Hamilton Princess & Beach Club 18

Hotels offer a world of possibility Two young men in the Hamilton Princess & Beach Club’s Leadership Development Programme share their stories of success

Ia step towards success.

Tah-mi Williams was studying sports I realised that hospitality was actually a Having previously worked summer all aspects of food and beverage management at university in the UK when he found himself doing poorly in one of his courses. He decided to return home for a half semester and has never looked back from that decision.

“I was pretty down at the time,” he recalls. “I felt like I had wasted my mom’s money, but it gave me time to think, and jobs at the Grotto Bay Resort and for the BTA at its Visitor Travel Centres, Tah-mi returned to the UK to study hospitality at the University of Salford in Manchester, earning an associates in hospitality followed by a bachelor’s in business with tourism management. He also spent three years working at the Holiday Inn in Salford, an experience he highly recommends to others making their way in the industry. “It was a bit tough working and studying but it was worth it,” he says. “You learn a lot and experience new cultures. You also understand certain levels of service.” His job in the UK also added to his resume and helped him attain his current position in the Hamilton Princess & Beach Club’s Leadership Development Programme, in the food and beverage department. “I had to apply and there were several had a good resume and it felt like a good management for the hotel’s restaurants and other guest services. Tah-mi says he is learning about payroll, scheduling, customer relations, and events while “jumping in to help wherever it is needed”. “I also produce regular reports on everything from total sales and patron

numbers to recording complaints and how they were resolved,” he says.

“I’m right in there already and I feel like it’s adding to what I learned in school.”

While Tah-mi says he picks things up quickly at work, his greatest challenge right now is balancing his home life with the recent birth of his son. to spend with him,” he says. “But that’s also part of my motivation, I have to provide for him.”

While at work Tami says he is focused on “climbing the ladder” which he acknowledges may take some time, but he can see avenues for him to progress: “I’m just getting myself ready to take advantage of those opportunities.”

Jaquan Burrows’ talent for the hospitality industry was recognised and encouraged early.

“When I was 13, I got a summer job at the Port Royal Golf Club through the Government summer job programme,” he recalls. “I was working in the Pro Shop and Caddy Shop and Mr. Greg Maybury (Port Royal manager at the time) encouraged me to further my studies in hospitality — he wanted to see me go further.”

Mr. Maybury’s hopes for Jaquan have come to fruition with Jaquan studying Hospitality and Management at Holland College on Prince Edward Island in Canada, and now enrolled in the Hamilton Princess & Beach Club’s Leadership Development Programme in the Rooms Division.

Jaquan also attributes his present success to a lesson he learned from his mom – following up.

“Hamilton Princess posted various jobs and I was looking at a way of working my way up, getting experience,” he recalls. “So, I applied and when I didn’t hear back my mom encouraged me to follow up. I didn’t want to seem pushy, but I am so glad I did.”

In fact, when Jaquan called back, Roydell Neverson, the Director of Rooms, invited him to apply for the Leadership Programme because she thought he

Now in the programme, Jaquan is learning all aspects of the hotel’s referred to as “back of house” functions like housekeeping, laundry and managing room inventory. As the name suggests, this is the part of the business guests are not supposed to see, but that are multi-faceted and critical to the experience of each visitor.

“It’s about making sure that everything is up to standard,” he says.

Jaquan will also spend eight months working on the “front of house” operations, that includes the front desk, scheduling, payroll, and assigning work each day. He says so far the programme has shown him the importance of showing initiative: “You don’t have to wait to be told what to do. Just jump in and help out or make suggestions if you see something that could work better.”

Ultimately, Jaquan says he could see himself as a general manager one day, or even working to promote tourism in Bermuda as a whole.

“I enjoy being in leadership positions, taking charge and showing initiative. Its problem solving, I enjoy that and just being there to help others.”

Join us in the aviation industry

The Bermuda Civil Aviation Authority (BCAA) is a safety for the airspace surrounding Bermuda. This is a unique space in the aviation sector Bermudians.

Based on what role you are regulation the pathway will you are likely to require a secondary education with a strong focus on maths, physics and chemistry, a in aviation and some relevant industry experience, which may require working overseas.

Trae Brangman is currently completing a student placement with the BCAA Operations team, assisting with the approval of Foreign Operator Permits.

Trae has always been the BCAA attended a Career Fair at Cedarbridge he took the opportunity to ask lots of questions and take advice on how to move forward with a career in aviation. The Director of Operations, Tariq Lynch-Wade, became a to school at Florida Flyers to

earn his pilot licence.

Over the course of two years, Trae obtained his private, commercial, and multi commercial licences and returned to Bermuda as options in the aviation space are broad. While his dream is is enjoying his time with BCAA learning the regulatory side of aviation. "Every day I am learning something new about the business side of aviation, which includes safety oversight, regulations and “My time at BCAA is helping build my experience in that I can make an informed decision on where to focus my career goals.”

A career in aviation doesn’t mean you have to be a pilot

The Bermuda Civil Aviation Authority (BCAA) is an international leader in aviation safety and aircraft regulation with a highly skilled workforce in Bermuda and across the globe. Our team consists of passionate and motivated individuals covering a variety of roles. If you’re technically minded and have an interest in aviation, or your strengths are in business or administration services, we can help develop your career. • Learn more about us and what we do at www.bcaa.bm

• Learn more about the roles and qualifications needed in our various departments at

www.bcaa.bm/careers

A day in the life of an IT specialist Kevin Da Costa talks about his positive experience as IT Consultant for the Government of Bermuda “My work varies and includes some purely technical undertakings like using and assisting with the Customer Relationship Management platform (CRM). Other aspects of my work go beyond pure IT: I assist client functions such as compliance, marketing, communications, and education.

Typically, I start work by spending at least an hour reading all my unread emails. Every day, I dedicate at least an hour or two going through all of the data inside of the CRM to ensure that it is correct. I spend some time completing requests sent to me by my co-workers, and dedicate a few additional hours every day conducting research. It may not seem important but that exercise keeps any professional up-to-date on the latest technology updates and innovations.

I also reserve one day a week to doing backups, testing backups, and reviewing all of the data for correctness.

In general, whenever my assistance is needed, I show up. Not addressing a colleague’s request could delay or jeopardise their work. Even worse, a seemingly small, unattended IT glitch could mushroom into a much larger problem.

IT?

I was interested in technology but never considered it a possible carreer. All of that changed in high school during my Communication Technologies.

I enjoyed that class. It helped me learn that technolgy is not going away anytime soon, it is here to stay and it is constantly evolving. I knew I wanted to play an active role in that ever-growing evolution. Do your research: • What is required for you to progress in • What is the typical day-to-day work like? • How soon can you get an internship or work-shadow opportunity in that

Obtain these answers, and more, before you commit to a degree. You do not want to pay a fortune for your really are not enjoying the industry.

If you do not yet have a specialisation in mind, optimise on this hesitation. Explore your strengths and preferences and investigate what you like to do.

Seize every opportunity that is presented to you. If none, approach discuss the creation of one. somebody to whom you can go to for advice. Getting into IT is a road with lots of bumps. Most of the time, you are not going to be able to do everything yourself or you may not always know what the next steps should be. That is why it is important to network with the local IT community. Its more experienced members are usually happy and available to mentor new entrants.