Hospitality wannabes get work experience

NINE ASPIRING PROFESSIONALS in the tourism and hospitality industry are now better equipped to make the transition work after valuable interships at the Ocean Two Resort & Residences.

Drawn from the Hospitality Institute of the Barbados Community College at Pomarine, where they are pursuing associate degrees in culinary arts and hospitality studies, the students were the latest group to benefit from hands-on training at the luxury property.

Shakira Wilkinson, Alija Clarke, Annielle Mitchell, Adriana Waithe, Nesha Belgrave, Shanica Matthews, Rashidah Carter, Shevina Skeete, and Andrew Cawley spent three weeks working in various areas of hotel and restaurant operations.

The areas to which they were exposed included administration, front office management, food and beverage operations, maintenance, sales and marketing, and housekeeping operations.

Most of the students called the programme a great learning curve for them and praised staff of the Ocean Two resort for treating them like fellow staf members.

“I enjoyed working alongside the staff. They were always willing to assist and gave us the opportunity to put our training into practice,” said Waithe, a chef in training.

Cawley, the only male among the interns, said the experience at Ocean Two was truly an eye-opener and caused him to realise that the classroom and the work enviroment were totally different places.

Noting that students from the University of the West Indies and the Barbados Vocational Training Board are also accommodated under the resort’s internship programme, operations manager of Ocean Two, Paul Collymore, and special projects coordinator Jenise Hurley, said the property was proud to host interns each year and provide them with enriching experiences which could lead to career paths.

“We support and encourage these ongoing partnerships with tertiary institutions and we are always willing to do our part to ensure that students get the practical industry knowledge and exposure to assist with their career development,” said Collymore. (PR)