As a result, Corkin branched out and for the first time in the agency’s near 40-year history hired six staff members with no previous experience in travel. 

"I’ve been so impressed by how they’ve settled in and adapted to the roles, I’m looking to take on even more inexperienced agents in September," Corkin told TTG. 

"It wasn’t a choice, to be honest, to take on people from outside the industry in the first instance. We lost some staff during Covid so we knew there was a shortage of experienced agents." 

The requirements for the role were simple in Corkin’s eyes. "They had to have a passion for the industry, and some prior experience of travelling," she explained.

The first batch of fresh-faced recruits joined the agency towards the backend of last year, with the second crop taking their first plunge into the travel industry at the end of March. 

Corkin said the recruits include one individual with a passion for cruise who expressed her desire to join the brand while on a ship, a former police officer, a travel and tourism student, a 40-year-old seeking a new career path, an ex-retail worker and a car salesperson. 

"We knew we’d have to formulate an in-depth, targeted training programme as there is so much to learn in the travel industry when you have no prior experience," Corkin continued. 

The agency worked with local colleges and other UK-based agents to create an onboarding strategy to help the new staff get to grips with the sector.

"It wasn’t just product knowledge, we had to train them on a lot of other areas in sales, background information and admin," Corkin said. "But they have come through it and they are offering us new ideas and new ways of thinking about things which is great.

"They bring fresh blood into the office and they are so enthusiastic and eager to learn new things, which gives us more experienced agents a different perspective on how to do our roles."

Despite the additional investment in more training, Corkin said there had so far been no pitfalls to recruiting from outside of the industry. 

"There haven’t been any negatives because our expectations for what they could do were obviously low as they never had any experience in a similar role before," she said. "And they’ve far exceeded those expectations."

Adapting mindsets

Corkin urged the industry to adapt its way of thinking when it comes to recruitment. "We need to get out of the mindset that there are office juniors," she explained.

"People want to come in to a proper career and they won’t come into the industry in a role that isn’t offering a decent package and salary."

She continued: "When people are new to the industry, and willing to change career paths, you know they are eager and doing so for the right reasons. Sometimes when agents come from other agencies you worry they’re coming for the wrong reasons."

The success of the recent recruitment drive has inspired Corkin and the Oasis team to launch a second round of applications in September.