are you a fit for the company?</li>
</ul>
And don't feel cautious about showing some personality. As the last of those three questions demonstrates, employers like to gauge whether you'll fit into their company and work well alongside their existing staff, so be relaxed but take your lead from the interviewer and the office environment.
Either way, you're almost guaranteed to be asked one or more of the following questions, so think hard about your answers, practice them and revise.
<ul>
<li>Why did you leave your last job? / Why do you want to leave your current job?</li>
<li>What can you bring to this company?</li>
<li>Why do you want to work for us?</li>
<li>How long would it take for you to make a difference to this company?</li>
<li>What are you most proud of in your career?</li>
<li>What have you enjoyed in your previous jobs? What have you found challenging?</li>
<li>What is the biggest regret of your career?</li>
<li>What is your major weakness?</li>
<li>How would you describe yourself?</li>
<li>What do other people say about you?</li>
<li>What did you do during the gap in&nbsp;your CV?</li>
<li>Where do you see yourself in five/ten years' time?</li>
</ul>
Research your questions
Once you've been grilled it will be your turn to be in charge, so think of a few questions to ask back. Some of your potential queries will inevitably already have been answered during the job interview, so make sure you have lots ready. After all, having nothing suitable to ask (and resorting to, "Um...what's the salary?") is just plain embarrassing and makes it look like you're not prepared.
Remember a few of the following questions and you can't go wrong.
<ul>
<li>Will I mainly be working on my own or as part of a team?</li>
<li>Why is this role available?</li>
<li>How long do people generally spend at the company / in this role?</li>
<li>What is the company's working culture like?</li>
<li>What are the company's short-term plans?</li>
<li>Will there be a training programme provided with the role?&nbsp;</li>
<li>Will I have the opportunity to attend courses during my employment?</li>
<li>What would be the next stage of the interview process?</li>
<li>If I were to be offered the role, when would I be required to start?</li>
</ul>

So you've prepared for your job interview, but have you done your research? By reading up on the company, practicing your answers and preparing a few questions of your own, you can make yourself feel more comfortable and confident, and give yourself a far better chance of being a successful candidate

The secrets of job interview research

Keep your mouth shut!
It may be obvious advice, but it's also good advice; the fewer people you tell about your job hunt, the smaller the chance that your boss will find out. Confiding in a friend or two is understandable, but speaking to anyone at work is risky - we all know how fast gossip spreads around the office...
Update your LinkedIn profile subtly
If you're searching for a new job, then you'll want to&nbsp;<a href="../../../../../news/job-tips/five-simple-ways-to-boost-your-linkedin-profile/">update your LinkedIn profile</a>, but remember that your current manager will be able to see (and possibly even be notified) whenever you make any updates.
There are a few ways around this though - firstly, make sure that your activity broadcasts are turned off, and secondly, be subtle with your wording. Don't say your &lsquo;seeking a new challenge'; just detail your roles and the skills that you've brought to them. Keep it professional rather than eager.
In the same way, be careful when you're networking. This is now a massively important method of finding new jobs, but be careful about who you talk to and how honest you are. Who's to say the person you're networking with isn't about to do the same with your manager?
Consider your references
While most people put their current boss down as one of their references, this isn't always the most sensible thing to do. If they get a call from someone asking to provide a reference for you, then your secret's out in the open, so consider choosing a former boss and a colleague that you can trust instead.
If you go for a job and they insist on speaking to your current manager, then explain that you'll happily hand over their details when they make you a firm offer. If that happens, politely speak to your boss explaining what's happened and try to keep it all on good terms - don't annoy them minutes before they write your reference...
Don't call in sick for an interview
If you need to go to an interview, then you haven't got the job yet, so don't risk your current position by calling in sick. It might seem tempting, but it really isn't worth the risk and, if you're boss finds out, it will make your working arrangements slightly more tense, to say the least.
If you've got holiday time left then book a day off work, if not, then it looks like some &lsquo;personal issues' might affect you coming in that day...
Speak to your boss 
Ok, this goes against everything you've just read, but if you've had no luck finding a new job, why not look for a better role at your current place of work? Be careful about how you word it when speaking to your manager, but most bosses will be pleased to know that their employees are determined and eager to increase their workload. At the very least, this might result in you learning a few more skills to add to your CV.
But if you're still having no luck in your job hunt, try&nbsp;<a title="Submit your CV" href="../../../../../candidates/">uploading your CV to C&amp;M Travel Recruitment</a>&nbsp;and let one of the consultants do the hard work.

Everyone loves gossip, but some things are best kept secret - such as when you're searching for a new job. You don't want your hunt to jeopardise your current role, so here's how to keep it quiet

Five ways to keep your job search secret

Put some decent clothes on
Getting changed just to answer the phone may feel silly, but the way you&rsquo;re dressed really does affect your telephone manner. You don&rsquo;t necessarily have to go all out and wear a suit and tie, but at least dress smartly so that you feel more professional and are more likely to think you actually deserve this&nbsp;job. Let&rsquo;s face it; if you&rsquo;re sitting around in your pyjamas then you&rsquo;re unlikely to be at your most alert.
Similarly, smiling while your answering the phone can give the impression that you&rsquo;re friendly and approachable. This obviously isn&rsquo;t always appropriate, so judge it based on the role that you&rsquo;re going for, but having a warm, welcoming and professional voice rarely does anyone any harm.
Charge your phone
This is a common error. You really don't want to be scrambling around trying to find your charger mid-interview, so make sure your phone&rsquo;s fully charged and working in advance. If you&rsquo;ve got any doubts at all about whether your mobile is picking up all of your calls, then just give out a landline number and make sure you&rsquo;re waiting by the phone a few minutes early.
Keep your CV and notes nearby
One great advantage of a telephone&nbsp;job interview&nbsp;is that you can refer to notes throughout and the employer will be none the wiser. Before the interview, think of answers to the questions that you&rsquo;re likely to be asked and then keep them in front of you &ndash; this will let you present a pre-prepared answer as a new one.
Also make sure you&rsquo;ve got a copy of <a href="../../../../../../news/job-tips/c-m-s-definitive-guide-to-the-perfect-cv/">your&nbsp;CV&nbsp;and&nbsp;covering letter</a>&nbsp;nearby, so that you can refer back to any claims you&rsquo;ve made.
Distance yourself from distractions
Turn the TV off, unplug the phone (not the one you&rsquo;ll be using, obviously) and generally make sure you&rsquo;re not going to be distracted by anything for the next few minutes. Try to find a quiet place in the house where you can hide away and make sure that your children / housemates are far away or at least unlikely to come knocking. Also, try to make sure that your telephone interview has been scheduled for a very specific time (say, 10am-10.30am) so that you&rsquo;re not only prepared, but are also likely to have minimal distractions.
Practice and stay calm
Like any <a href="../../../../../../news/job-tips/how-to-prepare-for-a-job-interview/">job interview</a>, try to&nbsp;practice your answers&nbsp;in advance so that you&rsquo;re not only less likely to be caught by surprise, but will also feel more confident in your responses.
It&rsquo;s also worth remembering a few other basic tips about how telephone job interviews differ from face-to-face conversation. Slow your speech down slightly and speak more clearly to ensure that there are no miscommunications on the phone, and remember that your interviewer will not be able to see any of your body language, so think carefully before making any light-hearted comments that could potentially be misinterpreted.
Finally, attempt to take notes while on the phone or immediately after the interview ends. Write down any information that you picked up and answers that you gave, as this will all come in handy should you progress to the next stage of your <a href="../../../../../../jobs/">job hunt</a>.

You’ve got a telephone interview! That means you can sit in your pants with a whisky, right? If your answer to that question was in any way ‘yes’, then you might want to pay attention to the following tips

Five secrets to a successful telephone job interview

<div>Slam your old boss</div>
<div>
Whatever disputes you had with your former manager or workmates, a job&nbsp;<a title="How To Prepare For A Job Interview" href="../../../../../news/job-tips/how-to-prepare-for-a-job-interview/">interview</a>&nbsp;is definitely not the place to air them. Apart from the possibility that your interviewer also hates your ex-boss (which, let's be honest, is slim), your grievances are only like to result in "trouble" being written on your notes. Instead, attempt to put a positive spin on your disagreements or at least present them in a constructive manner.
Claim to be faultless
Don't go into a job interview and immediately launch into all of your faults, but equally make sure you've got a good answer in place when you're asked what your biggest weakness is. This question pops up frequently in interviews, so prepare an answer that makes you seem honest, but still highly employable. If you're really stuck then try mentioning something that would have little impact on how you perform your role, or point to a previous work challenge that you successfully overcame.
Leave your phone on
Even if you don't answer your phone during the interview, the slightest hint of a ringtone will instantly affect your job chances. It comes down to attention to detail - if you can't remember to even put your phone on silent during a job interview, then what else might you forget? Having said this, it's always worth bringing your mobile to an interview in case you run into any problems on your way in. Which brings us to...
Be late
Turning up late to a job interview is a guaranteed way to annoy your future boss. But if you're running late, then make sure you phone ahead and let them know with as much notice as you can. You're still going to need a very good excuse though, so take all precautions to make sure you can arrive on time.
Come unprepared
Perhaps the most important part of a successful interview is to do your&nbsp;<a title="The Secrets Of Job Interview Research" href="../../../../../news/job-tips/the-secrets-of-job-interview-research/">research</a>&nbsp;beforehand. Find out as much about the company as you can - what do they do? Who are their customers / competitors? Etc. Employers often ask interviewers what they know about their company, so make sure you've got more to offer than an awkward silence.
Show that you're tired
It's understandable to have trouble sleeping on the night before a job interview due to nerves, but don't let it show. You've only got to be alert for a few minutes, so focus and maybe get some caffeine. One of the main attributes that many employers look for is enthusiasm, so make sure you don't come across as unfocused or uninterested.
Dress down
The only time it's ever justifiable to wear causal clothes to an interview, is if you've been explicitly told to do so. For any other occasion, it's always far more sensible to dress smartly. Even if companies have a casual dress code for current staff members, that doesn't mean that they want potential employees to turn up in t-shirts and jeans. Iron your suit, have a shave and make the effort - you'll be annoyed if you've lost the job because of what you picked out of the wardrobe.
</div>

Unless you've got some real masochistic streak, it's unlikely that you'll deliberately want to scupper your job interview. But with so many easy ways to get your application ignored, it's best to make a note of what to avoid

How to ruin a job interview in 7 easy steps

Plan your journey
Unless you're one hell of a persuading talker, you're unlikely to get the job if you turn up looking like a big sweaty mess, so it's absolutely integral to plan your journey beforehand. If you're going by car, try driving past the location in advance so that you know the route and (if you really want to be prepared for any possible scenario) seek out an alternative route there.
Similarly, if you're going by train or bus, then check the departure and arrival times in advance and keep an eye on any maintenance work on the lines or anything else that could cause a delay.
Finally, if you're lucky enough to be able to walk to your job interview, ensure that you know exactly where the office is and that you can gain access to the building - you don't want to be stuck outside while your potential new boss thinks you just haven't turned up.
Sleep
It's not always easy to sleep the night before a<a href="../../../../../../news/the-secrets-of-job-interview-research/"> job interview</a>, and that's why it's important to give yourself the best chance of getting a good night's sleep, so go to bed relatively early and set your alarm. If you really can't sleep though, just have a coffee or two in the morning - after all, you've only got to be alert for the short duration of an interview.
Read the news
It may not seem like the most obvious part of preparation, but it's always worth reading the news on the morning of a job interview. Many employers like to see that potential recruits are aware of the goings on both in their industry and in the wider economy, so don't be surprised if they throw in a question about what impact you think X will have on their business.
Dress smartly
If you're unsure of the dress code then always dress smartly. Turning up in just trousers and a shirt can give the impression that your attention to detail might be lacking, so get your suit ready and ironed the night before. There's no need to buy anything new (unless your wardrobes consists entirely of band t-shirts or football tops), but try to wear something that will make you look smart but also feel comfortable.
Men should remember to shave, and women should refrain from wearing any strong fragrances or too much make-up and jewellery, while smokers should attempt to resist the urge to light up immediately before the job interview.
Come prepared 
Finally, it's a good idea to bring with you <a href="../../../../../../news/c-m-s-definitive-guide-to-the-perfect-cv/">your&nbsp;CV&nbsp;and a portfolio</a> of your previous work, if appropriate. The employer will almost certainly have your CV and application form to hand, but taking a copy with you shows that you have considered all possibilities. Likewise, the interviewer may not have asked to see any of your past work, but bringing along a fewer relevant examples is unlikely to hurt your chances.
Also, take along your notes so that you can do some last minute revision, as well as a bottle of water and some cash for a last-minute taxi.

Job interviews can be incredibly stressful things, so it is important to take away at least some of the tension by making sure you're completely prepared. By planning certain things in advance, you'll be free to concentrate solely on your answers and, let's face it, that's what's going to secure you the job

How to prepare for a job interview

<ul>
<li>New travel job vacancies reach highest point since May</li>
<li>Candidate number also increase&hellip;</li>
<li>&hellip;but placements fall to seven-month low</li>
</ul>
Travel vacancies jump in September
The number of new job opportunities in the travel industry has jumped to its highest level in four months, according to the latest figures from C&amp;M Travel Recruitment.
There was a strong rebound in&nbsp;new travel job vacancies&nbsp;following the end of the summer holidays, with September's total&nbsp;increasing by 65 per cent from August. The figure was the highest since May 2022 and was also up by 45 per cent from September 2021, up by 18 per cent from September 2019 and up by 16 per cent from September 2018, but down by 16 per cent from September 2017.
There was also a rise in the number of&nbsp;new candidates searching for jobs&nbsp;in travel last month, with a 12 per cent increase from August and an 18 per cent jump from last September. Compared to pre-pandemic years, last month's total was down seven per cent from September 2019 but up by six per cent from September 2018.
Slower month for job placements
However, the number of applicants being placed in new jobs in the travel industry dipped by 11 per cent in September and fell back to its lowest level since February. Despite this, last month's figure was up by 32 per cent from the same month last year, was level with September 2019 and up by 16 per cent from September 2018.
Speaking about the stats, Barbara Kolosinska, Managing Director at C&amp;M Travel Recruitment, said: "It was another very positive month for travel recruitment, with new candidates, vacancies and job placements all above their historical averages.
"In particular, recent months have seen a huge increase in both vacancies and placements in the business travel sector, and we expect experienced&nbsp;Business Travel Consultants&nbsp;to continue to be in extremely high demand in the months ahead."
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All figures are drawn from the month&rsquo;s new vacancies advertised with C&amp;M Travel Recruitment.
C&amp;M Travel Recruitment was established in 1998 and is the largest and most successful specialist travel recruitment company in the UK.
For further information please contact: Owen Mckeon (Marketing and Operations Manager - 0161 238 4497 / owen@candm.co.uk) or Barbara Kolosinska (Managing Director - 07507 602 069 / barbara@candm.co.uk).

