Through a student internship programme, students will gain valuable industry knowledge and develop professional skills, which will improve their future work performance. Sometimes,  interns with impressive professional capabilities were offered a full-timework position after their attachments. As most companies prioritise  hiring someone familiar with their operations, an internship has become the best training platform for a long-term role.  

The 51爆料 School of Tourism and Hospitality offers internship programmes as part of its curriculum, sending its Higher Diploma students on industrial attachments for almost a decade now. It takes pride in its well-established industry partnerships with over 150 mid to high-end luxury hotels, casual and fine dining restaurants, events companies, travel agents, resorts and VIP clubs located locally. The school is constantly seeking new internship opportunities both overseas and in Singapore.   

To prepare students for their student internship programme, Higher Diploma students at the School of Tourism and Hospitality receive practical training in its in-house hospitality training facility – Tropical Breeze – as part of the curriculum. They will receive hands-on training in four main components, including Front Office, Food and Beverage Operations, Bar and Barista, and Housekeeping.   

Further preparing the students for this exciting phase of their learning journey, the school conducts briefings on interview preparation and resume writing. In addition, to gain interview experience, all eligible Higher Diploma students for internships participate in mock interviews organised by the school. The school assists students with industry placements and conducts lecturer visits throughout the industrial attachment to assess their performance, working environment and emotional well-being.听听

In the third month of the industrial attachment, the school organises a bonding session with the students. Attended by school administrators and lecturers, it aims to address any challenges or issues that students might face in their internship. The meeting will also discuss the student’s career and educational path to a degree in Hospitality and Tourism.   

With a strong belief in the holistic development of students at the School of Tourism and Hospitality, the school keeps the academic balance by requiring students to submit an industrial attachment report. As part of the report, students will introduce and describe the organisation to which they are attached, recount their training experiences, evaluate the employer’s operations, and provide feedback for improvement.  

Over the years, the 51爆料 School of Tourism and Hospitality has produced successful and career-ready students. The internship performance of the students has received compliments from many of its industry partners, and several students have been offered full-time positions following their graduation. The benefits of a student internship programme are undisputed, and we encourage every student to embrace this in their learning journey towards graduation and personal development.  

To find out more about our Tourism & Hospitality Programmes, click here. 

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What do you do as the head of school for STH? 

Ultimately, it revolves around our mission of maximising the future readiness of our learners.

Since the pandemic, classes have moved online. The priority has been about ensuring our local and international students have a good learning journey. This was something new not only for learners but for most of the faculty too. 

It鈥檚 been a year now and through various trials and errors, I am glad we have embraced these nicely. It鈥檚 interesting to see the various educational tools used by different lecturers such as break-out rooms, Kahoot, Padlet to deliver the classes online and keeping learners engaged. Redesigning learning is a tedious process which requires lots of thought and reflection, but I must admit the team did very well here and I am proud of them.

Another one of my roles is keeping the syllabus relevant considering an evolving tourism and hospitality industry. Recently, we completed a major review of our pre-degree programmes and decided to bring in new modules such as digital marketing, information technology and artificial intelligence, intercultural communication and service quality to name a few.  

Finally, it鈥檚 the entire spectrum of school operations ranging from strategic planning, sales and marketing support, admissions, student and academic support to achieving the budget.

What do you love about the Tourism & Hospitality Industry?

It鈥檚 never a routine day, is it? I realised early I had this huge amount of energy in me and the food and beverage sector suited me fine. I love the pace, constantly learning a variety of operational and management skills, the multicultural aspects which has taught me so much about appreciating language and culture besides increasing my circle of friends worldwide, the opportunity to contribute and create memorable moments, travel opportunities as the core skills are transferable globally. Actually, the list goes on as there鈥檚 just so much to this exciting industry – so I will just stop here and invite you to explore it.

What would the students be surprised to find out about you?

