Page 27 - James Caan - Get the Job you Really Want

For The Money Programme on BBC2 I did a segment called
‘James Caan’s Jobs’. They wanted me to interview a range of
candidates – there was a mechanical engineer based in Bolton, a
banker from the City, a woman who worked for the travel side of
American Express – and pick one of them to give some focused

advice to. I chose Sherene, who worked for American Express.
She’d been in their travel section for seven or eight years, and
was now in her late twenties.

She told me, ‘The problem I’m having is that the travel
industry has changed enormously in the last ten years. Travel
booking has become internet-based, and so the concept of
the traditional travel agent doesn’t really exist any more. But
because that’s what I have been doing for most of my adult life,

I’m really struggling.’
I said, ‘OK, let’s look at the core skills that you have, your core
competencies, and see whether we can transfer those skills into

other sectors.’ After talking to her, what stood out for me was
that she had extremely strong customer service skills.
I happened to own a serviced-o≤ce company, and I knew
that in that business her skills were really valuable. In the
travel business a vital factor is building a relationship with

the customer and providing a good service, rather like being a
concierge in a hotel. And in a business centre o≠ering serviced
o≤ce space the requirement is quite similar. You go in, you

can book o≤ces, meeting rooms, video conferencing. You can
have the o≤ce for a day, a week, a month. It’s like a hotel for
business – very much the same idea. It is equally important to
build a good relationship, provide a good service, because the

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