C&M Travel Recruitment’s Activity Index – September 2022

New travel job openings rise to four-month high

Be professional&hellip;
The last thing most of us want is to jeopardise our job, so work out exactly what you want to say in advance and, perhaps most importantly, how you want to say it. You could essentially treat it as a mini job interview &ndash; dress well, do your research and have stats lined up to back up what you say.
&hellip;and confident
Timidly asking your boss if there&rsquo;s any slight chance that you could maybe, perhaps have a few more pounds, please, is unlikely to get you anywhere. If you don&rsquo;t sound like you&rsquo;re worth a pay rise, then your manager will find it too easy to deny you one, so it&rsquo;s absolutely crucial to be confident and sound like you deserve every penny that you&rsquo;re asking for.
It&rsquo;s worth remembering that you shouldn&rsquo;t be afraid to ask for a pay rise. If you&rsquo;ve earned it and your employer can afford to give you a wage hike, then why shouldn&rsquo;t you get it?
Explain why you&rsquo;re worth it&hellip;
If you don&rsquo;t know why you deserve a pay rise, then neither will your boss, so work out your strategy in advance. Don&rsquo;t rely on sympathy. It&rsquo;s not enough to walk in there asking for some extra cash because your rent&rsquo;s going up next month; your boss will need some iron-clad examples to back up your demands - if only so they can justify it to&nbsp;their&nbsp;boss.
As we mentioned in&nbsp;<a title="How To Prepare For A Job Interview" href="../../../../../news/job-tips/how-to-prepare-for-a-job-interview/">our job interview guide</a>, employers love examples of a candidate&rsquo;s work, so prepare a list of accomplishments and show them exactly what you&rsquo;re worth to the company. Have you saved the business money? Do you successfully carry out tasks beyond your basic job description? Have you received praise from other clients? Make notes of all of these things and build up a case for why you deserve a better salary.
One of the best ways to demonstrate your worth is to show why the company needs you and why you would be a loss if you had to potentially walk away in the future. Think about how having you on the team would benefit the company going forward and try to come up with a plan of what you will bring to the business over the next few years. But remember to be realistic &ndash; don&rsquo;t promise to put in extra hours every week if you don&rsquo;t intend to.
&hellip;but don&rsquo;t threaten to quit
Speak confidently about why you deserve an increase in salary but don&rsquo;t threaten to go to a competitor if your boss doesn&rsquo;t agree. Any kind of ultimatum runs the risk of annoying your manager and, even if they agree to your demands, you may still have ended up harming your working relationship in the long-term.
Keeping all discussions amicable is the best approach. This way, if you don&rsquo;t manage to immediately persuade your manager, you can at least agree a date for a future salary review with some potential targets to work towards. If your boss truly wants to keep you at the company, they will know that they can only say &lsquo;no&rsquo; to you so many times.
Get your timing right
While what you say is vital, knowing when to say it is equally important &ndash; and we&rsquo;re not just talking about the time of day. If your company has been downsizing or struggling in other ways recently, then they&rsquo;re unlikely to want (or be able) to fork out more cash to keep their employees happy, so consider delaying or at least reducing your demands.
On the other hand, if you&rsquo;ve recently completed a major project or received praise for your work, then now might be the ideal time to try your luck. Also, take into consideration your manager&rsquo;s workload &ndash; if you know they never even have time to buy a sandwich on Mondays, maybe think about booking a meeting with them for a Tuesday afternoon.
Put a figure on it
It&rsquo;s estimated that the total cost of replacing a staff member can run into the many thousands, so if you truly are an invaluable part of the team, it&rsquo;s likely that your company will do what they can to keep you.
However, you need to be realistic. If you already earn a good wage and your work rarely stands out from that of the rest of the office, it&rsquo;s unreasonable to expect a big pay rise. So do your research, look at what rival companies are paying for similar roles and work out a figure that you think is achievable. But don&rsquo;t be greedy &ndash; as mentioned above, if your company has recently made redundancies or has had a weak year, then you might have to rethink your expectations.
If you&rsquo;re successful&hellip;
Congratulations&hellip;but don&rsquo;t celebrate quite yet! If you&rsquo;re working at a large company then many people will be involved in any change to your basic salary, so keep an eye on the progress. If things seem to go quiet, just remind your boss by asking them if there&rsquo;s anything that you need to sign.
If you&rsquo;re unsuccessful&hellip;&nbsp; 
Try, try again? That&rsquo;s up to you, but you now have three clear options &ndash; accept the decision and continue with your current salary, work hard and attempt to change your manager&rsquo;s mind, or start the hunt for a new job.
The decision is yours, but if your morale and work ethic is suffering, then it could at least be worth considering your options and looking at&nbsp;<a title="Travel Job Search" href="../../../../../jobs/">which other travel jobs are currently out there</a>. If you&rsquo;re right about how much you&rsquo;re worth, then surely someone will be willing to pay you it&hellip;

More travel jobs are available and lots of companies are increasing their salaries, so now’s the perfect time to ask for a pay rise, right? Possibly. But before you walk into your manager’s office demanding a 20 per cent salary hike, make sure you’re fully prepared, have chosen the ideal time and can prove that you’re completely worth the extra cash

How to get a pay rise

Even if you're happy in a secure job, it's always important to <a href="../../../../../../news/job-tips/c-m-s-definitive-guide-to-the-perfect-cv/">refresh your CV</a> - no-one knows what's going to happen in the future, so why not keep your options open?
<div>
By following a few easy steps, you can make sure your CV will not only stand out to employers, but will also reflect well on you as a candidate.
Sell yourself
Sum yourself up in a few words at the top of your CV stating the type of work that you want and what you can offer in that position. Sell yourself and make your summary section stand out - and don't be embarrassed about it.
Make it clean and clear
A CV is an employer's first impression of you, so don't blow it - make your CV neat and presentable, so that it represents you in the best possible way.
In terms of general layout, pick one of the common typefaces (Arial, Times New Roman, Courier or Verdana) at size 10 or 12 and stick to it. Simple steps like these will make your CV look professional and, hopefully, increase your chances of finding&nbsp;work.
General CV points
<ul>
<li>Use left-justified text - it's easiest to read</li>
<li>Only use bold for headings (employment history, education etc)</li>
<li>Use bullet points</li>
<li>Dates of employment should include the month and the year, for example: Mar 2010 - Feb 2011</li>
<li>Save your CV in a word format</li>
<li>Include personal information, such as your name, full address, telephone numbers (day/evening/mobile) and email address</li>
<li>Place the important information at the start: Put experience and education achievements in reverse chronological order</li>
<li>Use positive language when describing your achievements - say, &lsquo;launched' or &lsquo;achieved' rather than just, &lsquo;had to' or &lsquo;tried to'</li>
</ul>
Adapt your CV to each application
CVs don't need to contain your life story - they should be tailored to each position that you apply for, so there's no need to mention part-time bar work if you're now applying to be an office manager.
Your main focus at this point should just be for your CV to not end up in the bin, so think about what the employer is looking for and make the appropriate changes.
Justify your claims
As mentioned, it really is important to sell yourself in your CV, but it's equally important to back up your claims. Examine the skills that each employer needs and explain how you have demonstrated these attributes in previous roles.
Examples of the benefits that you have made in former positions are far more appealing to employers than qualifications that you gained in the old days.
Candidates who can show that they are efficient, proactive and profit-orientated are always likely to appeal to employers.
Check, check and check once more
Once you've made all these changes, proofread your <a href="../../../../../../news/job-tips/more-easy-ways-to-improve-your-cv/">CV</a> a couple of times and try to get some fresh eyes to scan it. CVs containing spelling mistakes often get thrown straight in the bin, so make sure that yours doesn't suffer the same fate.
</div>

Maybe you're fresh out of university and your struggling to get your first job, or maybe you just need a change, but haven't updated your CV in a while. Well then this is for you.

Easy ways to improve your CV

Be confident
First impressions really are all-important, so make sure that you give yourself enough time before the job interview to go to the bathroom and freshen yourself up.
Use a relatively firm handshake at the start and end, and maintain eye contact wherever possible. Sit up straight, look interested and focused and try to come across as being confident - if you look like you can do the job, then you're a lot more likely to get it.
Sometimes it can come down to the small details, so if it's between you and someone who fidgeted for the full 20 minutes, then you might just have the edge...
Be positive
When trying to make a positive first impression, it stands to reason that you should try to project a positive personality, so stress the benefits that you can bring to this role and why you think you could be a success in it.
If you have any grievances about your old job or employer, then now's definitely not the time to air them. It's great to show personality (as we'll explain in a second), but not when it shows your negative side. Employers aren't going to want to hear about how bad your former boss was - it will just make them imagine what you could be saying about their company in future years.
So if you've got negative reasons for leaving your old job, then make them sound constructive or, at least, try to remain upbeat and professional.
Be yourself
As mentioned above, it's important to show your personality and attempt to strike up some kind of rapport with your interviewer. Companies will often speak to several&nbsp;candidates&nbsp;back-to-back, so any positive impression that you make could give you an advantage.
This doesn't mean that you should take on a different persona though. Try to relax and feel free to laugh, but judge the tone of the <a href="../../../../../news/job-tips/how-to-prepare-for-a-job-interview/">interview</a> before you make it too light-hearted.
If you're lucky enough to discover that you both grew up in the same area or share the same interests, then make the most of it. Interviewers love to see an indication that they could actually work with candidates if they give them the job.
Take your time
If you're unsure about how to answer anything then it's ok to take your time, have a sip of water or even ask for a few seconds to consider your response. It's far better to give a strong answer after a slightly awkward silence than sprout gibberish because you were caught off guard. Equally, if you're unsure of the meaning of any&nbsp;<a title="Secrets Of Job Interview Research" href="../../../../../news/job-tips/the-secrets-of-job-interview-research/">questions</a>, then ask for clarification.
End it politely
While it may not be as crucial as the first impression, it's still important to end the job interview in the right manner. Shake their hand, thank them for their time and let them know that you look forward to hearing from them soon.

Just a few minutes stand between you and your new job, so it's probably a good idea to try and make the right impression. It's easy (and natural) to get nervous at this point, but don't worry; you've done your interview research, so all that's left is to concentrate on your demeanour and then everything else should fall into place

How to make the right impression at a job interview

If you still need a few more CV tips even after following&nbsp;<a title="Easy ways to improve your CV" href="../../../../../../news/job-tips/easy-ways-to-improve-your-cv/">these steps</a>, then you're in luck, because that's exactly what you'll find here.
Keep it short
Unlike this epic two-edition blog post, try to keep your CV relatively short - ideally keep it under two pages. For any&nbsp;attractive job, employers are likely to see many applications, so it's unlikely that the fourth page of your CV clinches it for you.
There are many ways to free up space on your CV, such as leaving out the details of your references - simply state that they are available on request. Also, you could create a "Previous Employment" section for any roles that you had more than a decade ago (just list your job title, the company name and the dates).
Finally, it's not necessary to create a long list of schools that you attended (just highlight the important stuff) and you don't need to write paragraphs about your hobbies either.
Leave out the disappointments...
It may sound obvious, but it bears repeating; your CV is not the time to own up to any failures that you've had in your career. You might be asked about these things at the interview stage, but you can worry about that later. Basically, don't weaken your successes by also mentioning the failures.
Don't give the employer any reason to discard you at this point, so also leave out any poor exam results or disappointing past business ventures.
While you should never lie on your CV, you don't have to mention anything that could possibly lead to you being discriminated against. Therefore, it is not essential to include information such as your race, date of birth, marital status or any disabilities.
...but don't leave gaps
Big gaps in your CV can be a warning sign to any potential employers, so don't give them a reason to presume the worst about you.
Also, don't be tempted to exaggerate (or flat-out lie) about previous job titles, salary or dates of&nbsp;employment&nbsp;because employers may check your CV's accuracy. And if it turns out that you bent the truth too far, then they may have the right to fire you.
Think about keywords
Although it may not initially strike you as being an important part of your CV, it's certainly worth thinking about which keywords you use. More and more recruiters now use online systems or job boards to search through CVs, so if you haven't got the appropriate keywords in your CV, then you won't show up. To give yourself the best chance of being detected, research the words used in similar roles to yours and work these into your CV's summary section.
And you're done
So that's it. And <a href="../../../../../../news/job-tips/c-m-s-definitive-guide-to-the-perfect-cv/">when you're happy that your CV is as polished as it can be</a>, make sure you&nbsp;upload it&nbsp;to the good folks here at C&amp;M Travel Recruitment. Best of luck!

Even more tips to help you create the perfect CV and land a new job

More easy ways to improve your CV

&nbsp;
Do some work experience
Yep, it's an old classic, but work experience is always a good addition to the CV. If you can, try to gain experience in the same or similar profession to the one that you wish to be employed in, but don't just ignore opportunities in other sectors. After all, everyone loves a good "transferable skill".
Take advantage of your part-time work
If you're working part-time in a&nbsp;job&nbsp;unrelated to the one that you want, then why not make the most of it by asking to take on a few more responsibilities? Any organisational or financial tasks will look great on the CV, so get asking.
It may seem like you'll be doing more work for no more money (chances are, you will be), but it could well be worthwhile in the long run. If you have to work in a part-time job that you don't enjoy, then why not learn as much as you can while you're there?
Become a volunteer
Volunteering's a massive plus on any CV. It shows that candidates are active, willing to work and eager to help good causes - all great traits that employers love to see. And the opportunities are vast.
Typically, we may think of people volunteering on relief efforts in Africa or helping to build schools in Asia, but there are numerous chances to lend a hand closer to home. The Conservation Volunteers even offer 90-minute slots, so there's really no excuse not to <a href="../../../../../../news/job-tips/c-m-s-definitive-guide-to-the-perfect-cv/">add this to your CV</a>.
Take a gap year
If you really want to fully experience being a volunteer, then get yourself abroad and take part in one of the previously mentioned activities. Employers love that kind of stuff. But if that doesn't sound like a fit for you, then there's loads of other ways to make a year abroad look good on your CV.
Spending months on the beach in Thailand probably won't excite too many employers, but travelling to new places and demonstrating that you've grown from seeing new cultures could lend a boost to your employment prospects.
Travelling can demonstrate that you're open to new ideas and experiences and that, after a year of moving around, you're ready to focus on your career. And obviously take advantage of any opportunities to gain experience of new working practices or environments when you're away.
Start a blog
Following on from the last idea, why not write your own blog while you're away? Not only is it a perfect way to keep a record of all the little details that you'll want to look back on in a few years' time, it will also be a great addition to your CV.
And it's also worth starting a blog even if you're not venturing much further than the kitchen. Detailed or brief, as long as you show some kind of writing/ designing/ time-keeping ability, then it's worthwhile.
At the very least, compiling a regularly updated blog will give you far more satisfaction than wasting the afternoon on daytime TV.
Pass your driving test
Finally, why not spend your spare time passing your driving test? It may not be the most obvious route to a new job, but you might be surprised at how many positions require candidates to have a clean driving license (so don't pass your test and promptly crash into a hedge).
Passing your driving test might not be the cheapest way of finding a&nbsp;new job, but it could be one of the most useful.
Once all that's been completed,&nbsp;<a href="../../../../../../candidates/">sumbit your CV</a>&nbsp;to the C&amp;M Travel Recruitment site and wait for the (fingers crossed) good news.

