I have been working at Jetstar for 2 years, it is a low cost carrier which provides low fares to customers every day and flies passengers to a lot of beautiful leisure destinations in Asia Pacific. Jetstar graduate program is a well-desired program which allows us to work in 4 different areas across the business. As a finance grad, I have done my rotations in Group Finance, People, Group Strategy, and I am now in Group Treasury. The tasks I was/have been involved varied, including identifying growth opportunities for the airline, posting month-end journals, and looking after Group's cash liquidity etc.. During peak period (e.g. Christmas, Easter), all of us also have the opportunity to work at airport and help frontline operations. Helping customers check-in, directing them to the right gates, understanding how the baggages are loaded into aircraft and learning how to clean the aircraft and prepare for the next flights, all of these create the best way to understand how an airline operates. I also made some life-long friends at work and my lovely colleagues taught me Australian slang which delights my time here.
I grew up in China and came to Australia after I finished my Bachelor degree and did my Master degree in Adelaide. Language barrier and cultural difference might be the biggest challenges to a lot of international students including myself at the beginning. But I made the most of my time here, and tried to get myself involved in local community activities and various volunteering work, this helped me understand Australian culture better and build connections with people with different background. I also had 2 part-time jobs in hospitality industry where my communications skills were improved significantly. I also gained the opportunity to be an intern in SA government while I studied. I cannot forget that I submitted 213 job applications and went through 10 interviews before I got my first full-time study-related job offer in Australia after I finished my study here. Jetstar grad program is not my first job after Uni and I don’t think I can successfully get into this great program without all the experience I mentioned above. I believe every experience will somehow be linked together at some stage in future and there is no such job which is a bad job.
Yes! As a Finance grad, I had done a People rotation (HR). There are also graduates who have engineering degrees and have completed rotations in Finance area. This is also one of the best thing about Jetstar graduate program. There are always people around you who are willing to help and provide guidance. I have developed a lot of transferable skills in every area I worked/ am working. As long as you have the right attitude, are willing to learn and ask questions, you will be fine working in any rotation.
I love the people I work with. Everyone is friendly, helpful, approachable and willing to share their knowledge. I love airplanes myself and every time when I see the orange tail taking off / flying in the sky / landing, I feel that the work I have done is valuable as I understand everyone’s effort counts. I enjoyed the analytical tasks I was involved during my rotations which help senior management to make strategic decision, I also enjoyed when I had the opportunity to work at the airport and enjoyed the moment when the customers smiled at me after I provided them with the information they needed.
Aviation is a cool industry to work for but it is also a 24/7 industry, that means sometimes you might have to stay at work and not able to take long break during holiday period especially for people who works in operational areas.