Alrighty I'm a current student at USC, going to be a junior while majoring in business management/entrepreneurship. I haven't really been apart of a lot of things at school, rather, I've taken a different path by starting up my own biz's and working in the real world. Come Spring of 10, I'll hopefully be in London studying abroad. Now, career wise, I've been thinking about working for an airline in it's main offices dealing with operations and management in the future. When I'm in London, I'm hoping to get an internship at British Airways or Heathrow airport, or even any other airline. Then during the summer of 10, I have an opportunity to get an internship at SFO that I had to postponed from this past summer. Then if it could happen, I can get an intership at LAX during the last year of school 10-11. This is just a throw out their plan that I can make into a reality if I set my goals straight. If I could see myself working in a certain field, it would have to be in the airline industry. Wanted to see what you all think about it. I know it's a bit far, but this year coming up is an important part for landing a job after I graduate, and you know how hard that is right now. Thanks John
I worked as a mechanic/inspector for Braniff 2, 3, and 4. Braniff 1 was going to take over the world and it would have except for over-extension during the first energy crisis. Went on to two other airlines that failed. Had a legitimate chance at working for SWA when they were still infant. Who knew ? If you go with an Airline that is partially owned by a Government and thus has a monopolistic advantage it may be safe career wise.Or if you end up upper management you can go elsewhere as need be. All else is a crap shoot IMO. If I had to do it over I would have been a Porsche mechanic. Now we see the auto industry going through convulsions. Get a government job. A growth industry.
You could go for a job in management and strategy consulting - they're frequently hired by airlines to do just what you want to do. You'll also want to be careful about working for an airport vs working for an airline -- the two are _very_ different things. If you want to work in strategy with an airline, it's best to intern with an airline in some capacity where you'd get exposure to strategic thinking (even if it is not in overall strategy). Or, if you can swing it, intern with a consulting group that is doing analysis for an airline. The good news is that you're young and, in general, experience is a good thing, even if it simply allows you to say in an interview 'I want to expand beyond my experience in 'x', it taught me how valuable what you do is...'