It's the smaller things that make the difference. While you may not be able to add a new position to your CV, you can certainly boost your employability

How to build up your CV

Update your details
Before you start applying for every role that you can find, your very first step should be to&nbsp;<a title="C&amp;M's guide to the perfect CV" href="../../../../../news/job-tips/c-m-s-definitive-guide-to-the-perfect-cv/">update your CV</a>. Highlight what you&rsquo;ve done in each of your roles and give clear examples of how your work has made a difference. Statistics are always a good way of grabbing attention so if you&rsquo;ve generated x amount of revenue, then say so. If you&rsquo;ve been with the same company for a significant number of years, then try to break down your time there into separate sections &ndash; i.e. have you had different job titles or responsibilities?
Next you need to&nbsp;<a title="Five Simple Ways To Improve Your LinkedIn Profile" href="../../../../../news/job-tips/five-simple-ways-to-boost-your-linkedin-profile/">update your LinkedIn profile</a>. Much of the information can be duplicated from your new CV, and don&rsquo;t feel embarrassed to change your LinkedIn headline to something like &lsquo;an experienced Travel Consultant currently seeking a new role&rsquo; &ndash; you&rsquo;re looking for a new position so be brazen about it.
Stay positive
It&rsquo;s vital to stay upbeat &ndash; remember that you lost your job through no fault of your own and that many other companies are recruiting for staff at the moment. The travel industry has had a skills shortage for the past few years, so there are many roles available for experienced travel professionals like you.
Get your name out there
There&rsquo;s only so much you can do on your own, so submit your CV to the job boards and&nbsp;register&nbsp;with a specialist recruitment company that knows the industry and can match your experiences to a relevant role. Recruiters can also offer you advice about improving your CV and&nbsp;<a href="../../../../../news/job-tips/what-to-wear-to-a-travel-job-interview/">interview</a>&nbsp;technique, advise you about exclusive roles that aren&rsquo;t advertised elsewhere and let you know how much you should realistically be earning.
Be active
Unfortunately, it&rsquo;s likely that many other people will be in the same situation as you, so it&rsquo;s important to act quickly and stay ahead of the competition. It may be a clich&eacute;, but to really give yourself the best chance of finding a great new role as soon as possible, you need to treat your search as a job in itself. Dedicate your time to it and be fast but be thorough. Tailor each application for each individual role and don&rsquo;t rush your wording because it&rsquo;s far more important to sell yourself properly than to send in an application that&rsquo;s riddled with mistakes.
Use your contacts
This is the ideal time to reconnect with your old contacts and suppliers. Be proactive and ask around to see if anyone knows of any&nbsp;<a title="Travel vacancies" href="../../../../../jobs/">vacancies</a>&nbsp;or has any leads for you. And don&rsquo;t be ashamed about it &ndash; many companies are searching for quality candidates at the moment, so why wouldn&rsquo;t they want to know that someone of your experience is currently available? LinkedIn is perfect for this &ndash; send out some messages and see what comes back.
Attending industry events can also be a very useful way to connect or reconnect with people that may have influence. It&rsquo;s also worth remembering that some companies have even been known to create an opportunity specifically for a candidate if their skillset or product knowledge is particularly niche or specific, so do ensure you remind people about what you can do. Finally, a glowing referral from a well-known industry name can really grab the attention of recruiters and employers, so ask around and see who&rsquo;s willing to vouch for you.
Clean up your social media profile
It&rsquo;s now common practice for employers to search a candidate&rsquo;s Instagram, Twitter and Facebook pages before they invite them for interview, so this is the perfect time to go back through your profiles and make sure they&rsquo;re all appropriate.
Is there anything on there that you&rsquo;re now embarrassed by? If so, it&rsquo;s a good idea to delete it. Our personalities are reflected in our social media profiles so no-one&rsquo;s expecting them to be 100 per cent professional, but if you want to find a new role quickly then it&rsquo;s wise to ensure your online presence isn&rsquo;t likely to seriously offend.
Read the press
Another key source is to read the trade press and stay abreast of the&nbsp;<a title="Travel industry news" href="https://www.candm.co.uk/cm/news">news.</a>&nbsp;Our industry can move quickly and it&rsquo;s sometimes impossible to predict which direction it will go in, so stay on top of events and seek out the latest industry columns to see if there&rsquo;s anything you can capitalise on. You may even find out about a new role that hasn&rsquo;t even been advertised yet. Who&rsquo;s recruiting? Who&rsquo;s retiring? How much am I worth? Who&rsquo;s opening a new office? Who&rsquo;s launching a homeworking division?
For even more advice about finding a new travel job, just&nbsp;<a title="Contact C&amp;M" href="../../../../../contact-us/">contact the recruitment team at C&amp;M</a>.

For many of us, it’s our worst fear – arriving at work at 9am as normal only to be told that the company is going into administration and we’ve instantly been made redundant. But unfortunately, that nightmare can be a reality for many people, so here’s how to go about finding a new travel job with very little notice

How to quickly find a new travel job after redundancy

Can you do it?
A big question to start with - do you actually have the skills and knowledge to do the job? It's very tempting to jump up to a role that pays well and sounds great on your <a href="../../../../../../news/job-tips/more-easy-ways-to-improve-your-cv/">CV</a>, but if you haven't got the expertise needed, then you could find yourself registering with recruitment agencies again in six months' time.
If you're not a fast learner, then you could just end up giving your confidence a massive knock.
Is it what you want to do?
So does it fit in with your career plans? If it's only intended to be a short-term fix, then move straight ahead to the next question, otherwise it's definitely worth considering whether you can see yourself at the company in a few years' time.
There's usually three main reasons for taking a new job: more money; a shorter commute; or a better chance of progressing your career. The final point isn't solely about having the chance to move your way up at the company (although that's obviously a big plus), but it could just mean being given good training opportunities to make yourself more employable in future. Try to make sure at least one of these points can be ticked off before <a href="../../../../../../jobs/">switching jobs</a>.
Can you afford it?
For the right role most have us would get up at a daft hour and commute for miles. But as well as eating up hours of your day, it will also take a big chunk of the money out of your pocket, so it's hugely important to work out the door-to-door length of your journey and how much it will cost you.
Secondly, we all like to think we'll be a hit in our new role and a pay rise will soon follow, but don't rely on it happening. If you're not happy with your basic salary, holiday entitlement, bonuses and pension now, are you likely to be in the future?
Will you fit in?
Everyone thinks about the location and salary when considering a job offer, but one thing that's often overlooked is the actual company - if you take the job, you'll be spending a fair amount of your time in their office, so make sure it's right for you.
Obviously, unless you were interviewed by your future boss, it's hard to know whether you'll get on with your colleagues, but you should have been able to gain at least a vague idea of the firm's working culture and whether you're likely to feel at home.
Is it stable?
Not the most obvious question to ask yourself perhaps, but possibly the most important - is the job secure? Do your research on the company, find out why the job's available and see if the business is in a good financial position. There's no point switching jobs to further your career if the company's going to be downsizing before the end of the year.
Of course, every role needs to be assessed on an individual basis, so don't automatically turn it down just because you answered &lsquo;no' to most of these questions.
At C&amp;M, the only thing we love more than finding someone a new job is finding them their perfect job! So, take time to think about it and make sure the role's the right one for you.

You've been offered a new job! Fantastic news - you should accept immediately, right? Well, probably, yes, but it's worth taking a couple of minutes to ask yourself some questions before you do. After all, you could be spending the next few years of your life in this role, so there's no point rushing in

Five questions to answer before accepting a new job

<ul>
<li>Travel job placements hit highest August figure since at least 2011</li>
<li>Vacancies dip to lowest level in 2022</li>
<li>Candidate numbers fall to four-month low</li>
</ul>
Travel recruitment remains strong in summer
Last month was the busiest August for travel job placements in more than decade, according to the latest figures from C&amp;M Travel Recruitment.
Despite a&nbsp;10 per cent dip from July, August 2022 was an unusually busy month for the end of summer, with more candidates being placed in new travel jobs than in any other August since the index began in 2012.
Last month saw a&nbsp;68 per cent increase from the same month last year, and was up by 17 per cent from August 2019, up by 12 per cent from August 2018, up by three per cent from August 2017 and up by 23 per cent from August 2016.
Activity dips
However, the number of new candidates searching for&nbsp;travel jobs&nbsp;dipped to its lowest level since April &ndash; largely as a result of the summer holidays. Traditionally the second quietest month of the year for travel recruitment behind only December, last month&rsquo;s figure was down by 11 per cent from August 2021, down by five per cent from August 2019 but up by 12 per cent from August 2018.
It was also a slower month for new travel vacancies, which slipped back to their lowest point since last December. Despite this, August 2022's figure was up by 27 per cent from the same month last year.
Speaking about the stats, Barbara Kolosinska, Managing Director at C&amp;M Travel Recruitment, said: "Although not quite matching the highs seen earlier in 2022, last month was the busiest August that we&rsquo;ve seen in at least a decade for travel job placements. Overall vacancies in the travel industry also remain at historic highs, and we are having to actively consult with many of our clients to be creative in terms of attracting the right talent for their company.
"Despite this, August was also the slowest month for new travel vacancies in some time, and with the rising cost of living on everyone's minds, it would be easy to conclude that we are witnessing early signs of a change to some companies' hiring plans. However, August is always one of the slowest months of the year for recruitment, so it remains to be seen how much of an impact financial concerns are having.
"Thankfully, we've already seen a significant bounce back in activity so far in September, but we'll certainly be keeping a close eye on events over the coming weeks and months."
&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;
All figures are drawn from the month&rsquo;s new vacancies advertised with C&amp;M Travel Recruitment.
C&amp;M Travel Recruitment was established in 1998 and is the largest and most successful specialist travel recruitment company in the UK.
For further information please contact: Owen Mckeon (Marketing and Operations Manager - 0161 238 4497 / owen@candm.co.uk) or Barbara Kolosinska (Managing Director - 07507 602 069 / barbara@candm.co.uk).

C&M Travel Recruitment’s Activity Index – August 2022

Busiest August for travel job placements in a decade

What do you look for in a good candidate?
When we&rsquo;re recruiting, we look for candidates with good and varied experience, a great attitude, flexibility, a can-do attitude, ambition, a willingness to attend industry events if applicable and a good, solid work experience. We also like them to be well-presented, have a warm and friendly disposition, have good contacts, great references and an understanding of the industry.
It&rsquo;s also become increasingly important to have a&nbsp;good LinkedIn profile&nbsp;and have a professional presence on social media. When I recruit for my own business, I always, always check a candidate&rsquo;s social media profiles. I always look on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.
Many roles in travel are all about relationships and contacts and nurturing them. Therefore it&rsquo;s about doing all you can to make those relationships even better and grow your network.
What would immediately put you off a CV?
From our perspective, it&rsquo;s continuity of service, so no job hopping. If you&rsquo;ve worked for three companies in three years, then that will raise questions, but if you've been in the industry for ten years and split that time relatively evenly between three companies, then that will instantly be more appealing. People do frown at candidates who have been at a company for less than a year or so. However, there could be very good reasons for that and that is why coming to a recruitment agency will help because we will fill in those gaps and ascertain why they have moved on quickly. If a&nbsp;<a title="C&amp;M's ultimate CV guide" href="../../../../../../news/job-tips/c-m-s-definitive-guide-to-the-perfect-cv/">CV</a>&nbsp;like this is just sent directly to an employer then it could potentially be frowned upon.
A CV should contain a candidate&rsquo;s successes and achievements and it needs to be presented well, so it should have bullet points, be spell checked and contain the correct grammar and punctuation. If it is lacking in any of these departments, then that would be a negative.
Are qualifications needed to get into the travel industry? What professional training is out there?
When you first start in travel, you have options such as IATA fares and ticketing courses, GNVQs in travel, CRS and GDS training or even a degree in travel and tourism. I have a travel and tourism degree and it has probably helped me in my career, but the most important thing is experience. Get the experience under your belt.
Moving forward, at a more senior level, the best professional training would be to get a Masters. Degrees are quite common place these days, so if anyone has gone to the effort and invested their own time to gain a Masters, then it shows a lot about that individual. I am impressed when I see that on a CV.
Are travel companies struggling to find good candidates or is the industry awash with them?
It&rsquo;s the former - absolutely. It&rsquo;s a candidate-driven market and has been for a long time because there are a lot of jobs out there and unemployment is historically low. The gap between the number of travel vacancies and the number of quality candidates is only going to get bigger because there are more and more<a title="Travel jobs" href="../../../../../../jobs/">&nbsp;travel jobs</a>&nbsp;being made available. Of course, there are going to be more candidates registering, but it is about convincing companies in the travel industry to broaden their requirements and look at a wider selection of candidates, which a lot of companies are now beginning to do.
What is the recruiter&rsquo;s role in the process? What exactly do you do?
The recruiter&rsquo;s role is significant. From a candidate&rsquo;s perspective, we are a one stop shop. We have maximum exposure to the majority of travel companies, in terms of contacts as well as vacancies. We are also there to help candidates with their&nbsp;<a href="../../../../../../news/job-tips/easy-ways-to-improve-your-cv/">CV writing</a>&nbsp;and to support and assist them with the&nbsp;<a title="How to prepare for a travel job interview" href="../../../../../../news/job-tips/how-to-prepare-for-a-job-interview/">interview process</a>.
From an employer&rsquo;s perspective, some candidates will only come to us to help them find a new role and, likewise, some employers out there will only come to us with their vacancies. We are also there to help clients with salary benchmarking and to guide them through the interview process and assessment days.
Also, recruitment companies can have access to travel businesses that aren&rsquo;t necessarily currently recruiting &ndash; we have the contacts and we know who is happy to receive speculative CVs and who isn&rsquo;t.
We are all experts at what we do here at C&amp;M - we have 300 years of travel industry experience and have been recruiting in the sector for 20 years. We have the knowledge, the extensive database, the legacy, the industry-wide exposure, a visible networking presence at industry events and a significant advertising reach for both candidates and clients.
By Barbara Kolosinska, Managing Director at C&amp;M Travel Recruitment

We're frequently asked all sorts of questions about finding a new job in travel – such as what works on a CV and what doesn’t, how competitive the market is, and what exactly it is that a recruiter does! So without further ado, here’s the five questions I’m most commonly asked about travel recruitment:

Five questions everyone asks about getting a new travel job

Motivation
Or lack of. Did you begin your current role with excitement and enthusiasm but now find yourself doing the bare minimum to get by? That's a clear sign that you've outgrown your job. We're not all lucky enough to be in a role that we'll jump out of bed each morning for, but we shouldn't feel utter apathy about work either.
When did you last feel excited about your job? When did you last enjoy it? When were you last given a new task that you actually looked forward to tackling? When did you last go home and say you enjoyed your day? If you're struggling to answer any (or all) of those questions, then it could be time for action.
Stress
Some people thrive on stress and deadlines, but too much stress isn't healthy for anyone. We all need to be able to switch off for a while, so we shouldn't be checking our inbox every two minutes outside of the office. Work anxiety can manifest itself in various other forms such as a lack of energy, general irritability, or even having no appetite, so think about whether you recognise any of these traits in yourself.
Our career can have a huge impact on how happy we are in our spare time and how we interact with family and friends, and it can be far too easy to let the unhappiness we feel at work seep into our relationships.
If you're worrying about work so much you struggle to sleep at night or are finding you can't enjoy Sundays because your dreading the next morning so much, then it simply may not be healthy to carry on as things are.
Boredom
Watching the clock on a slow Friday afternoon at work is one thing, but being in a perpetual state of wishing you were elsewhere is another. It may be a clich&eacute;, but most of us spend more time at work than we do with our loved ones, so it's perfectly reasonable to want a job that at the very least passes the time quickly.
If you've felt bored at work for the last few months, it could be worth speaking to your manager about it. They wouldn't want one of their employees to feel unchallenged or unmotivated &ndash; after all, bored people are less likely to be fully engaged in their job and are therefore more prone to making mistakes - so consider asking for more responsibility or a different focus in your role. But if nothing really changes after this conversation, maybe finding a completely new position at a different company could be best for all parties.
No progression
Here's an interesting one &ndash; think about your last week at work and how it compares to your first. Has it changed? Have you progressed? Has it stayed pretty much the same?
We should always be developing and&nbsp;<a title="Candidate career advice" href="../../../../../news/job-tips/">learning new skills</a>&nbsp;no matter how old we are or how long we've been in a job, so what have you learned in the past six months? What have you done in the past year to&nbsp;<a title="How to build up your CV" href="../../../../../news/job-tips/easy-ways-to-improve-your-cv/">add to your CV</a>?
It's fine to feel comfortable at work, but feeling like your career's stuck with no hint of progression is entirely different.
Even worse, if you're putting in long hours and working to the best of your ability, but see no reward or development opportunities, then this can be hugely demotivating and can result in frustration, anger and resentment.
Employees who feel undervalued and unchallenged can stagnate, so it could be time to assess your options and consider working for a different company which offers greater opportunities for you to grow.
You're already job hunting
A clear sign that you need to move on is if you're already checking out what else is available. If you've looked at a few&nbsp;<a title="Travel jobs" href="../../../../../jobs/">travel job adverts</a>&nbsp;(or even if you clicked on this post!) then deep down, you probably already know that it's time for you to take on a new challenge.
If you're still unsure, then it essentially comes down to three options; continue in your current role and try to find the positives in it, talk to your manager about your concerns and how you would like things to change, or&nbsp;<a title="Contact C&amp;M" href="../../../../../contact-us/">speak to a recruiter</a>&nbsp;about which other opportunities are available.

Do you really hate your job, or do you just hate it today? Sometimes it can be hard to tell. But if the bad days are outnumbering the good, and you find yourself nodding along to several of the following points, then it may be time to begin your next travel job hunt

Five signs you need to find a new travel job

Who says you can't put a price on friendship?
Do you know someone with travel experience?&nbsp;If you recommend a friend to us and they go on to be placed by C&amp;M, you could receive&nbsp;&pound;250 of Amazon Vouchers&nbsp;to go shopping with - courtesy of us!&nbsp;
So, if you know a friend with travel experience who has not previously registered with C&amp;M Travel Recruitment, just ask them to email their CV to us at&nbsp;<a title="Referrals" href="mailto:referrals@candm.co.uk">referrals@candm.co.uk</a>&nbsp;quoting your name.
If your friend then goes on to be placed in a&nbsp;new job&nbsp;by us and stays in the role for three months, we'll send the &pound;250 vouchers straight to you!
And because there's absolutely no limit on how many people you can recommend to us, there's also absolutely no limit on how much you can earn!
So get thinking - who do you know that's looking for a fantastic new job in travel...?

