Large numbers of Middle Eastern destinations and hotel projects are still creating a huge buzz within the global hospitality community, yet these same high profile locations and employers have difficulty in marketing themselves to today’s student and graduate.  Jeff Ross, Managing Director of Hospitality Graduate Recruitment (www.h-g-r.com), briefly explores some of the issues and potential solutions.

HGR (Hospitality Graduate Recruitment, www.h-g-r.com), the Swiss based hospitality student and alumni recruitment company hosted a ‘recruitment weekend’ last month for hotel groups Malmaison & Hotel du Vin, resulting in five candidates being offered positions within the companies.

There are many variables to be considered when choosing an internship or a job after graduation, not least the location(s) of which you may be thinking.  Working overseas is of course one such variable, and an option which can be both exciting and potentially daunting.  Much evidence points to the conclusion that the benefits outweigh the ‘costs’ and therefore location is certainly a factor which you should consider when starting to research your options.

Jeff Ross, Managing Director and founder of HGR (Hospitality Graduate Recruitment) recently announced the signing of a new annual contract with Ishraq Gulf Real Estate Holding Company to assist with the recruitment process for three Express by Holiday Inn hotel projects under development in the United Arab Emirates.

HGR (Hospitality Graduate Recruitment), the Swiss based hospitality student and alumni recruitment company, has signed contracts with leading global hotel groups Hilton and Marriott to support their 2008 graduate management ‘Elevator’ and ‘Voyage’ development programmes.

Swiss-based recruitment firm Hospitality Graduate Recruitment has successfully proven the efficiency of its own product and service by recruiting 2 interns from its own talent pool!  Jeff comments “I am delighted to welcome Liubov and Leo into our multicultural team.  Their appointments simply prove that our product works, and that h-g-r is a superb vehicle for resourcing talented, well educated and motivated hospitality graduates and undergraduates."

“Why do hospitality employers not respond to job applications?” – This is a question that I often get asked by young hospitality students and alumni.  A fair question if this is indeed the case, and seemingly it is. 

HGR (Hospitality Graduate Recruitment), www.h-g-r.com, the Swiss-based graduate recruitment company has just been awarded two new UK contracts by leading hotel groups, Malmaison & Hotel du Vin and Bodysgallen Hall & Spa, (part of Historic House Hotels) to help them with their recruitment processes for entry level, supervisory and junior management positions over the next six to twelve months.

Developing and implementing an effective hotel recruitment strategy is all very well, but how many organisations actually seriously focus upon employee retention, which is arguably the most important component of a resourcing strategy?

Hospitality Graduate Recruitment (HGR) has signed a one-year partnership with Banyan Tree Hotels and Resorts to help the luxury Asian chain attract the best of a new generation of hospitality graduates. The partnership, which came into effect June 4, gives senior management at all of Banyan Tree's 23 resorts in 10 countries unlimited access to profiles of undergraduates, graduates and alumni from over 100 hotel schools and hospitality universities globally – the future of the industry.

As the key hospitality industry benchmarks forecast continued positive growth in the coming years, hospitality employers are under increasing pressure to explore and capitalise upon as diverse a range of recruitment channels as possible. One such channel is hospitality graduate recruitment – targeting undergraduates, graduates and alumni, from hotel schools and universities globally.

Hospitality Graduate Recruitment is delighted to welcome Ecole Hôtelière de Genève as its 100th partner international hotel school or university, offering alumni, graduates and undergraduates an efficient career service and links to international hospitality employers.

The transient nature of the hotel industry is widely documented, and those in the know have surely experienced being operationally short-staffed and involved in what seems like an endless recruitment cycle. Generally, this is highly indicative of working in hotels but does however, present both opportunities and challenges. Most importantly, reflecting the very nature of the trade, as an aspiring hotel management graduate you are expected to move, to progress, to travel, to be promoted, to learn, to succeed... and you can do it quickly! On the flip side, it may be a stressful journey. Sorry, it will be!

Swiss-based company Hospitality Graduate Recruitment (h-g-r) has been contracted to work with Marriott to recruit for their newly branded M!Voyage Programme for UK & Ireland, and Middle East & Africa. Marriott will be taking on up to 110 graduates in 2007.

The benefit of employing a hospitality-educated graduate or undergraduate can be huge. You can profit from having hard working, motivated, intelligent, experienced, multi-cultural and multi-lingual personnel working within your hospitality business. The benefit of such employees to your guests and to your operation is unquestionable.

Recruitment strategies of hospitality employers vary depending on many factors such as size of business, location and staff turnover rate. Some businesses recruit year round, others seasonally. Hospitality Graduate Recruitment, www.h-g-r.com has extended its product portfolio to cater for the "reactive" recruitment needs of hospitality businesses, with the creation of a 1-month membership.

Hilton Hotels has contracted Swiss-based company Hospitality Graduate Recruitment (HGR) to promote its graduate recruitment programme, Elevator, in Europe and Africa.

There are literally thousands of hotel schools and universities globally that offer a diverse range of hospitality-related qualifications. Some are internationally recognised educational "brands", others are smaller and more localized products. Almost all carry a common objective of wanting their students to work in the hospitality industry upon graduation, and most strive to place their undergraduates in training placements periodically throughout their course. Neither is an easy objective to fulfill, although in the current global hospitality trading environment it is in theory easier than it has been at any point over the last four years.