Andrea Dejchai Personal Statement

In my three years working as a cabin crew attendant, there were many circumstances where I felt
I could make improvements if it were not for my limitations as a frontline operations employee.
These experiences have motivated me to make a career change from a frontline worker to
management, and I would therefore like to apply to study the International Business MSc at
University of Exeter, where I will acquire the relevant knowledge and experience to embark on
my new career journey.

When I left Thai Vietjet Air to join Gulf Air, I was welcomed and valued as I had flying
experience that would be helpful to my colleagues. However, I began to notice things that could
be improved. For example, I noticed that the training programme of Gulf Air was not as strict as
Thai Vietjet, which led to some crew lacking knowledge and causing work inefficiency. At Gulf
Air, they were more focused on passing a high percentage of trainees rather than training
competent ones. Through this experience, I realized that the culture of a company greatly
impacts the success of its business. At the University of Exeter, I wish to learn how to create a
positive working culture, so that these types of problems can be avoided. I also came to realize
that to create a positive work culture in structured corporations, I need to have a mindset that
takes into consideration its frontline workers.

Another observation I had was that customer’s satisfaction mostly depended on the crew’s
performance and services. It is true that most full-service airlines have similar seats, catering
services, and entertainment systems, so a customers’ satisfaction with the airline’s crew services
and attention was instrumental in their decision to choose to fly with us again. They expect to get
their money's worth, meaning that they hope to be welcomed warmly, presented with all
available meal options, and have all their individual requests met. Everyone wants to feel treated
like a special and valued customer, which I think applies to all service businesses. However,
when crews were overworked, lacked motivation, or were indifferent, they sometimes made
these attitudes obvious to the customers. This made me realize that there are structural issues in
the distribution of the workforce that needed to be addressed. By completing your programme
and learning skills such as people management and leadership, I will be able to address these
problems effectively.

Wishing to shift my career path from front line operations to management, I am confident that
the International Business MSc at University of Exeter will prepare me with the knowledge,
skills and experience I need to excel in this field. I expect to strengthen my problem solving and
interpersonal skills in this course through group projects and networking. Specifically, I am
looking forward to studying the optional module of International Human Resource Management,
as I think it will help me to better understand the problem I faced while I was working with Gulf
Air, and better equip me with approaches and methods to resolve them.

Upon graduation, I intend to join multinational companies in Europe, and perhaps even my
previous companies, to implement what I have learned in your programme to solve the problems
I witnessed. I believe that the International Business MSc at University of Exeter will allow me
to use my previous work experience, along with newly acquired professional skills and
knowledge, to achieve this goal.