If you recommend a friend to us and they go on to be placed by C&M Travel Recruitment, you can receive £250 of Amazon Vouchers to go shopping with - courtesy of us!

Earn £250 by simply recommending a friend!

Take a deep breath
It may seem obvious, but it truly does work. Pausing to take a deep breath after your first line really will help you to relax and give yourself time to adapt to the situation - especially if you&rsquo;re asked to start your interview with a short presentation.
A big part of the reason why people get nervous is due to the tension of a new scenario being placed in front of them, so slowing down the moment and attempting to relax can help to ease any stress.
Be prepared
One of the best ways of making yourself relaxed is to feel in control, so&nbsp;<a title="How To Prepare For A Job Interview" href="../../../../../news/job-tips/how-to-prepare-for-a-job-interview/">prepare as much as you can</a>&nbsp;and revise thoroughly. Research the company and its competitors,&nbsp;<a title="The Secrets Of Job Interview Research" href="../../../../../news/job-tips/the-secrets-of-job-interview-research/">prepare your questions and answers</a>, make sure you know the route to the office and bring some examples of prior work with you if you can.
Some particularly determined candidates have even been known to research their interviewers in order to see if they have anything in common to bond over! Basically, get as much done in advance as possible.
Drink water
Here&rsquo;s a very simple one &ndash; if you get nervous then there&rsquo;s a good chance that your mouth will become dry, so bring a bottle of water with you to your job interview. Don&rsquo;t presume that you&rsquo;ll be offered a drink when you arrive.
Sit up straight
Another easy tip is simply to sit up straight. Not only will this make you look more professional, but it will also ensure that you&rsquo;re voice better projects. Even if you&rsquo;re a complete wreck on the inside, sitting up straight means that it&rsquo;s less likely to show.
Treat the interview as a conversation
Now this one&rsquo;s harder. If you can manage to approach the interview as you would a normal conversation, then your fears will be dramatically reduced. But, whether you can do this or not, you should walk into the room confidently and with a smile in order to help defuse any initial tension.
Focus on your strengths
If you&rsquo;ve managed to secure a job interview with the company then you must be doing something right, so take that confidence in with you. Don&rsquo;t worry about what the interviewer is thinking - if you go in with a clear idea of the points and image that you want to get across then you&rsquo;ll have a far greater chance of being successful.
One of the best ways to do this is to rehearse what you&rsquo;re going to say. If preparing your exact answers makes you feel more comfortable, then do that, but it&rsquo;s probably best to just outline the points that you want to make in response to each possible question. This is likely to make you seem more open, honest and genuine.

While it might not be quite up there with your wedding day or possibly even the final game of the season, a job interview certainly has the ability to bring on the nerves. Nerves are a great indication that you actually want the job, but it’s best to keep them in check - fortunately there are a few ways to do just that

How to stay calm in a job interview

Set Up Your Account ASAP!
This will obviously only apply to some people, but if you haven't already got a&nbsp;LinkedIn profile, then get one. They're free (unless you want a Premium account) and easy to set up, so there's no need to put it off any longer. The sooner you set up an account, the sooner you'll potentially appear on recruiters' radars when they're looking to fill a new job.
And, of course, creating a profile immediately gives you a better chance of building up those all-important contacts - do you know someone who knows someone who's looking for someone like you?
Sell yourself
How you word this depends on whether you've already got a job, but either way it's important to present yourself in the most employable light.
If you've got a job, then don't mention anything about seeking "new responsibilities" or wanting to take the "next step in your career", but if you're unemployed, then run wild and sell yourself in the best way you can.
Be professional at all times, but also keep it brief and engaging - basically, treat it as a mini&nbsp;<a title="Easy Ways To Improve Your CV - Part 1" href="../../../../../news/job-tips/easy-ways-to-improve-your-cv/">CV</a>. Recruiters are only likely to scan your LinkedIn profile, so give them details of your key experiences and attributes straight away.
Look smart
Unlike with your CV, a photo is a necessity on LinkedIn and could make or break your profile, so keep it professional. There's no reason to put on a suit and iron your shirt, but use a photo that at least makes you look presentable (anything drunken needs to be left purely to the realms of&nbsp;Facebook).
A simple photo of you looking relatively smart and smiling should do the trick.
Think About Keywords
As mentioned above, recruiters will look through many, many candidates and are only likely to skim your profile so, to make it easier on them, try inserting a few keywords that show off your best skills.
Often, recruiters will search through the entire database of profiles on LinkedIn by using a location and a relevant keyword or two, so if you've neglected to use a couple of vital words on your personal description, then how do you expect to stand out among the millions of others?
Change Your URL
Sometimes in life it's wise to be a geek - and this is one of those occasions. By changing the URL of your profile from something like www.linkedin.com/pub/tomdavis/60/8c34/768 to www.linkedin.com/pub/tom_davis, you'll make your LinkedIn address look much smarter and also demonstrate that you've shown attention to detail. And employers like that kind of thing.
It's free, easy to do (just go to the &lsquo;Edit Profile' page) and takes a matter of seconds.
Get Some Recommendations
Possibly the best way to make yourself stand out from the hoards of other job seekers on LinkedIn is to gain some recommendations. These are simple to get hold of - just ask your current or ex boss or one of your colleagues for a sentence or so, and consider writing one back too if it's appropriate.
It's worth remembering though that one or two well-written recommendations from respected people within an industry can count for a lot more than a stream of single line reviews from your work mates.

Whether you like it or not, LinkedIn is now firmly established as a massive part of the recruitment process. Most employers check applicants' profiles and many people secure jobs simply through their connections on the site. But whether you've already got an account or not, there's a few simple ways to make your profile stand out

Five simple ways to boost your LinkedIn profile

<ul>
<li>Travel job placements rise 5%</li>
<li>Highest ever number of placements for July</li>
<li>Candidate numbers remain steady</li>
<li>Vacancies rise from June, but fall from 2021</li>
</ul>
Another strong month for travel recruitment
The number of travel job placements increased in July and remained at near-record levels, according to the latest figures from C&amp;M Travel Recruitment.
With a rise of five per cent from&nbsp;June, last month's total number of travel job placements was the fifth highest since November 2017.
It was also the highest figure ever recorded for the month of July since the index began in 2012, standing 149 per cent above July 2021 and up by 74 per cent from July 2019, up by 49 per cent from July 2018, up by five per cent from July 2017 and up by eight per cent from July 2016.
Candidate and vacancies both rise
The volume of&nbsp;new candidates&nbsp;searching for travel jobs also remained historically high in July with a two per cent rise from the previous month. Despite being down by 24 per cent from July 2021 (which was the highest number in the past four years), last month's figure was up by 45 per cent from July 2019 and up by 44 per cent from July 2018.
Similarly, the number of&nbsp;new travel jobs&nbsp;being created in July 2022 increased by 14 per cent from June. The figure was down by 19 per cent from July 2021, but was up by 14 per cent from July 2019, down by two per cent from July 2018 and up by eight per cent from July 2017.
Speaking about the stats, Barbara Kolosinska, Managing Director at C&amp;M Travel Recruitment, said: "With the summer holidays in full swing, July traditionally results in a dip in activity, but July 2022 actually saw vacancies, placements and new candidates all rise from the previous month! This is the first time this has happened since July 2012 and demonstrates the sheer level of demand that the travel industry has for talent at the moment.
"August is usually the industry's quietest month for recruitment outside of December, so it will be interesting to see if it also defies historical trends &ndash; and early indications suggest that it will be another very healthy month."
&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;
All figures are drawn from the month&rsquo;s new vacancies advertised with C&amp;M Travel Recruitment.
C&amp;M Travel Recruitment was established in 1998 and is the largest and most successful specialist travel recruitment company in the UK.
For further information please contact: Owen Mckeon (Marketing and Operations Manager - 0161 238 4497 / owen@candm.co.uk) or Barbara Kolosinska (Managing Director - 07507 602 069 / barbara@candm.co.uk).

C&M Travel Recruitment’s Activity Index – July 2022

Travel placements remain at near-record levels in July

Get smart
Often you&rsquo;ll be unaware of the dress code in an office when you arrive for a&nbsp;<a title="How to prepare for a job interview" href="../../../../../news/job-tips/how-to-prepare-for-a-job-interview/">job interview</a>, but if you&rsquo;re unsure, then it&rsquo;s always worth opting for a smart approach. Either a skirt or trouser suit is a reliable option for women, while a buttoned-up shirt and tie is essential for men.
Turning up dressed in a suit when everyone else in the office is in a t-shirt and jeans can be temporarily embarrassing, but if you arrive in a t-shirt when everyone else is wearing a shirt and tie, then you&rsquo;re simply not going to get the job.
Neutral colours
Wear a yellow shirt underneath a green suit and you&rsquo;ll undoubtedly make a strong first impression, but you'll also stand a good chance of them never wanting to see you again. Keep your colours neutral by opting for black, grey, navy or other variations. Ties and women&rsquo;s shirts can be treated with a bit more freedom but be very careful about using excessively bright colours.
Minimal make up / jewellery
Is your interviewer allergic to certain perfumes? You don&rsquo;t know, so it may not be worth risking it. Equally, wearing too much make-up or jewellery can be off-putting and distract from your answers, so women should consider wearing natural colours and avoid any bright lipsticks or eyeliners.
Shave, trim etc
If you&rsquo;re even vaguely in need of a haircut then this is the ideal time for it and, for men, either have a close shave or at least tidy up your beard.
For those with long hair, it could be sensible to tie it up to create a more professional look and minimise the chances of your hair distracting you (and your interviewer) during the&nbsp;<a title="The secrets of job interview research" href="../../../../../news/job-tips/the-secrets-of-job-interview-research/">job interview</a>.
Shoes and belts (wear them!)
You probably didn&rsquo;t need to be reminded to wear shoes, but you might need a reminder to polish them. For some reason, many employers pay a great deal of attention to interviewees&rsquo; footwear, so scrub up and score an instant plus point.
Also, you can get another easy tick just from wearing a belt. If the belt loops of your trousers are showing, then your outfit will look unfinished.
Don&rsquo;t flaunt it
Whether you&rsquo;re hot or not, a job interview simply isn&rsquo;t the place to be flaunting your body, so dress demurely and look professional. Minimal cleavage and leg should be shown by women and, similarly, men shouldn&rsquo;t wear shirts or trousers that are too tight. If you&rsquo;re constantly re-arranging your outfit, then you&rsquo;ll look unprepared and won&rsquo;t be giving your answers your full attention.
Tattoos and piercings
Depending on the employer and the type of travel job that you&rsquo;re going for, it might be worth removing any piercings before the interview.
Obviously it&rsquo;s not quite so easy to remove your tattoos, so simply do your best to conceal any that you have. Many employers are now very welcoming to staff with tattoos, but you don't yet know your interviewer so don&rsquo;t let any particularly noticeable markings have a potentially negative effect on your job chances.

“First impressions count”. We’ve all heard it many times and it’s entirely true, so leave your trackie bottoms at home, clean your teeth and give yourself a far better chance of landing that travel job by following a few simple rules

What to wear to a travel job interview

Refresh your CV
To be honest, if you've not looked for a&nbsp;<a title="Travel jobs" href="../../../../../jobs/">new job</a> in some time, then you might want to completely ditch your old r&eacute;sum&eacute; and <a href="../../../../../news/job-tips/c-m-s-definitive-guide-to-the-perfect-cv/">make a fresh CV</a>. Times change and you don't want to use outdated terminology making it look like you've not progressed in the past decade. Of course, your old CV could still come in handy, so highlight your skills and attributes that are still relevant and include these in your new draft.
Also make a note of any training you've been given or techniques you've learnt since you last updated your CV and assemble these into a relevant order. The most appealing r&eacute;sum&eacute;s will be able to show employers exactly what you can bring to their company, so ideally try to give examples of what you've achieved - i.e. "By doing x, I shortened the process by y", or "I oversaw a team of 20 people". And, obviously, if you've won any kind of awards, then include them - your CV isn't the place to show your timid side.
Emphasise your skills...
Make sure that you put the work in and tailor your <a href="../../../../../news/job-tips/easy-ways-to-improve-your-cv/">CV</a> for each role that you apply for.&nbsp;Many people recommend dedicating most of your CV to the last decade with just a brief mention of your roles before this, but if you've been out of work for a few years then it's a far better idea to order your CV in terms of your skills with the most relevant at the top.
No matter when you held a role, if it's linked to the job that you're applying for, then your experience should definitely be highlighted. Some aspects of the role may have changed (read on about how to overcome this), but employers will still want to know that you've held a similar position in the past.
Of course, if you've spent the majority of your career at the same company, then you've got a different issue, but it's easily solved - just split the period into sections. If you've changed job titles or been promoted then list these separately and detail the different skills and achievements that each role had.
And don't feel obliged to include dates for everything on your&nbsp;<a href="../../../../../news/job-tips/more-easy-ways-to-improve-your-cv/">CV</a>&nbsp;- it's not necessary to state your date of birth or what year you went to university, so only include them if you want to.
...and research new ones
As mentioned above, even if you previously held a similar position to the one you're now applying for, the role may have changed in the intervening years, so it's a good idea to update your knowledge of basic skills such as emailing, creating spreadsheets, word processing or whatever else is needed.
Search the job descriptions of other similar roles to see which skills are commonly mentioned and work out what you're lacking. All sorts of free courses can be found online, but evening classes are a more reliable way to add a skill or two to your CV. Employers love to see that applicants have done their research and are willing to put the effort in, so demonstrating that you're eager to learn new skills for the role is a definite plus next to your name.
If it's a <a href="../../../../../jobs/">travel job</a> that you're after, then many employers look for candidates with knowledge of a GDS (global distribution system), so research the company that you're applying to and see whether they use Galileo, Amadeus, Sabre or another system. Training courses can be relatively expensive but, again, free guides are also available on the internet.
Get online
Talking of the internet, a big part of the recruitment process has now gone online, so it's a good idea for you to do the same. Twitter and Facebook profiles could help make you more attractive to employers, but the main site to focus on is LinkedIn. It's very easy to set up - you just need to add your work history, skills, strengths and a photo and you're done (or you could see&nbsp;<a title="Five ways to boost your LinkedIn profile" href="../../../../../news/job-tips/five-simple-ways-to-boost-your-linkedin-profile/">this handy guide for more LinkedIn tips</a>). Once this is completed, it will effectively act as an online CV, so make sure you sell yourself well!
The other big plus with LinkedIn is that it lets you get in contact with people in your industry and advertise yourself straight to them, so start building connections, making contact with people and getting involved in the &lsquo;group' options.
Use your contacts
Now, obviously, you can only take advantage of your connections if you already have them, but you might be surprised at the opportunities that become available once you make yourself available. Friends, family and old work colleagues are probably the most reliable contacts that you'll have, but as mentioned above, social networks like LinkedIn can now present another route to making new connections with people in the industry.
Alternatively of course, if your contact book is limited, then your next best option is probably to use a specialist recruitment company which understands the sector and knows how to get you back into work - a company, perhaps, like <a href="../../../../../contact-us/">C&amp;M</a>!

