Jet2 Manchester training in week 3 from a 19 year old on her first job: the course, the exams, the first payslip question and the other trainees

Grace, 19, Jet2 Manchester training, week 3 of 5, first job after college apart from a summer in a café, and I am writing this because every training thread on here is from someone with a career before, and I want the version for the people who are doing this as their first real job.

The course

Five weeks at the Jet2 training centre near Manchester Airport. Week 1: induction, the company, the uniform (which is lovely and which I am terrified of spilling on), the aircraft (737-800 and the A321neo, which is new and everyone is excited about). Week 2 and 3: SEP, the doors, the slides, the equipment, the drills, the first exam at the end of week 2 (I got 91, pass mark 88, cried in the car park with relief, which I am told is normal). Week 3, this week: fire and the pool. Week 4: first aid and security. Week 5: service, the Jet2 way, the wings.

The other trainees

Twenty of us. Ages 18 to 44. Three straight from college like me, most from retail and hospitality, one ex police, one mum returning to work, two who did a summer at another airline. The older ones are better at the studying. The younger ones are better at the door drill, weirdly, maybe because we have no fear of looking silly. Everyone helps everyone. The mum has become the course mum.

What is hard as a 19 year old

The studying. I have never studied like this: two hours a night, flashcards, the exact numbers. College was not this. The older trainees showed me the method (out loud, with a partner, test not read) and it worked. The early starts, which are 7:30 at the centre and will be 4am on the line. The money: training is paid at Jet2 (a training salary, lower than the line) and it covers my share of the rent at home and not much else. The first proper payslip is two months away and I am counting.

What is easy as a 19 year old

The physical stuff. The drills. The pool (I swim, and the ones who do not are struggling). The enthusiasm, which the trainers seem to like and which the 44 year old says she has to fake by week 3.

The first payslip question

The seasonal versus permanent question in the Jet2 threads is real: most of us are on a seasonal contract for the summer with the hope of permanent. The trainers are honest that the winter is the winter. I am living at home and I can do a winter of something else. The ones with their own rent are more worried.

What I would tell another 19 year old

Apply. The airlines take us and the training is built for us. Learn to study before the course, from someone who has. Save the café money for the training months. Find the course mum on day one. And do not be embarrassed to cry in the car park, because the 44 year old did it too, in week 1, and told me on the bus.