Middle East Hotels Play Important Role at SEG Recruitment Forum

Jan 22, 10 | 1:52 am

By Rikard Lundvall

The Swiss Education Group (SEG), comprising of 4 of the leading Swiss hotel schools, hosted its annual recruitment forum at the end of 2009, giving the opportunity for worldwide employers and over 1600 students to meet each other.  Students of an extensive variety of nationalities and various international employers gathered at this event to network, exchange ideas, and ideally to sign employment contracts.

Hospitality Graduate Recruitment (HGR) was very pleased to be attending the forum, at what proved to be a great networking event.  HGR has a very strong relationship with its Swiss partner hotel schools and keeps in regular contact through visits, presentations, career fairs and events of this kind.

A key business region for HGR is the Middle East (ME), to which it regularly promotes job opportunities to its network of global hotel school partners, as well as to its current hospitality students and graduate members.  The ME region can be of particular interest to students and graduates because of the vast ongoing hospitality development, and the diverse experience available as a result of employment in the region.  Moreover the ME is one of the most flexible regions in terms of nationality diversity - employment visas are much easier to obtain than in many other employment markets - which means that the ME hotel market is particularly attractive for Asian students and graduates, and other nationality groupings that currently have a hard time finding employment in Europe for example.

HGR was proud to host one of its key employer customers, Atlantis The Palm Dubai.  Stephen Wilson (Vice President Talent Development and HR Administration for Atlantis Dubai) visited the event in Montreux.  "HGR has proven to be a valuable and effective contact and link to European Hotel Schools for us. This event allowed us to establish relationships with key players in Swiss Hotel Schools and to meet the future leaders of the hospitality industry.  Of particular interest was the large number of Scandinavian, Asian and Russian students, with whom we interviewed and met informally.  The diversity of nationalities and language skills of the students, combined with the mix of work experience, gave us a large pool of talent to choose from for the various vacancies we currently have at entry and supervisory level in the hotel. "

Hotels in the ME are very attractive employers for many European hotel schools and their students and graduates. The attendance of an iconic hotel from Dubai was an exciting and informative experience for many of the students, who perhaps had a limited knowledge about the United Arab Emirates (UAE).   It was very useful for all to understand more about the working and social culture in the UAE.  Mathilde Armour, Alumni Coordinator and organizer of the SEG Forum states "The SEG International Recruitment Forum was a great success!   It was a pleasure to host HGR and Atlantis The Palm Dubai, which was of immense interest to our students as a potential employer.  Coming from over 70 different countries, many are very interested in working in the ME.  Building a strong partnership with these future employers is a great advantage for our students."

Rikard Lundvall, HR Consultant for HGR adds that "HGR is always happy to help its employer members gain valuable contacts in the industry and is confident that this event will strengthen the relationship between HGR, the SEG group, and Atlantis The Palm Dubai. We work with many key hotels in the ME and it is essential for our business to keep strong relationships with our partners in this region."

For any additional information about this event or about HGR, please contact Mr Rikard Lundvall on rikard@h-g-r.com.


About Hospitality Graduate Recruitment (www.H-G-R.Com)

Hospitality Graduate Recruitment (HGR) helps global hospitality employers find hotel school students and alumni for entry level, supervisory, trainee and junior management positions.  HGR operates a leading website which allows you to search for candidates and allows students and alumni to apply online to vacancies.  HGR works with over 270 partner hospitality management schools internationally, offering an extensive and diverse network of fresh talent. 

Visit www.h-g-r.com for more information or contact Jeff N Ross, Managing Director, Hospitality Graduate Recruitment, Tribschenstrasse 70, Luzern, 6005, Switzerland, Tel Direct: +41 41 370 6759, jeff@h-g-r.com.