Whether you've had time away from work to look after children, been ill or just stayed at the same company for years and years, there comes a time when most people will need to jump back into the job market. But this doesn't have to be scary - here's a few ways to make the whole process easier

Five ways to re-enter the jobs market

C&amp;M Travel Recruitment is excited to launch the C&amp;M D&amp;I Hub to help all travel companies create bespoke diversity and inclusion policies - and attract new travel talent.
D&amp;I strategies need to be tailored to each company's ethics and values, so our D&amp;I Hub has been designed to offer a wealth of ideas, articles and videos to help craft the policy that's right for each travel business.
Featuring everything from the importance of thought leadership and inclusive hiring, to case studies and audit guides, the hub offers information and guidance across ten distinct areas.
And what's more, access to the C&amp;M D&amp;I Hub is completely free to all existing C&amp;M clients - just contact C&amp;M on&nbsp;diversity@candm.co.uk&nbsp;or 020 7796 1800.
Speaking about the news, Barbara Kolosinska, Managing Director at C&amp;M Travel Recruitment, said: "Diversity and inclusion has been on everyone's lips for the past few years and is now an important part of any workplace - but when looking to attract new talent, D&amp;I policies are an absolute MUST.
"Creating these policies can initially be daunting, so we're really excited to launch the C&amp;M D&amp;I Hub which offers a wealth of information, guidance, research and videos to help all travel companies create a policy which suits them.
"Diversity and inclusion is increasingly crucial to many job seekers, and any company that can demonstrate their values, beliefs and transparency will instantly have an advantage over competitors.
"Travel is a wonderfully inclusive industry, and creating an honest and comprehensive D&amp;I policy is a fantastic way to appeal to new jobseekers and show them just why this industry is the one for them."
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C&amp;M Travel Recruitment was established in 1998 and is the largest and most successful specialist travel recruitment company in the UK.
For further information please contact: Owen Mckeon (Marketing and Operations Manager - 0161 238 4497 /&nbsp;owen@candm.co.uk) or Barbara Kolosinska (Managing Director - 07507 602 069 /&nbsp;barbara@candm.co.uk).

We're excited to launch the C&M D&I Hub to help all travel companies create bespoke diversity and inclusion policies - and attract new travel talent

Introducing C&M's D&I Hub – helping you attract new travel talent

Quit your job too soon
You may well hate your role and think that having no job would better than working another second in this miserable, stinking one but, believe us, in the vast majority of cases, it really isn't.
The old thought that it's easier to find a new job when you already have one is entirely true - being out of work has all sorts of connotations to it, so employers are bound to think you're a more appealing proposition when they know you're in employment.
Companies also look more favourably on candidates who don't have a <a href="../../../../../news/job-tips/how-to-build-up-your-cv/">CV</a> full of job-hopping (or moving quickly from one role to the next). Understandably, once they've gone through the process of recruiting new staff, most companies don't want these employees to move on again after just a few months.
Be too honest on social media
When you're <a href="../../../../../jobs/">searching for a new job</a>, there's so many advantages to being active on social media, but letting your potential future boss know exactly what you got up to last weekend probably isn't one of them.
One thing that many people come to regret about social media is being too vocal about their work issues. Telling your mates at the pub about why your hate your boss is perfectly normal. Doing the same online could result in you struggling to find a new job - or even getting sacked from your current one.
It's relatively routine now for companies to search candidates' Instagram and Twitter pages before employing them, so if there's anything that you wouldn't want them to see, now is the time to remove it - or, at a minimum, change your profiles' settings to private.
Have a &lsquo;one size fits all' approach
Competition for certain jobs is intense to say the least, so it's absolutely essential to tailor your applications to fit each role. Study the job description, assess what they're looking for and make sure that your CV highlights all your relevant skills.
Also, if you're writing a cover letter, take the time to personalise it by finding out the recruiter's name - the little things really can make the difference.
Be aggressive
Eager and passionate? Yes. Aggressive and scary? Maybe not. When you get to the <a href="../../../../../news/job-tips/what-to-wear-to-a-travel-job-interview/">interview stage</a>, it's great to show some personality, but this really isn't the place to air your grievances about your old work colleagues.
Similarly, companies will love to see that a candidate is enthusiastic about the role, but don't push it too far and come off as being obsessive.
Pester, nag, hassle...
Talking of being obsessive, a fantastic way to completely blow any last remaining hopes of landing a new job is to hassle and pester your interviewer at all hours of the day.
Of course, if you haven't heard anything within a few days of the interview, then a quick follow-up call is absolutely fine and shows that you're definitely interested in the role, but anything more should probably be avoided. They won't have forgotten about you (although if they have, that's not exactly the best sign anyway...), so just leave them to deliberate and you'll find out as soon as a decision is made.

Yes, if you really want to fail miserably at finding a new job, then this is your indispensable guide! From social media mishaps to the best ways to annoy recruiters, follow these tips and not only will you fail to get a job offer, you won't even get an interview

Five easy ways to not get that job

<ul>
<li>Travel job placements fall from May's record high&hellip;</li>
<li>&hellip;But still post fifth highest number in past four years</li>
<li>Candidates and vacancies both dip, but remain well up on 2021</li>
</ul>
Strong month for travel placements
The number of candidates placed in new travel jobs dipped in June, but remained at historically high levels, according to the latest figures from C&amp;M Travel Recruitment.
Despite falling by 28 per cent from&nbsp;May's record figure, June still saw the fifth highest number of placements in the past four years (four of which have occurred in the past four months, with the exception being January 2019).
Last month's figure was up by 271 per cent from June 2021, up by 47 per cent from June 2019 and up by five per cent from June 2018.
Candidates and vacancies fall back
The number of&nbsp;new candidates registering for travel jobs&nbsp;dipped in June by seven per cent, but it was still up by 13 per cent compared to the same month last year. June 2022's total was also up by 23 per cent from June 2019 and up by 18 per cent from June 2018.
After an extremely busy first five months of the year, the number of&nbsp;travel job vacancies&nbsp;has dipped to its lowest level of 2022 so far. However, numbers remained comparable to previous Junes, with June 2022 up by 72 per cent compared to June 2021 and down by just one per cent from June 2019 and down by three per cent from June 2018.
Speaking about the stats, Barbara Kolosinska, Managing Director at C&amp;M Travel Recruitment, said: "June may not have quite matched the volumes that we saw in May, but it was still an extremely busy month for travel recruitment. Simply put, the last few months have been some of the busiest we've ever seen, with hundreds of candidates being placed in new travel jobs.
"Things are likely to cool down slightly over the next two months as we all get distracted by long overdue summer holidays, but there continues to be a&nbsp;fantastic range of attractive new travel jobs&nbsp;to catch the eye of jobseekers across the UK."
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All figures are drawn from the month&rsquo;s new vacancies advertised with C&amp;M Travel Recruitment.
C&amp;M Travel Recruitment was established in 1998 and is the largest and most successful specialist travel recruitment company in the UK.
For further information please contact: Owen Mckeon (Marketing and Operations Manager - 0161 238 4497 / owen@candm.co.uk) or Barbara Kolosinska (Managing Director - 07507 602 069 / barbara@candm.co.uk).

C&M Travel Recruitment’s Activity Index – June 2022

Travel recruitment stays at historic highs despite dip

<ul>
<li>Lower-level travel roles see big wage hikes</li>
<li>&hellip;But executive salaries dip</li>
<li>Number of job placements rises 25% since pre-pandemic</li>
</ul>
Travel salaries jump sharply in 2022
Wages for the typical new job in travel have risen by a huge 13.03 per cent since before the pandemic, according to the 2022 H1 Travel Salary Index from C&amp;M Travel Recruitment which surveyed all new vacancies registered with the companies during the timeframe.
With an average of &pound;27,635, salaries for&nbsp;standard new travel jobs&nbsp;(those paying up to &pound;40,000) jumped by more than &pound;3,000 from the figure of &pound;24,449 recorded in the first six months of 2019. It was also up by 13.71 per cent from the&nbsp;first half of last year.
However, new executive travel roles (those paying more than &pound;40,000) have seen an average drop in salary of 4.81 per cent since 2019 and 2.63 per cent since 2021 to stand at &pound;50,189.
This has resulted in overall&nbsp;salaries for new travel jobs&nbsp;increasing by 5.25 per cent in the first six months of 2022 compared to the same period of 2019. With an average wage of &pound;29,707, travel salaries remain in line with those seen at the beginning of last year &ndash; down by just &pound;10 or 0.03 per cent.
Record recruitment activity
Recruitment activity levels in the travel industry hit a record high during the first half of 2022, with the number of candidates being placed in new travel jobs jumping by 625 per cent from 2021, and up by 25 per cent from 2019, up by 12 per cent from 2018, up by 8 per cent from 2017, up by 15 per cent from 2016 and up by 52 per cent from 2015.
Speaking about the stats, Barbara Kolosinska, Director at C&amp;M Travel Recruitment, said: "It may look like travel salaries have unexpectedly jumped in the past year, but this has been a long time coming. Travel has always been a comparatively poorly paid industry and, when you couple this with the current lack of available candidates, wages simply had to rise.
"Travel companies are realising that it's no longer acceptable to pay minimum wage to experienced candidates &ndash; and they're also realising that they simply won't be able to&nbsp;fill their job vacancies&nbsp;if they offer such derogatory salaries.
"We are also seeing many candidates handing in their notice and then being counter offered by their current company with significantly higher salaries in an effort to convince them to stay. This bidding war for top talent suggests that wages will continue to rise for at least the short-term.
"There continues to be a lack of experienced applicants in the marketplace, but with the record numbers of vacancies and the more attractive pay packets currently on offer, we expect many talented travel professionals will want to assess the&nbsp;fantastic variety of travel jobs on offer&nbsp;in the second half of the year."
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All figures are drawn from the salaries of the month&rsquo;s new vacancies advertised with C&amp;M Travel Recruitment.
C&amp;M Travel Recruitment was established in 1998 and is the largest and most successful specialist travel recruitment company in the UK.
For further information please contact: Owen Mckeon (Content Manager - 0161 238 4497 / owen@candm.co.uk) or Barbara Kolosinska (Managing Director - 07507 602 069 / barbara@candm.co.uk).

The 2022 H1 Travel Salary Index from C&M Travel Recruitment

Travel salary index - 2022 H1 overview

<ul>
<li>Joint highest ever number of travel job placements</li>
<li>New candidates reach 10-month high</li>
<li>Second highest number of new travel vacancies since January 2020</li>
</ul>
Placements, placements, placements&hellip;
The number of candidates placed in new travel jobs reached its joint highest ever level last month, according to the latest figures from C&amp;M Travel Recruitment.
May's total was up by 15 per cent from&nbsp;April&nbsp;and tied the&nbsp;record figure set in March 2022. Last month's number of placements was up by a huge 679 per cent from May 2021, up by 122 per cent from May 2019, up by 36 per cent from May 2018, up by 31 per cent from May 2017 and up by 43 per cent from May 2016.
Busy month for travel recruitment
The number of new&nbsp;candidates searching for travel jobs&nbsp;reached a 10-month high in May after jumping by 34 per cent from April. Last month&rsquo;s total was the second highest since January 2020 and was up by 20 per cent from May 2019.
Similarly, the number of&nbsp;new travel vacancies&nbsp;rose by 5 per cent in May to reach the second highest level since January 2020. Standing below only March 2022's record figures, last month's total was up by 320 per cent from May 2021, up by 18 per cent from May 2019 and up by 6 per cent from May 2018.
Speaking about the stats, Barbara Kolosinska, Managing Director at C&amp;M Travel Recruitment, said: "May followed the trend for 2022 and was another huge month for travel recruitment. Since March, we've had the three busiest months we've ever seen, with record numbers of candidates being placed in new travel jobs. Recruitment in the travel industry really is at historic levels right now.
"What's more, May was also a huge month for new travel vacancies, so the boom we're currently experiencing is clearly not going to end any time soon. While candidate volumes are still not keeping up with demand, the number of new applicants is at a 10-month high - and with the amount of extremely attractive new travel jobs now on offer, we hope to see even more talent searching for new roles over the summer."
&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;
All figures are drawn from the month&rsquo;s new vacancies advertised with C&amp;M Travel Recruitment.
C&amp;M Travel Recruitment was established in 1998 and is the largest and most successful specialist travel recruitment company in the UK.
For further information please contact: Owen Mckeon (Marketing and Operations Manager - 0161 238 4497 / owen@candm.co.uk) or Barbara Kolosinska (Managing Director - 07507 602 069 / barbara@candm.co.uk).

C&M Travel Recruitment’s Activity Index – May 2022

Travel job placements tie record-high in May

<ul>
<li>Men continue to earn more than women, but gap tightens to 6.5%</li>
<li>Female executives out-earn men for first time</li>
<li>Nearly three quarters of new travel jobs awarded to women</li>
</ul>
Gender pay split
Despite being awarded the majority of new jobs in travel, the average female in the industry once again earns less than their male counterparts, according to new research from C&amp;M Travel Recruitment.
However, for the first time since the index began in 2014, the gender pay gap in the travel industry has reduced to a single digit difference.
The average male working in travel earned 6.5 per cent (or &pound;1,805) more than a female in 2021, compared to a&nbsp;gap of 14.2 per cent in 2019,&nbsp;18.4 per cent in 2018&nbsp;and 12.8 per cent in 2017.
For the first time in the index's history, women in executive&nbsp;travel jobs&nbsp;(those paying &pound;40,000 and above) out-earned men, with the typical female receiving 7.7 per cent (or &pound;3,919) more than their male equivalents, with a&nbsp;salary&nbsp;of &pound;52,703.
For senior travel jobs (those paying between &pound;30,000 and &pound;39,999), men earned 0.8 per cent more than the average woman with &pound;32,650, or a difference of &pound;268. Men also out-earned women in mid-level positions (those paying between &pound;22,000 and &pound;29,999) with an average of &pound;25,542 and a difference of 2.1 per cent or &pound;518.
However, the situation was reversed for junior roles (those paying below &pound;22,000) with women out-earning men by 2.8 per cent, taking home an average wage of &pound;20,178 (or a gap of &pound;556).
Gender role split
In terms of the overall gender split in travel, women continued to be awarded the majority of new positions at all levels of the industry, with females accounting for 76.6 per cent of all new junior roles (up from 70.8 per cent in 2019 and up from 74.1 per cent in 2018), and 73.4 per cent of all mid-level positions (up from 72.9 per cent in 2019 and down from 75.0 per cent in 2018).
Women also took 74.4 per cent of all new&nbsp;senior jobs in travel&nbsp;last year (up from 69.9 per cent in 2019 and 62.3 per cent in 2018) and 61.0 per cent of all executive roles (up from 53.2 per cent in 2019 and 38.1 per cent in 2018.
Overall, women were placed in 73.3 per cent of all new travel jobs last year, compared to 68.7 per cent in 2019, 68.6 per cent in 2018 and 71.4 per cent in 2017.
Speaking about the findings, Barbara Kolosinska, Managing Director at C&amp;M Travel Recruitment, said: "Any difference in salaries between men and women is too much, but it is still very pleasing to see the gender pay gap in the travel industry fall from 14.2 per cent before the pandemic to 6.5 per cent in 2021.
"There is still a long way to go to reach parity, but this report makes for encouraging reading. What's particularly promising is that for the first time since we began these surveys in 2014, men are no longer significantly out-earning women in higher-salaried executive travel roles. In fact, the situation was reversed last year, with female travel executives taking home an average of 7.7 per cent more than their male equivalents.
"Whether this is a blip caused by the pandemic or an indication of a more long-term trend is unknown at this point, but travel's gender pay gap appears to be reducing. With travel being such a wonderfully inclusive place to work, wouldn&rsquo;t it be fantastic if we could lead the way by introducing true pay parity across our whole industry."
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C&amp;M Travel Recruitment was established in 1998 and is the largest and most successful specialist travel recruitment company in the UK.
For further information please contact: Owen Mckeon (Marketing Manager - 0161 238 4497 / owen@candm.co.uk) or Barbara Kolosinska (Managing Director - 07507 602 069 / barbara@candm.co.uk).

