SEALED: Szambowski (second from right) exchanging documents with Warmington after the MoU signing between the college and hotel. With them are INTI College staff.
THE hospitality industry is gaining popularity among school leavers.
It’s no longer considered the last option and its popularity stems from its versatility. Hospitality students get to learn a myriad of skills – from housekeeping, culinary and counter services right up to management.
Hilton Kuching has trained up many students and graduates for the service industry and all agree the hotel has taught them more than they had ever envisioned.
INTI College hospitality graduate Marshall Chai, 22, has always wanted to work in the hotel line ever since his schooldays. When he completed his Form Five, it was only natural that he chose a career in hospitality.
“I like interacting with people,” he said.
While enjoying his work, he also admitted it took him a while to get used to meeting all kinds of people at the Front Desk.
“When you had people from all walks of life coming to you – and for someone never in that position before – you sort of cringed at first. That was what happened to me. Initially, I was comfortable only with people like me in appearance, mannerisms and so forth,” he recalled.
Now, he breezes through his job, dealing with hotel guests and looking after their needs like a professional.
Front Desk is not his choice. His heart is with the Food and Beverage Department (F&B) as he has a penchant for cooking and garnishing.
But he has no complaints about his job placement, saying although a totally different job scope, it presents a lot opportunities to learn more.
Being at the Front Desk has boosted his confidence in dealing with strangers. He enjoys his work tremendously and can’t see himself working anywhere 10 years down the road except in a hotel.
‘It’s like being at home except this home is much bigger and has more visitors,” he enthused.
Chai graduated in December last year and joined Hilton Kuching. He looks forward to working with the hotel for many more years.
Good impression
Another INTI hospitality graduate is 21-year-old Odelia Chin.
Working for only nine months at the five-star hotel, she has already made a good impression, earning the commendation of a female guest from France and was duly rewarded by the management.
Chin helped the French woman contact her daughter who was travelling long haul alone for the first time.
“I did what I had to and am grateful for the recognition – it will serve as an impetus to do better in the future,” said the petite Front Desk officer.
A natural born hotelier, she always puts the guests first, saying: “When they thank me, I know I have done a good job.”
She is aware of the long working hours in the service industry but takes them in her stride.
“If you enjoy your work and the environment is conducive, long hours won’t be a problem.
Besides, it helps shape your character.”
INTI trainees Julian Wong and Alicia Law are doing the last leg of their course in Kuching Hilton.
They will graduate after completing their practical training.
Bubbly 20-year-old Law took up hospitality not so much out of her own interest being captivated by a Korean movie, featuring a hotel working experience.
No, she is not disappointed by the reality of life now that she is working full time at the hotel.
She rather enjoys being a receptionist on the Executive Floor. She also helps the Front Desk at the lobby.
“I’m still a trainee. The Executive Floor is far quieter than the Front Desk,” she reckoned.
She has come across all types of guests and knows how to face tricky situations.
“First and foremost, they are people like you and I. Everyone responses well to a kind word.”
Julian Wong, Law’s colleague and fellow trainee, is attached to the F&B Department which he said required a gemut of skills to run.
Only three weeks with the hotel, he has already been exposed to the various F&B sections – as a server, the person in charge of buffet and supervisor, to mention a few.
According to him, this kind of work can be stressful too but he tries to stay cool during the peak hours.
“It can be quite difficult when everything is needed all at once. You have to be level-headed to deliver during such busy times.”
But Wong has no regrets as he loves the challenges.
He aims to go for a degree course (in the service industry) after graduating in four months.
Wong was a business student before changing his major to hospitality. To him, the service industry is always in demand regardless of the economic situation.
He said the industry promoted a myriad of skills which were needed in the market.
Wong and Law agreed the practical experience of working in a hotel was quite different from the theories they learned in the classroom.
Whereas for Chin and Chai who were absorbed by the hotel immediately after graduation, they are now putting the theories they have learnt into practice.
They all concurred that working in Hilton Kuching has given them the opportunity to pick up valuable knowledge and experience on the hotel business.
The stint, they said, would stand them in good stead careerwise.
World-class training at home
ASPRING local hoteliers need no longer go abroad for world-class tuition as they can have it in their own backyard since Malaysia has become a hub for the hospitality industry.
The country has international-level tuition, service and hospitality provisions – so there is now no need to resort to the traditional market for such education, according to Dominic Szambowski, executive dean, Hospitality, Culinary Arts and Tourism, INTI Laureate International Universities.
“Asia, including Malaysia, is where it’s all happening. The level of the English language in the country is high and the government is pushing for a great degree of innovation in all fields, including tourism and it’s doing all it can to professionalise all sectors of the industry,” he said.
This positive climate is further boosted by INTI’s partner-ship with a well-established hotel brand – the Hilton Ku-ching, known for its excellent training programme. The hotel has a total of 3,000 training programmes for its staff.
In addition, the brand offers the Hilton Worldwide University (HWU) that gives its staff educational opportunities for personal growth and development.
Online system
HWU is an online system open to the hotel’s entire staff and
80 per cent of the courses is free. Courses offered are industry-related, finance and marketting.
“Training is offered at all levels – from entry right up to general manager and beyond,” explained Jon Warmington, the hotel’s general manager.
These are online, visual courses where a moderator coaches students while they work on their computers and there are residential courses where staff are sent to other different parts of the world within the Hilton chain for training.
“This indicates the growth in the brand name. In fact, the brand is developing more and more people to operate and manage hotels,” Warmington added.
It has a world-class training system and additional levels are being constantly introduced. Students can opt for diploma, degree or MBA in certain topics. Over the past two years, growth has accelerated.
Moreover, the hotel has integrated the H360 programme (Hilton 360) as part of its Blue Culture to benefit both the staff and hotel.
Explained Warmington: “Its main objective is to provide a platform for staff within the hotel chain worldwide to share information, practices and solutions. It’s a communication base for the staff.”
In an era of technology when text messaging, twitter and instant messaging are the main modes of communication, one cannot ignore the need for face-to-face interaction among people.
And hotels are the best avenues to learn these life skills.
“It’s proven that a lot of practical skills are learnt from hotels. These skills are so varied that hotel employees are often cherry-picked by other industries besides the hotels’ competitors,” Warmington noted.
“We lose staff this way but are happy to let them go because it’s personal development and progress for the staff.”
The hotel provides highly specialised and experienced trainers and according to the general manager, nothing can compare with experience which cannot be bought but earned.
Solid foundation
The partnership with Hilton allows INTI students to learn only from the best, thus giving them a solid foundation to enter the industry.
The college and hotel recently reaffirmed their commitment to groom talents for the global hospitality industry through the renewal of their memorandum of understanding (MoU), adding new improvements to the programme with six subjects, jointly planned and taught by Hilton Kuching’s staff.
Szambowski commented: “The career-based Diploma in Hotel Management offers students the opportunity to study at INTI College Sarawak, while adopting professional skills at the five-star Hilton Kuching.”
Six of these specially tailored programmes will be taught by Hilton Kuching’s team of hospitality professionals at the hotel and the subjects cover the broad spectrum of hotel management such as food and beverage management, front office management, house-keeping management and practical cookery.
Students are required to do four months of hands-on training and upon graduation will be awarded a certificate by the hotel in addition to their hotel management diplomas from the college.
The seven years of partnership have seen a total of 150 graduates.
INTI is a member of Laureate International Universities which gives its students the opportunity to continue their degree-level studies at institutions under the Laureate Inernational Universities Network, which include Glion Institute of Higher Education, Switzerland, Les Roches International School of Hotel Management, Switzerland and Blue Mountains International Hotel Management School, Australia.