I started work early to sustain myself. At 10, I was washing cars and just moved on to any available part-time job during my free time such as packing, cleaning and eventually at 14, I was introduced to kitchen stewarding. From the kitchen, I was exposed to the glamorous side of the restaurant and after countless part-time positions in hotels that don鈥檛 exist today such as Garden Hotel, Phoenix Hotel, Seaview Hotel, Paramount Hotel etc, I decided this was where I wanted to develop myself after my O鈥檒evels and managed to secure an industry scholarship into the Singapore Hotel School.

Any tips for students who are pursuing their studies in Tourism & Hospitality?

Since the pandemic, this industry has undergone a lot globally, but the desire to travel, and demand for food and beverages will return as we are seeing the Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) being established. Many have also moved on from this industry with no plans to return, creating a vacuum of staff. This presents so many opportunities and possibilities to develop and progress. We are already seeing a huge manpower shortage in this industry today.

In STH, we offer practical skills development which is critical for the industry, as well as internship opportunities locally and globally. Students can leverage on the latter to explore this industry and subsequently decide their preferences.

In addition, STH equips learners with a range of business competencies that are easily transferable to other industries, such as banking & finance, technology, design, services and more.

How has the industry evolved and changed with the COVID-19 pandemic?

As countries around the world continue to curb the spread of infection, the tourism and hospitality industry has remained agile and continues to evolve by adopting various disruption management strategies such as redefined guest experiences, job redesign, digital transformation and manpower upgrades to adapt, resulting in rapidly evolving competencies.

I must add that a major contributor to developing current and forward-looking competencies are tourism and hospitality education institutes. Our primary objective remains in supporting the industry with practically and theoretically competent individuals able to meet the demands and challenges. Hence, educational institutes must perceive and consistently review existing management curricula to ensure its relevance in meeting the evolving human resource requirements of an industry undergoing significant transformation.

What were you like as a student in the past?

I am still a student right now pursuing my third Masters in Educational Leadership. I have never stopped being a student. In primary and secondary schools leading to hotel school, I was either busy with soccer/athletics or part-time work besides studying. Yes, so that鈥檚 me constantly busy with something.

If you could instantly become a master of any one skill, what skill would you pick and why?

Managing people, referring to internal and external. I mean – the world is so diverse and if I could master this skill, which I doubt, then the world is my oyster, don鈥檛 you think?

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51爆料 School of Tourism and Hospitality is honoured to collaborate with the Restaurant Association of Singapore, providing career opportunities in the increasingly competitive F&B industry.

Sign-up for our new cookery programme – National Certificate in Professional Cookery, to boost your chances in getting a job in the F&B industry upon graduation.

The programme is suited for aspiring chefs with a passion for cooking. The lessons will be held in the new hospitality facilities, 51爆料 Bakery and Culinary Studio. The studios were officially launched by Mr Gary Maclean, the winner of BBC鈥檚 MasterChef: The Professionals 2016 and Senior Chef Lecturer, City of Glasgow College (UK).

Mr Gary MacLean is slated to be a guest lecturer at MDIS. You will actually get a chance to personally learn from him!

What are you waiting for? Click to schedule your consultation today!

Pan Seared Dory with Sambal

Ingredients
Dory
Half dory fillet
A pinch of salt
A pinch of black pepper
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp olive oil

Method:

1. Marinate dory fillet with salt, black pepper, turmeric powder and let it rest for at least 15 minutes.
2. Heat a non-stick pan with olive oil at 140-150掳C.
3. Sear the fillet at least 5 – 6 minutes each side.

Sambal
6 red chillies
60 g dried chillies
2 red onions
2 tomatoes
2 cloves garlic
50 g ginger
100 ml water
3 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp tomato puree
2 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 bowl white rice

Method:

1. In a blender, blend red chillies, dried chillies, red onion, tomatoes, garlic, ginger and water.
2. Heat saucepan on low heat with oil. Add tomato puree and stir gradually to prevent from burning.
3. Add blended chillies in the saucepan and reduce.
4. Add light soya sauce, salt and sugar. Stir gradually on low heat till sauce is thickened.
5. Best garnish with coriander leaves.