Travel's gender pay gap narrows in 2021

With stats showing that <a href="../../../../../../news/press-releases/travel-s-gender-pay-gap-narrows-in-2021/">travel and tourism has a gender pay difference of 6.5 per cent</a>, some could be tempted to celebrate that we have a much smaller equality gap than many other industries. But this isn't recent to cheer &ndash; travel SHOULD be leading the way on this issue.
Travel and tourism is seen as an industry of inclusivity with a diverse range of people working in it, so it stands to reason that we will be ahead of many other sectors when it comes to equality. The concerning thing is that a <a href="../../../../../../news/press-releases/travel-s-gender-pay-gap-narrows-in-2021/">gender pay gap</a> still exists in our industry at all.
There are many positives to be taken from the figures &ndash; not least of which is that&nbsp;the gap has fallen from 14.2 per cent before the pandemic. Things are clearly changing, and the industry is beginning to make headway with the issue.
Both in travel and other industries, we are all more aware of gender inequality, and bigger companies are now required to declare their pay disparity. Measures like these are certainly helping, but they will only go so far.
What's really heartening is that we're also seeing female candidates in our industry becoming more confident in negotiating&nbsp;better salaries&nbsp;for themselves when looking for a new role, with many feeling increasingly comfortable about having conversations with their bosses regarding wage increases.
For many years, men have been far more vocal regarding their pay, while women traditionally remained quieter, but thankfully this is now changing with more women understanding their worth and importance to their company. Changes brought about by the pandemic &ndash; such as homebased and hybrid working &ndash; are also creating positive results, with more women and those with children now increasingly likely to put themselves forward for bigger jobs.
One of the main reasons for travel's overall gender pay gap is due to the large number of women being placed in entry level roles in the industry. This has always been the case, but the percentage of females joining the industry in lower-paid positions has increased in recent years from&nbsp;68.7 per cent in 2019&nbsp;to&nbsp;73.3 per cent last year.
However, in time, some of these women should progress through the industry into more senior roles and will then have the ability to implement their own diversity and inclusion policies at their future companies, helping to eliminate any salary disparities between genders.
Every year since C&amp;M's figures began in 2014, male travel executives have significantly out eared their female equivalents&hellip;until last year. But while this is a clear example of the progress being made, we can't be pleased with a one-off anomaly &ndash; we need to see this happen more consistently.
Ultimately, this isn't about paying women more or reducing men's salaries so that they fall in line with their female colleagues &ndash; it is about equality for all. Companies should carry out salary audits to ensure they are paying their employees fairly for their position &ndash; regardless of their gender.
Travel is a wonderfully inclusive place to work, so if we don't lead the way with true pay parity across our whole industry, who will?
By Barbara Kolosinska, Managing Director of <a href="../../../../../../about-us/">C&amp;M Travel Recruitment</a>

With stats showing that travel has a smaller gender pay difference than other industries, some could be tempted to celebrate, but this isn't recent to cheer – travel SHOULD be leading the way on this issue.

Why travel should be leading the way on gender pay parity

<ul>
<li>Placements reach second-best ever figure</li>
<li>New travel vacancies remain well above pre-pandemic levels</li>
<li>Candidate numbers fall due to Easter distractions</li>
</ul>
Big month for travel job placements
Job placements in the travel industry remained at historic highs in April, according to the latest figures from C&amp;M Travel Recruitment.
Despite falling 14 per cent from&nbsp;March&rsquo;s record high, April recorded the second highest number of&nbsp;travel job&nbsp;placements since the index began in January 2012.
Last month&rsquo;s total was up by 48 per cent from April 2019, up by 30 per cent from April 2018, up by 17 per cent from April 2017 and up by 42 per cent from April 2016.
New travel vacancy volumes remain strong
Following an all-time high in March, there was a dip in&nbsp;newly created travel jobs&nbsp;in April. However, last month's figure was still above pre-pandemic equivalents and was up by 33 per cent from April 2019. It was also up by five per cent from April 2018, up by eight per cent from 2017 and up by 30 per cent from April 2016.
Similarly, after March's 8-month high, candidate volumes also slipped back in April to record their lowest monthly figure of the year so far. However, volumes were still up by 27 per cent from April 2021 and down by just one per cent from April 2019.
Speaking about the stats, Barbara Kolosinska, Managing Director at C&amp;M Travel Recruitment, said: "2022 continues to be a record breaker for the travel recruitment sector with more new jobs being filled in the past two months than we have ever seen before. The market is extraordinarily busy at the moment, with May also looking like it will be one for the record books.
"But in order for this momentum to continue, we need more&nbsp;new job seekers&nbsp;to enter the market. Encouraging candidates to join or return to the travel industry is in all of our interests, so we need to work together to promote the message that travel is back and it is once again a fantastic industry to work in."
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All figures are drawn from the month&rsquo;s new vacancies advertised with C&amp;M Travel Recruitment.
C&amp;M Travel Recruitment was established in 1998 and is the largest and most successful specialist travel recruitment company in the UK.
For further information please contact: Owen Mckeon (Marketing and Operations Manager - 0161 238 4497 / owen@candm.co.uk) or Barbara Kolosinska (Managing Director - 07507 602 069 / barbara@candm.co.uk).

C&M Travel Recruitment’s Activity Index – April 2022

Travel job placements at historic highs in April

From backpacking around Asia and Africa as a teenager to becoming Director at the UK&rsquo;s largest specialist travel recruitment company and being named one of the 100 most influential women in the travel and tourism industry, my career has taken me in many unexpected and wonderful directions over the last two decades! These are my experiences and tips about how to make your dream career become a reality.
The early years
I was initially planning to follow my interest of food and nutrition dietetics at university, but after spending a couple of years backpacking around the world, I realised I&rsquo;d fallen in love with travel and I was soon enrolled on a travel and tourism degree course.
After I graduated, I was really lucky to get <a href="../../../../../../jobs/">my first job in the industry</a> at an airline and I fell into the corporate side of the sector as an Account Manager / Business Development Manager working for a tiny little French airline out of City Airport, selling to the likes of American Express and HRG.
After a couple of years, I was fortunate enough to get a job working for Holiday Autos as an <a href="../../../../../../jobs/?query=account%20manager">Account Manager jobs</a> selling to the leisure market including tour operators and OTAs. A short time later, my career changed completely&hellip;
Finding my place at C&amp;M
Completely unexpectedly, the recruiter who found me my role at Holiday Autos, Angus Chisholm, got in touch to say he had just launched his own recruitment company and asked me if I&rsquo;d like to come aboard. No-one actually decides to be a recruiter, so his offer took me by surprise! He thought my experience meant I&rsquo;d be great for the role and I thought I&rsquo;d give it a go. And almost 18 years down the line, I still love <a href="../../../../../../about-us/">working at C&amp;M</a> &ndash; we have a great team and colleagues and I haven&rsquo;t looked back since.&nbsp;
I worked out pretty early on in my career that I&rsquo;d be much more suited to working at an SME in an entrepreneurial business rather than in a corporate company because I&rsquo;m ambitious and wanted to work my way up the ladder quickly and believe that at an SME you&rsquo;re more than just a number. I learnt a lot working for a corporate organisation, but I am far better at a company where I can roll up my sleeves and truly get involved.
I joined C&amp;M when it was still in its infancy - and this was a great time to come on board. Working for an organisation that&rsquo;s young and is almost like a start-up means there will be opportunities to make your own mark.
I&rsquo;ve held lots of different roles during my time here &ndash; starting as a Recruitment Consultant and working my way up as a Team Leader, <a href="../../../../../../jobs/?query=sales%20manager">Sales Manager</a>, <a href="../../../../../../jobs/?query=business%20development">Business Development Manager</a>, Business Development Director and then Sales Director before becoming a Director and then Managing Director.
Personal sacrifices
Of course, not everybody wants to rise up the ladder. Some people are happy as a Recruitment Consultant or an Account Manager. That&rsquo;s obviously completely fine, but I wanted different strings to my bow. I&rsquo;m very ambitious and wanted to grow intellectually and professionally, and I wanted to learn more. I pushed for it. I let people know what I wanted and how I was going to get there rather than just expecting it to come to me.
I told my boss what I wanted and he told me what I would have to do to get to the next stage, and then the next stage after that. I just kept pushing &ndash; and I worked my butt off!
It&rsquo;s not for everyone, but I put my absolute heart and soul into, and some things took a back seat as a result. My work-life balance probably wasn&rsquo;t as good as it could have been and I had to give up certain things. I did make sacrifices in my personal life because of my career and that was a decision I decided to make.
Hone your skills and prove yourself
Career advancement is all about honing your personal skills. Whether it&rsquo;s a direct Manager or a mentor, I believe it&rsquo;s important to have someone who can identify and develop those skills to help that person get to the next stage. You need to have a really clear plan of where you want to be, what you want to do and why you want to do it? What&rsquo;s the next stage?
Some people haven&rsquo;t got that ambition - they are happy doing what they do and earning good money. And why not? There is nothing wrong with that at all. Everybody&rsquo;s different.
But if you really want to get to the next level, then you need to be aware that you are not going to get that promotion just because you want it. It&rsquo;s not as simple as, &lsquo;I&rsquo;m doing this job and the next natural stage up is x.&rsquo; You have to prove yourself. You have to know what you want and possess the attitude and energy to prove you can do it.
It&rsquo;s much better to do this first rather than having to demonstrate it later, because by that point you will have a lot to prove to your peers, your managers, your staff and yourself. Show what you can do, and then get the rewards that come with it in terms of status, job title and salary.
It&rsquo;s also important to have humility and realise the disciplines that you still need to work on. Improve them and employ people around you who are better than you in certain areas.
Still lots to learn!
After two decades, I&rsquo;m still hugely ambitious and want to develop personally and professionally. Nobody is fantastic at everything &ndash; there&rsquo;s always more to learn. There are areas of my role that I want to improve on and there are more things in the business that I want to do &ndash; and hopefully, as I develop, the business will too.
There are loads of things that I still want to achieve, but I know that these will have to come from me. I&rsquo;m now beginning to work with a mentor / coach to help me develop up to the next stage from Director, which is something I feel I&rsquo;m ready to do. I&rsquo;m not complacent. I never think that I can do it all. People might think that they&rsquo;ve reached their optimum level, but they haven&rsquo;t &ndash; there are always ways to improve.
Barbara Kolosinska is the Managing Director at <a href="../../../../../../about-us/">C&amp;M Travel Recruitment</a>

C&M's Barbara Kolosinska shares her tips and experiences about making it in the travel industry

How to make it to the top in travel: Passion, determination…and sacrifice!

It&rsquo;s no secret that <a href="../../../../../../jobs/?query=adventure">adventure travel jobs</a> is facing a true battle for talent at the moment. Many candidates left the industry during the pandemic and aren't looking to return, while others are showing increased loyalty to their current company.
But a major problem that's been underreported is how Covid effectively extinguished the traditional way for new talent to enter our industry. Travel was banned during the pandemic and, with it, went any opportunities for young people to gain first-hand destination knowledge from gap years.
So if we don't change how we recruit, where do we expect new travel employees to come from?
Increased training?
Firstly, and most importantly, we need to increase the opportunities for people to enter our industry.
Companies like STA Travel were really essential to the sector. They brought in well-travelled, energetic, young people who wanted to get into&nbsp;travel sales. These new employees would go through a full induction programme, get fully trained up, work there for a couple of years and then move on to work for other tour operators.
This was the gateway into the industry for many young people, but a lot of these companies are either no longer operating or are still struggling from the pandemic, so this avenue into travel doesn't currently exist. And when you couple this with the small pool of young people who have even had the opportunity to travel in the last couple of years, we have a real problem.
To counter this, we need all <a href="../../../../../../jobs/?query=adventure">Jobs in adventure travel</a> companies to be more flexible, bring in less experienced people and train candidates from a lower level. Rather than focusing on the number of years that a candidate has had in a previous role, they should look at which applicants have the right DNA for their company, those who love to travel or have the right educational background. If they&rsquo;re more open to those candidates, it will definitely help them fill their job vacancies.
Things need to change. Many tour operators would never traditionally have done this sort of training in-house, but if they can&rsquo;t afford to pay the top salaries to secure the few great candidates in the market, then they have no choice but to consider offering that initial training themselves.
We really have got to do this. I truly believe that if adventure tour operators refuse to offer chances to new people, then this problem will just continue to escalate and will result in a price war with everyone trying to grab those few remaining quality candidates.
Increased salaries?
Of course, the best talent in the market will have their choice of roles and will naturally gravitate towards the jobs that are paying more or that offer increased flexibility and homeworking.
Wages in the travel industry have been a problem for a number of years, and all travel companies will need to re-evaluate their&nbsp;salary&nbsp;banding going forward. The lack of candidates in the market has undoubtedly pushed salaries in the adventure travel sector up and they will continue to go up. In order to get experienced and talented candidates, companies will have no choice but to offer a relevant wage.
Increased flexibility?
Full-time homeworking has undeniably become more important to jobseekers, so this is another option that we all need to seriously consider. The pandemic has meant that about 90 per cent of adventure travel companies have now opened themselves up to hybrid working, but the large majority are not keen to go completely remote based. Adventure tour operators have quite close-knit teams, and the owners still believe very much in their teams all being together in the same room. Very, very few of the companies I recruit for will allow full-time remote working &ndash; the rest will want people in the office at least twice a week.
This is a big issue because some candidates now wish to be based remotely even though they never would have asked for it previously &ndash; it is an expectation that never used to exist. These roles weren't available before the pandemic, and they're still very rare now, but any company that can offer this will instantly have an advantage over their competitors.
With more travel companies now struggling to fill their jobs themselves than in previous years, <a href="../../../../../../about-us/">the role of the recruiter</a> has become more important than ever. But by creating more entry-level training opportunities with improved packages, we can deliver a pipeline of great travel talent that will benefit our entire industry. By Mark Shapiro, Team Leader at C&amp;M Travel Recruitment

Adventure travel is facing a true battle for talent at the moment. But by creating more entry-level training opportunities, we can deliver a pipeline of great travel talent to benefit the entire industry

Why adventure travel needs to take training in-house to tackle talent shortage

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<ul>
<li>Travel jobs and placements both jump to decade highs in March</li>
<li>New candidates reach highest March total since 2018</li>
</ul>
</div>
Travel job placements hit decade-plus high
More candidates were placed in new travel jobs last month than at any point in at least the last decade, according to the latest figures from C&amp;M Travel Recruitment.
March 2022's total number of new travel placements was the highest seen since C&amp;M's reports began in January 2012 and was up by 22 per cent from September 2016 - the index's previous record number.
Last month's total was up by 79 per cent from&nbsp;February 2022, up by 679 per cent from March 2021 and up by 51 per cent from the pre-pandemic month of March 2019. More travel placements were made in March 2022 than in the previous two months of the year combined.
Record month for travel recruitment
It was also a record month for&nbsp;new travel job vacancies&nbsp;which jumped to their highest level ever seen on the index.
March 2022's total number of new travel vacancies was easily the highest seen in the past decade and was up by a huge 71 per cent from January 2017 &ndash; the previous record month.
What&rsquo;s more, last month's figure was up by 173 per cent from February 2022 and up by 103 per cent from the previous post-pandemic best in January 2022.
Candidate volumes also reach 8-month high
While not increasing at the same pace as placements or vacancies, more&nbsp;new candidates registered&nbsp;for travel jobs in March than at any point since last July, with last month's total rising by 14 per cent from February. March 2022's figure was also up by 75 per cent from March 2021, up by 31 per cent from March 2020 and up by 25 per cent from the pre-pandemic month of March 2019.
Speaking about the stats, Barbara Kolosinska, Managing Director at C&amp;M Travel Recruitment, said: "We've never seen a month like March! We've been recruiting for the travel industry since 1998 and we have never been busier &ndash; the industry is currently recruiting on a scale unlike anything we have ever seen before.
"This is due to a combination of reasons &ndash; a number of big travel companies are newly looking to recruit again, the&nbsp;business travel&nbsp;market is finally making a real comeback with a major recruitment drive under way, while many other travel companies simply need to take on extra employees to cope with increased demand from customers.
"It goes without saying that there are some absolutely fantastic roles out there, with some businesses offering terrific packages to secure the best talent. We know that there is still a shortage of experienced travel candidates looking to change roles at the moment, but there has truly never been a better time to re-enter the market and consider the abundance of wonderful opportunities currently available."
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All figures are drawn from the month&rsquo;s new vacancies advertised with C&amp;M Travel Recruitment.
C&amp;M Travel Recruitment was established in 1998 and is the largest and most successful specialist travel recruitment company in the UK.
For further information please contact: Owen Mckeon (Marketing and Operations Manager - 0161 238 4497 / owen@candm.co.uk) or Barbara Kolosinska (Managing Director - 07507 602 069 / barbara@candm.co.uk).
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C&M Travel Recruitment’s Activity Index – March 2022

New travel job placements and vacancies reach ten-year highs

<div>
<ul>
<li>Placements rise to highest level since February 2020</li>
<li>Candidates and vacancies both dip from January&hellip;</li>
<li>&hellip;But remain above pre-Covid levels</li>
</ul>
</div>
Busy month for placements
More candidates were placed in new travel jobs last month than at any point since the pandemic began, according to the latest figures from C&amp;M Travel Recruitment.
February 2022 saw a 49 per cent increase in travel placements from the previous month to set a new pandemic-high &ndash; standing 15 per cent above the previous best which was recorded in November 2021.
Despite this, last month's total remained down on the typical February average, with a relatively slight ten per cent fall from February 2020 and a 15 per cent dip from the same month in 2019.
Candidate and vacancy volumes remain strong
The number of new candidates&nbsp;searching for travel jobs&nbsp;fell slightly in February by two per cent, however it was up by 26 per cent from February 2020 (when the very earliest disruption from Covid-19 was seen) and down by just 0.2 per cent from the same month in 2019.
Similarly, the number of new travel job vacances also fell from&nbsp;January's highs&nbsp;with a 26 per cent monthly fall. Compared to previous years, February 2022's total was up by nearly 600 per cent from the same month in 2021 and up by 14 per cent from 2020, but down by 12 per cent from February 2019.
Speaking about the stats, Barbara Kolosinska, Managing Director at C&amp;M Travel Recruitment, said: "As a recruitment company, our main aim is to find great talent for our clients, so we're delighted that more candidates were placed in travel roles last month than at any point in the past two years. March has also got off to an extremely busy start with a particularly big increase in recruitment activity from TMCs since the end of February.
"With many companies looking to take on new recruits to help them cope with demand, the shortage of experienced travel candidates is continuing to create issues for our industry &ndash; and this will continue until we see higher salaries, better packages, increased flexibility, career progression opportunities and an all-round more enticing offering to potential job seekers.
"Some companies are beginning to make their job opportunities more attractive, but it is likely to remain a candidate driven market for a considerable amount of time."
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All figures are drawn from the month&rsquo;s new vacancies advertised with C&amp;M Travel Recruitment.
C&amp;M Travel Recruitment was established in 1998 and is the largest and most successful specialist travel recruitment company in the UK.
For further information please contact: Owen Mckeon (Marketing and Operations Manager - 0161 238 4497 / owen@candm.co.uk) or Barbara Kolosinska (Managing Director - 07507 602 069 / barbara@candm.co.uk).

