Sandals encourages young locals to take advantage of hospitality training

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Sandals Grande Antigua Resort and Spa is encouraging the island’s best and brightest young people to join the resort’s hospitality training programme.

The initiative now in its 15th year has afforded approximately 1,500 young Antiguans the opportunity to sharpen their skills in the tourism industry through in-depth training at the region’s largest hotel chain.

“This year alone we have seen over 70 trainees selected to participate in the highly competitive programme, and our hope is to see more young locals taking advantage of this opportunity,” Assistant Training and Development Manager Thalia Thomas said.

During the 10-week scheme, trainees are assigned to departments across the resort where they are coached by a departmental trainer to learn its operations.

The personalised approach ensures that trainees are exposed to the company’s highest standards and best practices in all aspects of guest relations, housekeeping, food and beverage, accounting, cost control, public relations, front office, concierge, sales, maintenance, and water sports.

In addition to hospitality exposure, trainees are engaged in weekly life skills sessions that cover a variety of personal development areas, including public speaking, financial management, leadership and decision making, resume writing, among others. Trainees also receive a stipend in addition to meals and transportation for the duration of the programme.

Earlier this month, 20 trainees graduated from the programme with a certificate of completion, a personal reference letter, and special prizes and awards for their performance during the course.

Two trainees in this cohort are set to continue employment with the company.

Training and Development Manager Carlene Spencer said, “We are happy when we see our trainees transition to full-time team members. This shows there is a place for young people within the hospitality industry, and here at Sandals.

“We are unable to hire every trainee who comes through our programme, but we do have relationships with other reputable companies and industry stakeholders who contact us to recommend persons from our pool of trainees for full-time employment within their organisations.

 “We invite people between the ages of 18 and 30, previous hospitality work experience or not, to apply when our recruitment drive begins shortly.

“We are looking for the right attitude and a willingness to learn, and you can kickstart a rewarding journey in our tourism and hospitality industry,” Spencer added.

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