By Carlena Knight
Youth across Antigua who have an interest in hospitality are being encouraged to sign up for the hospitality training scheme staged by the Sandals Grande Antigua resort.
The programme – which is geared towards persons between the ages of 18 and 30 – has been running for over 15 years and sees individuals being trained in a number of departments including watersports, sales, front desk, kitchen, dining room, bar, and even public relations.
Those who impress are in with a chance of being offered a job upon completion.
“If you are looking for work experience, if you are looking to be a part of the hospitality industry, we want to encourage you to apply for the hospitality training programme because one thing I can tell you as well is that persons who are selected as full-time team members for the resort, we actually look within hospitality trainees first before we consider persons on the external end,” the resort’s Training and Development Manager Carlene Spencer told state media yesterday.
“So, we want to encourage persons to get involved. If you are between the ages of 18 and 30, please apply for the hospitality training programme. Trust me, it will change your life and it will give you skills that will take you through life,” Spencer said.
Spencer explains that although many people typically apply, not everyone moves forward in the process which involves four groups.
“We can only select 25 per group for the programme. So, we will interview just about 70-100 candidates and from that pool, we will make the selection of the 25. From the interview process itself sometimes we have some persons who are really, really outstanding and we reserve them for a next group of trainees.
“Once they would have completed the interview and they are selected successfully they go through one week orientation with us with the assistant trainer. Right after that, they are assigned to different departments to complete their training.
“We select them based on the personality that they display during the interview, based on what they would have had on their resume or their application, and we also look for that little extra,” Spencer explained.
Selected persons will receive a stipend and are expected to work Mondays to Fridays no later than 6pm. They will be paired with a trainer within the respective departments.
Once training has begun, Spencer added, they will be evaluated at the end of the 10-week programme, after which they will receive a certificate and other credentials.
Specialised training will also be given in areas like budgeting and saving, resume writing, customer service and public speaking.
Sandals’ Public Relations Officer (PRO) Leon Norville explained that the aim is to transform youth into well-rounded individuals who can effectively communicate in any working environment.
“We realise that a lot of the candidates are shy. You put them in front of a group of people, you put them in front of a crowd and they freeze up. So, the training and development manager thought that it would be important that we provide a specific area for them which is effective communication and public speaking. I will take them through that session and give them the tools to equip them and help to build their confidence,” he said.
“We give them some role play as well because one of the important things I try to drill home for them is that you can have the qualifications, you can have the attitude, you can have the looks but if you can’t sell yourself when you go in front of a board of people or even just generally working in the workplace, you might need to ask for a raise or request something, just knowing how to interact with different people and different audiences helps to sell yourself, so it is a very important aspect,” Norville explained.
Interested persons have until 6pm on January 13 to apply by sending a resume and cover letter to [email protected] or hand delivering them to Sandals’ security booth at the resort’s back gate. Applications should indicate which department the applicant is interested in and be addressed to the training and development manager.