C&M Travel Recruitment’s Activity Index – February 2022

Feb sees most new travel job placements in two years

<ul>
<li>More travel job opportunities than any point since Jan 2020</li>
<li>Travel placements equal pre-Covid levels</li>
<li>Candidate numbers also rising again</li>
</ul>
Bumper month for vacancies
More new travel job vacancies were created in January 2022 than at any point in the last two years, according to the latest figures from C&amp;M Travel Recruitment.
Last month's total was almost three times higher than&nbsp;December 2021's figure, and stands more than ten times higher than the number recorded in January 2021.
Compared to pre-pandemic days, January 2022's total of&nbsp;new travel jobs&nbsp;was down by just one per cent from January 2020, up by one per cent from January 2019 and up by three per cent from January 2018.
The number of new travel&nbsp;candidates registering&nbsp;for travel jobs in January more than doubled from the previous month and was up by 67 per cent from January 2021. Last month's figure was the second highest number since the beginning of the pandemic (below only July 2021), however it remained down by 15 per cent from January 2020.
Placements return to pre-pandemic levels
It was also a positive month for placements, which equalled the figure seen in January 2020. Last month's total was the fifth highest since the pandemic began and was up by 116 per cent from December 2021.
Speaking about the stats, Barbara Kolosinska, Managing Director at C&amp;M Travel Recruitment, said: "While 2021 had an incredibly slow start, this year's got off to a flyer! Not only was it a busy period for new job vacancies, but last month was the first time since the pandemic began that we've seen candidates, jobs and placement numbers all return to pre-Covid levels.
"February has also got off to a hot start with a large number of placements made in the first week of the month. While we do need to see travel companies doing more to entice talent to the industry, there are now some fantastic roles out there, so everything is (hopefully) pointing to a very successful year ahead."
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All figures are drawn from the month&rsquo;s new vacancies advertised with C&amp;M Travel Recruitment.
C&amp;M Travel Recruitment was established in 1998 and is the largest and most successful specialist travel recruitment company in the UK.
For further information please contact: Owen Mckeon (Marketing and Operations Manager - 0161 238 4497 / owen@candm.co.uk) or Barbara Kolosinska (Managing Director - 07507 602 069 / barbara@candm.co.uk).

C&M Travel Recruitment’s Activity Index – January 2022

New travel job vacancies reach 2-year high

<ul>
<li>Salaries for travel jobs fall annually for first time since 2014</li>
<li>Vacancies approach pre-pandemic levels&hellip;</li>
<li>&hellip;But candidate numbers not increasing at same pace</li>
<li>Job placements remain down on 2019, but big recovery in Q2 2021</li>
</ul>
Travel wages see annual dip
The average salary for a new job in travel has fallen annually for the first time in seven years, according to the 2021 Travel Salary Index from C&amp;M Travel Recruitment which surveyed all new vacancies registered with the companies during the year.
With a figure of &pound;27,451, last year's average fell by 2.96 per cent from 2020 and 2.64 per cent from 2019, although it was up by 2.22 per cent from 2018.
There was a sharper fall in pay for standard new travel jobs (those with salaries up to &pound;40,000) which averaged &pound;24,280 in 2021 &ndash; a fall of 6.12 per cent from 2020 and 2.65 per cent from 2019.
Salaries for executive travel roles (those paying above &pound;40,000) also fell, but at a slower rate, Last year&rsquo;s average figure of &pound;55,474 was down by 2.79 per cent from 2020 and by 5.32 per cent from 2019.
Travel recruitment activity up strongly
The number of&nbsp;new travel job vacancies&nbsp;increased by 127 per cent last year from 2020, but remained down by 42 per cent compared to 2019. However, much of this difference is due to the very slow first few months of 2021 when the country was still under lockdown. When comparing the second half of the year, vacancies recorded between July and December 2021 fell by only three per cent compared to the same period in 2019.
Similarly, the number of new travel job placements increased by 75 per cent in 2021 compared to the previous year, but dipped by 55 per cent from 2019. Looking at the last six months of the year, placements in 2021 were down by a more respectable 27 per cent from the same months in 2019.
Although not rising at the same pace as vacancies, 2021 also saw a big increase in the number of people looking for travel jobs, with a 46 per cent jump from 2020. However,&nbsp;candidate&nbsp;numbers were down by 14 per cent compared to 2019 and by 28 per cent from 2018.
Speaking about the stats, Barbara Kolosinska, Managing Director at C&amp;M Travel Recruitment, said: "2021 really did feel like a year of two halves, with activity picking up swiftly and dramatically from early summer onwards &ndash; and, thankfully, that momentum is continuing into 2022. The health of the travel recruitment sector has improved immeasurably since the beginning of last year, and January 2022 is shaping up to be one of the best months for new vacancies that our industry has seen in a long time.
"Given that we are currently experiencing a candidate shortage in the travel industry, it is slightly concerning to also see that salaries have fallen annually for the first time in a number of years. As the year goes on, hopefully we will see more companies begin to improve their salaries and overall packages in an effort to attract great talent &ndash; both old and new &ndash; to work in travel."
&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;
All figures are drawn from the salaries of the new vacancies advertised with C&amp;M Travel Recruitment.
C&amp;M Travel Recruitment was established in 1998 and is the largest and most successful specialist travel recruitment company in the UK.
For further information please contact: Owen Mckeon (Marketing and Operations Manager - 0161 238 4497 / owen@candm.co.uk) or Barbara Kolosinska (Managing Director - 07507 602 069 / barbara@candm.co.uk).

The 2021 Travel Salary Index from C&M Travel Recruitment

Travel salary index – 2021 overview

<ul>
<li>Travel salaries rise marginally despite pandemic</li>
<li>Standard travel wages also rise for sixth consecutive year</li>
<li>Pay for executive travel roles falls for first time since 2015</li>
<li>New vacancies drop by 74 per cent</li>
</ul>
Travel salaries defy pandemic
Salaries for new jobs in the travel industry rose by a small 0.32 per cent to stand at an average of &pound;28,287 in 2020 despite the impact of the pandemic, according to the 2020 Travel Salary Index from C&amp;M Travel Recruitment which surveyed all new vacancies registered with the companies during the year.
It means that wages have now increased for&nbsp;new travel jobs&nbsp;for six years in a row following increases of 4.99 per cent in 2019, 3.16 per cent in 2018, 1.58 per cent in 2017, 1.80 per cent in 2016 and by 1.46 per cent in 2015.
Average salaries for standard new jobs in travel (those paying up to &pound;40,000) saw a bigger rise of 3.69 per cent last year to reach &pound;25,863. This was also their sixth consecutive year of increases after wages rose by 0.62 per cent in 2019, 7.45 per cent in 2018, 5.41 per cent in 2017, 5.52 per cent in 2016 and 5.27 per cent in 2015.
However, there was a small fall in salaries for higher-paid senior placements, with average pay for executive travel roles (those paying &pound;40,000 and above) dipping by 2.60 per cent in 2020 to &pound;57,065. This was the first annual fall in executive wages since 2015.
Recruitment levels rocked by Covid
The number of new job vacancies in the travel industry fell by 74.2 per cent overall in 2020 and by 93.4 per cent between April and December 2020 compared to the same months in 2019.
Despite a large number of redundancies in the industry, there was also a significant fall in&nbsp;candidates&nbsp;searching for new travel jobs, with registrations dipping by 41.2 per cent in 2020, and by 53.2 per cent year-on-year since the beginning of the pandemic.
Speaking about the stats, Barbara Kolosinska, Director at C&amp;M Travel Recruitment, said: "None of us have ever experienced a year like 2020, and hopefully none of us ever will again. Recruitment activity plummeted to levels that we couldn&rsquo;t ever have imagined, and we sadly lost many companies along the way.
"However, we are now gradually seeing travel recruitment levels rise month by month, and 2021 has got off to an extremely encouraging start. January resulted in the highest number of new travel vacancies since the original lockdown in March 2020, and this month is looking set to be even busier.
"We've learned over the past year or so that we need to be very cautious when making any predictions or projections about the state of the travel industry in the coming months, but things certainly do appear to be moving in the right direction and becoming more positive by the month. Let's hope that the vaccine rollout continues to be a success and that this momentum continues into the spring and summer."
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All figures are drawn from the salaries of the month&rsquo;s new vacancies advertised with C&amp;M Travel Recruitment.
C&amp;M Travel Recruitment was established in 1998 and is the largest and most successful specialist travel recruitment company in the UK.
For further information please contact: Owen Mckeon (Content Manager - 0161 238 4497 / owen@candm.co.uk) or Barbara Kolosinska (Director - 07507 602 069 / barbara@candm.co.uk).

The 2020 Travel Salary Index from C&M Travel Recruitment

Travel salary index – 2020 overview

<ul>
<li>New female travel executives outnumber men</li>
<li>Huge 163% increase in number of women in higher salaried executive positions compared to 2018</li>
<li>Gender pay gap narrows but men continue to earn considerably more</li>
<li>Women accounted for 69% of all new travel employees last year</li>
</ul>
Gender role split
Despite taking the vast majority of new roles within the travel industry, women are still routinely being paid less than their male counterparts, according to new research from C&amp;M Travel Recruitment.
Females were awarded 69 per cent of all&nbsp;new travel jobs&nbsp;in 2019 and took 53 per cent of all executive positions (those paying &pound;40,000 and above), which is up considerably from 38 per cent in 2018. In fact, women were awarded the majority of roles across all levels of the industry, including 71 per cent of all junior roles (those paying below &pound;22,000), 73 per cent of all mid-level positions (those paying between &pound;22,000 and &pound;29,999) and 70 per cent of all senior travel jobs (those paying between &pound;30,000 and &pound;39,999).
Gender pay split
The travel industry&rsquo;s gender pay gap has narrowed, but the average male worker still earned 14.2 per cent more than their female counterparts for the typical new travel job in 2019, compared to&nbsp;18.4 per cent in 2018&nbsp;and a gap of&nbsp;12.8 per cent in 2017.
While men significantly out earned women overall last year, the gap was almost entirely a result of the large difference in&nbsp;pay&nbsp;received by the higher earners in travel.
For entry-level roles, men earned 1.0 per cent more than the average woman with &pound;19,152 or a difference of &pound;183, however the situation was reversed for mid-level positions with women out earning men by 0.5 per cent with an average wage of &pound;25,392 &ndash; or a gap of &pound;136.
The pay gap for senior travel roles was a slightly larger 1.4 per cent, with the average man taking home &pound;32,463, which was &pound;437 more than a female equivalent.
However, there remains a significant difference in pay for those in&nbsp;higher-paid executive roles&nbsp;with the salary gap standing at 11.94 per cent meaning the average man earns &pound;55,278 which is &pound;6,228 more than a woman in a comparable role. In fact, the pay gap for executive positions has increased from 10.6 per cent (or &pound;5,742) in 2018.
Barbara Kolosinska, Director at C&amp;M Travel Recruitment, said: "It's obviously good to see that the gender pay gap narrowed last year, but a difference of 14.2 per cent is still nothing at all to celebrate. What is positive is the increase in women being awarded higher-paid executive roles in travel. However, women in these senior roles are continuing to be paid far less than their male equivalents &ndash; with the gap actually increasing from 2018.
"While there is some good news to be found in these figures, the big question of course is what impact the Covid-19 pandemic will have on the gender pay gap. We don't yet have enough data to confidently predict the outcome, but the concern is that it will create a setback, with men being increasingly favoured for new placements instead of women due to the extra childcare commitments created by the pandemic. If this proves to be the case, it remains to be seen whether this will have a short or long-term impact on gender equality in our industry."
Claire Osborne, Chair at The Association of Women Travel Executives (AWTE), added: "It's encouraging to see the gender pay gap continues to close in many areas within the travel industry, but it's clear that we still have some way to go before we achieve parity - particularly in the executive level roles where the gap is at its widest, with many women effectively still working for free for the last six weeks of every year. The gap at entry level is now very low, possibly indicating women are valuing themselves more highly as they come into the industry which gives some hope for the future as they progress in their careers. The number of women gaining opportunities in our industry is also encouraging, especially seeing that the disparity at senior level is closing, with women taking more than 50 per cent of new appointments. The more women we have involved in decision making will bring us closer to a level playing field.
"As Barbara mentions, it's unclear how the Covid-19 pandemic will impact women in the industry, as roles are cut and fewer opportunities become available. So here at AWTE we will be focusing on offering support to our members to help them focus on positive action and maintaining and growing their network in travel."
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C&amp;M Travel Recruitment was established in 1998 and is the largest and most successful specialist travel recruitment company in the UK.
For further information please contact: Owen Mckeon (Content Manager - 0161 238 4497 / owen@candm.co.uk) or Barbara Kolosinska (Director - 07507 602 069 / barbara@candm.co.uk).

