Kate Di Meo

Where did you grow up? Important stages of your life (school, education, experience abroad, jobs etc.) 

I grew up in Melbourne and did all my schooling here. I have always been very passionate about learning languages and travel, so I took every opportunity to study Italian and French subjects at school, as well as travelling around Europe for a few months during high school.

I completed work experience in Retail and continued this throughout uni. I also completed an internship with a fashion label, to get more practical Marketing experience before I started looking for roles at the end of my degree. 

In looking back, I think having this customer-facing experience really helped me in getting the job at Jetstar because understanding the needs of our customers and how we can better meet these is a core part of the business.

How did you get to your current job position? For how long have you had it? 

During my last year of study, I applied for the Jetstar Graduate Program, which is a 2-year program allowing you to rotate through four different departments across the business. I spent six months in each rotation and got exposure to a variety of different business areas, such as Digital Marketing, Networks & Planning, Business Transformation and Operations Improvement. 

Once I had experienced a variety of different business units, I knew that I wanted to be in a role that combined different elements of each area, particularly Marketing and managing projects. Now I’ve been in my Product Specialist role for a year, and I love it!

How did you choose your specialisation (compared to others)? / Were you weighing up any other alternatives before choosing this specialisation?

It was a tough decision for me, as there were so many different parts of the business and aspects of my rotations that I really enjoyed. I was considering roles in Project Management, Digital, Marketing and Operations before deciding on my current role. 

The Product Specialist role I’m currently in provides a great blend of all these things, with a large part being focussed on promoting the product to customers as well as managing a roadmap of initiatives to further improve it. The variety in this role made it something I was excited to pursue.

What was your interview process like? What kind of questions were you asked?

The interview process for my current role involved two interviews; a first-round interview and second-round interview.

I was asked a variety of different questions about my experience and how I would approach the role including:

• My career goals for the next 5-10 years
• Questions to see how much I knew about the role I was applying for
• Behavioural questions to see how have acted previously or would act in different situations (the key to answering these questions is thinking about ‘STAR’ - Situation, Task, Action, Result and what you learnt from the experience)
• What my strategy would be for improving the product

What does your employer do?

Jetstar Group is a low-cost airline based in Australia and consists of Jetstar Airways (Australia and New Zealand), Jetstar Asia (in Singapore), Jetstar Japan and Jetstar Pacific (in Vietnam).

Our goal is to provide affordable travel experiences, which allow customers to fly more places, more often and give people who previously couldn’t afford airfares the opportunity to fly.

What are your areas of responsibility?

I work on our Club Jetstar product, which is a paid membership program offering members a discount on their airfares, baggage and seat selection. My role looks after our existing members and involves building a strategy and roadmap of initiatives to ensure that we’re providing members with as much value as possible, so they want to stay with the program. Some things I work on include launching new benefits for the program, finding new opportunities for partner offers and improving the website experience for members.

Can you describe a typical workday? What was the last thing you worked on?

It’s actually quite hard to define a typical day at Jetstar because no day is the same. Being an airline in a fast-paced industry, various factors can change daily and so we constantly need to be adaptive and agile. 

There are some activities which I do each day like responding to emails, attending or facilitating meetings and we often have team meetings or stand-ups, to discuss how the team are tracking with their deliverables and raise any issues. Typically I work quite closely with our Ancillary Revenue, Marketing, Digital, Customer Care and Pricing teams on a day-to-day basis.

The last project I worked on was with our Digital team, which enabled Club Jetstar members to renew their membership while making a flight booking on the Jetstar website. 

Depending on your projects, your department, your team preferences and your own personal circumstances, your day can look completely different…and this ability for people to so work flexibly is something that Jetstar really promotes.

What are the career prospects with your job? / Where could you or others in your position go from here? 

Typically, from my role, you could progress into a Senior Product Specialist, Product Manager or Digital Product Manager role. However, given the work I do in my current role can be quite broad and Jetstar is supportive of team members gaining experience in different areas, there are a number of other roles you could progress to in Marketing or Project Management for example.

Could someone with a different background do your job?

Yes! While my studies in Marketing have been helpful in this role, a number of the people in our team have come from different backgrounds including in Finance, Revenue Management, Digital and Operations. 

What would your career be if you weren’t doing what you’re doing now? 

If I weren’t doing what I’m doing now I would probably want to try building an online business and learn the ins and outs of starting a business from the beginning. I’ve always been intrigued by start-ups and how they’ve built their strategies over time to become the brands we know today. 

What do you love the most about your job? Which kind of task do you enjoy the most? 

I love being involved in ideation workshops to brainstorm new, innovative ways of making Club Jetstar even better for members, and then working with stakeholders to turn these ideas into projects and make them happen.

With Jetstar continuously growing and improving, we are open to ideas and challenging the status quo (even when you are a grad!). If your ideas are supported by the business and endorsed, you can have the opportunity to run with them. Because the business is so fast-paced, you can also see the results of your work relatively quickly, and feel like you have made an impact on the business.

What’s the biggest limitation of your job? Do you bear a lot of responsibility? Do you have to work on weekends? Are stress levels high?

With fast-paced work, it also means that your priorities can change relatively quickly and so can your deadlines. Sometimes that may mean you need all hands on deck to get a task done urgently and your day could look completely different from what you had originally planned. While it is challenging at the time, the variety keeps you on your toes and I think it is also part of the excitement of the job.

Which three pieces of advice would you give to a current university student? They don’t necessarily have to be related to your role or even be career-focused. 

• Start building your network now – make sure your LinkedIn profile is up-to-date, reach out to current Grads, speak to careers advisors, attend uni networking events and start getting your name out there to show your interest early!
• Research the companies you’re interested in applying for - understand their values and culture, to see whether you can envision yourself working there (their websites are definitely a good place to start). Go in prepared to talk about the business, how you would fit in and any ideas you have to improve it. Make sure to personalise your resume and cover letter to match the company you’re applying for too.
• Don’t be afraid to ask questions (always!) – from in interviews to when you have secured a position, show your curiosity, and even if you think it’s a silly question, chances are someone else is thinking it too. Use questions as an opportunity to learn and grow.