Career opportunities and skills needed
Career opportunities
There are a host of job opportunities within aviation and the three sub-industries; airlines, airports and ground handling. From front facing roles dealing with passengers either at the airport or on board the aircraft, there are opportunities to move into supervisory and management roles. Training to develop skills needed are offered in the workplace through on the job training and learning. Employees often study for National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs) or national equivalents and other vocational qualifications. Employees may also receive in house training on both internal and external courses.
As the aviation industry is international in terms of its business, there are opportunities to work all over the world. For most entry level roles, there are no specific academic requirements other than a sound basic education. This usually means that applicants are expected to have GCSEs at grades A-C (or equivalent) in English and Maths. The only exceptions to this are for air traffic control and pilot jobs, where A levels are usually preferred before applicants are accepted for training.
All applicants for aviation industry roles undergo criminal records bureau checks and certain criminal offences can prevent employment in the industry. The requirements for criminal records checks are available from individual employers.
Skills needed
The aviation industry requires people with good generic skills. Such skills include problem solving, team working, communication, people management, information technology and organisational skills. Other useful skills include health and safety, languages and first aid. Qualifications or experience in travel and tourism related areas are also valuable. For customer-facing roles, any previous customer service work is also a useful asset. For any roles, the ability to follow instructions, keep to schedules and adhere to regulations is also important.