C&M reveals travel's gender pay split - 2019

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<ul>
<li>Travel wages increase at fastest annual rate since 2012</li>
<li>Senior travel salaries rise for fourth year in a row</li>
<li>Pay for standard travel jobs only increases marginally</li>
<li>North-south travel wage gap widens to 21 per cent</li>
<li>Candidate and vacancy numbers both see annual falls</li>
</ul>
Travel wages rise again in 2019
Salaries for the average new job in travel increased by 4.99 per cent in 2019 to reach &pound;28,196, according to the 2019 Travel Salary Index from C&amp;M Travel Recruitment which surveyed all new vacancies registered with the companies during the year.
This marks the fifth consecutive year of growth, with travel wages now rising in eight of the past nine years.
There was also a rise in salaries for standard&nbsp;travel jobs&nbsp;(those paying up to &pound;40,000) which increased by 0.62 per cent annually to stand at &pound;24,942 in 2019 and have now increased every year since 2015.
Meanwhile, salaries for senior travel jobs (those paying &pound;40,000 and above) increased for the fourth consecutive year with 5.37 per cent annual growth to reach an average figure of &pound;58,589.
North-south wage gap widens
After narrowing in 2018, the north-south wage gap increased last year with the average travel job in the south paying &pound;28,746 compared to &pound;23,233 in the north, meaning the average travel employee in the south earned 21.21 per cent more than a worker in the north in 2019.
The wage gap stood at 17.23 per cent in 2018, 24.11 per cent in 2017, 21.86 per cent in 2016, 19.19 per cent in 2015, 17.97 per cent in 2014, 20.14 per cent in 2013 and 22.99 per cent in 2012.
Recruitment activity falls
Activity levels fell in the travel recruitment sector with the number of&nbsp;new candidates&nbsp;decreasing by 16 per cent in 2019 after dipping by 14 per cent in 2018. However, last year&rsquo;s total was still up by 2 per cent from 2016. Similarly, vacancy numbers fell by 9 per cent last year after also decreasing by 7 per cent in 2018, although 2019&rsquo;s total was still 4 per cent ahead of 2016&rsquo;s tally.
December sees salary boost
During the month of December, average salaries increased by 5.22 per cent to wipe out the 5.44 per cent fall seen in November and now stand at &pound;29,131 &ndash; just &pound;155 below the record high set in July 2019. Meanwhile, salaries for standard jobs in travel increased by 0.73 per cent during the month to reach &pound;24,430.
Traditionally the quietest month of the year for recruitment, December 2019 saw a wide difference in activity levels, with new vacancies rising by 28 per cent from last December to reach their highest December total since 2015, while&nbsp;candidate registrations&nbsp;fell by 9 per cent from the same month in 2018 to their lowest December figure since 2013.
Speaking about the stats, Barbara Kolosinska, Director at C&amp;M Travel Recruitment, said: "With their biggest annual growth since 2012, it was a very good year for new travel job salaries which have risen by an average of &pound;1,342 over the 12 months.
"However, 2019 wasn't an easy year for the travel industry &ndash; both politically and economically it was a year of uncertainty and this undoubtedly contributed to the more muted activity levels that we saw over the past 12 months. With many of these issues now seemingly resolved, we're hopeful that 2020 will be a more positive year all round. Nevertheless, it is likely to remain a candidate driven market with the best applicants being high in demand, so we expect to see companies continuing to improve their recruitment packages in 2020 in an effort to entice the best talent to join their teams."
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All figures are drawn from the salaries of the month&rsquo;s new vacancies advertised with C&amp;M Travel Recruitment.
C&amp;M Travel Recruitment was established in 1998 and is the largest and most successful specialist travel recruitment company in the UK.
For further information please contact: Owen Mckeon (Content Manager - 0161 238 4497 / owen@candm.co.uk) or Barbara Kolosinska (Director - 07507 602 069 / barbara@candm.co.uk).
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The 2019 Travel Salary Index from C&M Travel Recruitment

Travel salary index – 2019 overview

<ul>
<li>Gender pay gap widens with females taking home 18% less than male counterparts</li>
<li>Women accounted for 69% of all new travel employees in 2018</li>
<li>But men were placed in 62% of all new executive travel positions</li>
</ul>
Gender role split
Despite taking the vast majority of new roles within the travel industry, women are still routinely missing out on the top travel jobs, according to new research from C&amp;M Travel Recruitment.
Females were awarded 69 per cent of all new travel jobs in 2018 but accounted for only 38 per cent of all executive positions (those paying &pound;40,000 and above). In contrast, women were appointed in 74 per cent of all junior roles (those paying below &pound;22,000), 75 per cent of all mid-level positions (those paying between &pound;22,000 and &pound;29,999) and 62 per cent of all&nbsp;senior travel jobs&nbsp;(those paying between &pound;30,000 and &pound;39,999).
Gender pay split
In terms of&nbsp;salaries&nbsp;for new roles, the travel industry&rsquo;s gender pay gap has widened with the average male worker earning 18.4 per cent more than their female counterparts in 2018, compared to a 12.8 per cent difference in 2017.
Although men earnt more than women at all levels of the industry last year, the overall salary gap is almost entirely due to the pay differential for executive roles and the skew towards men securing such positions.
The salary difference for entry-level roles was a relatively small 1.8 per cent with the average woman earning &pound;18,081 or &pound;329 less than a male counterpart, while the gap for mid-level positions stood at 1.25 per cent or &pound;316 with the typical female taking home &pound;25,070.
Pay for senior travel roles was almost at parity, with women earning an average of &pound;32,488, which was just 0.4 per cent or &pound;117 less than male equivalents. However, there was a large gap in salary for higher-paid executive travel jobs, with women in such roles making an average of &pound;51,503 per year compared to &pound;57,245 &ndash; a difference of 10.6 per cent or &pound;5,742.
Barbara Kolosinska, Director at C&amp;M Travel Recruitment, said: &ldquo;Despite the huge amounts of press coverage, the gender pay gap still appears to be widening in the travel industry. This is very disappointing to see, and it means that many companies in our industry will need to work harder to ensure that we move closer towards achieving pay parity. In particular, we need to see more women securing higher-paid executive positions.
&ldquo;Companies can certainly do more to ensure their recruitment process is more inclusive, but we live in a culture where women do not historically put themselves forward for the top roles as readily as men do. So as an industry, we need to encourage and support females to have the confidence and belief that they deserve to be considered for these positions.&rdquo;
Sarah Clayton-Turner, Chair at The Association of Women Travel Executives (AWTE), added: &ldquo;Just when you think that we are starting to make some headway with all of the recent gender pay gap initiatives, it would appear that we still have such a long way to go in our industry.
&ldquo;While it&rsquo;s great that we are seeing some parity in senior roles, I find it incredible that there is still such an imbalance of a 10 per cent pay difference in executive roles. We have to look into why this is - are females simply not applying for these roles? If not, why not? It&rsquo;s something we are very passionate about at AWTE, and we have confidence building courses running throughout the year for our members in an attempt to tackle some of these issues.&rdquo;
&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;
C&amp;M Travel Recruitment was established in 1998 and is the largest and most successful specialist travel recruitment company in the UK.
For further information please contact: Owen Mckeon (Marketing Manager - 0161 238 4497 / owen@candm.co.uk) or Barbara Kolosinska (Director - 07507 602 069 / barbara@candm.co.uk).

C&M reveals travel's gender pay split - 2018

<ul>
<li>Average travel wages rise for fourth successive year</li>
<li>North-south pay gap narrows to smallest point since at least 2011</li>
<li>Travel vacancies and candidates both fall in 2018 but remain historically high</li>
<li>December travel pay remained broadly flat month-on-month</li>
</ul>
Further annual rise for travel wages
Salaries for standard new travel jobs (those paying up to &pound;40,000) jumped by 7.45 per cent last year to stand at &pound;24,789, according to the 2018 Travel Salary Index from C&amp;M Travel Recruitment which surveyed all new vacancies registered with the companies during the year.
This is the fourth successive year of impressive annual salary growth for standard travel jobs, which also rose by 5.41 per cent in 2017, 5.52 per cent in 2016 and by 5.27 per cent in 2015.
Overall, average travel salaries rose again in 2018 with a 3.16 per cent annual rise to stand at &pound;26,854, following successive small increases of 1.58 per cent in 2017, 1.80 per cent in 2016 and 1.46 per cent in 2015.
Salaries for executive jobs in travel (those paying above &pound;40,000) rose steadily by 1.87 per cent in 2018 to stand at an average of &pound;55,603 after rising by 0.87 per cent in 2017 and 1.53 per cent in 2016. However, executive pay remains below the annual peak of &pound;58,418 seen in 2014.
The north-south wage gap narrowed markedly last year to its smallest point in at least seven years with travel salaries in the north of the UK jumping by 6.93 per cent to reach an average of &pound;23,495, while wages in the south dipped marginally by 0.26 per cent (or &pound;72) to stand at &pound;27,926.
This meant that the average travel employee in the south earned 17.23 per cent more than a worker in the north, while the wage gap stood at 24.11 per cent in 2017, 21.86 per cent in 2016, 19.19 per cent in 2015, 17.97 per cent in 2014, 20.14 per cent in 2013 and 22.99 per cent in 2012.
Travel activity falls in 2018 but remains solid
After a big rise of 23 per cent in 2017, the number of&nbsp;travel vacancies&nbsp;fell by 7 per cent in 2018, while there was also a 14 per cent fall in travel&nbsp;candidates&nbsp;last year after they rose by 40 per cent in 2017. However, both figures remain historically high, with candidate numbers standing at their second highest annual amount since the index began in 2012.
Salaries hold steady in December
The average new travel job came with an average salary of &pound;27,161 in December 2018, which was marginally down on the previous month&rsquo;s figure by 0.34 per cent (or &pound;92) but was up by a huge 10.29 per cent from December 2017. Similarly, the standard new travel job offered &pound;25,845 last month which was up a slight 0.22 per cent from November, but stood 18.53 per cent ahead of the figure from December 2017.
In terms of recruitment activity, the traditionally quiet month of December saw candidate numbers fall to their lowest level in three years (December 2015) with a 60 per cent dip from November 2018, while the number of vacancies fell to its lowest level since December 2016 following a 54 per cent monthly fall.
Speaking about the stats, Barbara Kolosinska, Director at C&amp;M Travel Recruitment, said: &ldquo;It was a good year for travel wages and, with a 3.2 per cent annual increase, they rose well above the rate of inflation. But more impressive was the 7.5 per cent jump in pay for standard new travel jobs, meaning this is the fourth straight year where we&rsquo;ve seen an annual wage increase above 5 per cent!
&ldquo;Activity levels fell from 2017&rsquo;s record year, but candidate numbers are at the second highest level we&rsquo;ve seen and the number of new travel jobs remains above 2016&rsquo;s total, so it is still a very healthy and competitive market.
&ldquo;However, there continues to be a shortage of experienced, quality candidates and this looks to remain the case well into 2019, so we expect many travel companies to look to improve their recruitment package where possible in a bid to attract the best.&rdquo;
&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;&hellip;
All figures are drawn from the salaries of the month&rsquo;s new vacancies advertised with C&amp;M Travel Recruitment.
C&amp;M Travel Recruitment was established in 1998 and is the largest and most successful specialist travel recruitment company in the UK.
For further information please contact: Owen Mckeon (Content Manager - 0161 238 4497 / owen@candm.co.uk) or Barbara Kolosinska (Director - 07507 602 069 / barbara@candm.co.uk).

The 2018 Travel Salary Index from C&M Travel Recruitment

Travel salary index – 2018 overview

<ul>
<li>Women accounted for 64% of all new travel employees in H1 2018</li>
<li>But men were placed in 75% of all new executive travel positions</li>
<li>Females still taking home less than their male counterparts</li>
</ul>
Gender role split
Despite holding the vast majority of new roles within the travel industry, women are still routinely being overlooked for the&nbsp;top jobs, according to new research from C&amp;M Travel Recruitment.
Females accounted for 64 per cent of all travel job placements in the first half of 2018, but were awarded just 25 per cent of all&nbsp;executive positions&nbsp;(those paying &pound;40,000 or more). In contrast, women were appointed in 67 per cent of all junior roles (those paying below &pound;22,000), 76 per cent of all mid-level positions (those paying between &pound;22,000 and &pound;29,999) and 60 per cent of all senior travel jobs (those paying between &pound;30,000 and &pound;39,999).
Barbara Kolosinska, Director at C&amp;M Travel Recruitment, said: &ldquo;It&rsquo;s disappointing that after so much publicity and attention in recent years, we are still seeing men significantly outnumber women when it comes to securing the most high profile jobs in our industry.
&ldquo;This has to change and I&rsquo;m sure it will over time, but amongst other things it will take a concerted effort from the current crop of female travel leaders to ensure they are role models and examples for the next generation to follow.&rdquo;
Gender pay split
While women account for the majority of new appointments, they are still regularly earning less than their male counterparts in similar roles at most levels of the travel industry.
Although the gap may not be as pronounced as in many other professions, the average female in an entry level travel role took home &pound;18,487 in 2018 which is 2.22 per cent or &pound;415 less than the average male. Similarly, women in senior roles earned an average of &pound;32,375 which was 1.34 per cent less than men, although females in mid level roles out-earned their male equivalents by 0.56 per cent (or &pound;145) with an average salary of &pound;25,760.
Interestingly, there was very little difference in salaries for those placed in new executive roles, with men earning an average of &pound;50,771 in 2018, which was just 0.11 per cent or &pound;54 more than their female counterparts.
Ms Kolosinska added: &ldquo;These figures suggest that the travel industry is well on its way to eliminating the gender pay gap for executive positions, which is clearly fantastic news. However, until we see these wage discrepancies consistently eliminated across all levels of the industry, more work needs to be done.&rdquo;
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C&amp;M Travel Recruitment was established in 1998 and is the largest and most successful specialist travel recruitment company in the UK.
For further information please contact: Owen Mckeon (Content Manager - 0161 238 4497 / owen@candm.co.uk) or Barbara Kolosinska (Director - 07507 602 069 / barbara@candm.co.uk).

C&M reveals travel's gender pay split - 2017

<ul>
<li>Travel vacancy and candidate numbers reach new highs</li>
<li>Average travel salaries also set new record figure</li>
<li>Southern salaries rise to new high, but northern wages dip</li>
</ul>
Travel recruitment activity hits new peak
The travel jobs market set several records last year, including a 22.5 per cent annual increase in new vacancies, according to the 2017&nbsp;Travel Salary Index from C&amp;M Travel Recruitment, which looked at all new roles registered at the companies during the year.
The double figure increase is easily the biggest annual rise ever recorded on the index, and caps a bumper 12 months which saw vacancy numbers increase year-on-year in every month of 2017.
Last year also saw a huge 40 per cent annual rise in the number of new job seekers, meaning 2017 set a new high which was 19 per cent above the previous record total set in 2013. Candidate numbers increased year-on-year in every month of 2017 with the exception of December, when they dipped by just 1.47 per cent.
Travel salaries set new high
For the third year in a row, the average travel salary for a new job rose steadily and reached &pound;26,031 in 2017 to set another new index high. The 1.58 per cent (&pound;405) annual rise follows increases of 1.80 per cent in 2016 and 1.46 per cent in 2015, with the average new role in travel now paying &pound;1,221 more than in 2014.
There was even stronger wage growth for standard&nbsp;travel jobs&nbsp;(those paying below &pound;40,000), which rose by 5.41 per cent in 2017 to set another record high of &pound;23,073 after having risen by 5.52 per cent in 2016 and 5.27 per cent in 2015.
Meanwhile, salaries for executive travel jobs (those paying more than &pound;40,000) rose by 0.87 per cent to reach &pound;54,582 in 2017 after increasing by 1.53 per cent in 2016, but the average executive pay packet remains below the 2014 peak of &pound;58,418.
South up, but north down
It was an impressive year for travel jobs in the south of the UK as average salaries rose to a record &pound;27,998 after an increase of 1.81 per cent in 2017 following rises of 3.58 per cent in 2016 and 3.40 per cent in 2015. However, it was a different story in the north, which saw wages fall after five years of continual growth. The average new travel job in the north now comes with an average salary of &pound;21,973 which is down by 0.48 per cent from last year&rsquo;s record high.
Speaking about the year, Barbara Kolosinska, Director at C&amp;M Travel Recruitment, said: &ldquo;Well, that was simply the busiest year since our Travel Salary Index began in 2012! The number of&nbsp;new travel jobs, candidates and placements all rose to record levels in 2017 and it was a particularly impressive 12 months in terms of the number of jobseekers, which rose by 40 per cent from the previous year.
&ldquo;The travel industry had to deal with and adapt to a number of challenges in 2017, but fortunately recruitment levels were unaffected and in fact increased from 2016. We also saw salaries rising to record highs across the country, with the annual average wage for a new travel job crossing the &pound;26,000 barrier for the first time.
&ldquo;Overall, it was an incredibly encouraging year for the travel recruitment sector with lots to celebrate - and we&rsquo;re quietly confident that 2018 will be even busier.&rdquo;
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All figures are drawn from the salaries of the new vacancies advertised with C&amp;M Travel Recruitment.
C&amp;M Travel Recruitment was established in 1998 and is the largest and most successful specialist travel recruitment company in the UK.
For further information please contact: Owen Mckeon (Content Manager - 0161 238 4497 / owen@candm.co.uk) or Barbara Kolosinska (Director - 07507 602 069 / barbara@candm.co.uk).

The 2017 Travel Salary Index from C&M Travel Recruitment

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