Hospitality Internships – Starting Offers for Hotel & Hospitality Interns
New Zealand Hospitality Internship – Starting Offer
90% of Internships offered in New Zealand are in the Tourism/Hotel/Hospitality field. The initial internship offer we get from New Zealand Tourism/Hotel/Hospitality employers are for two positions primarily.
The most common internship position offered is in Rooms Division (housekeeping) and the second area is in Food and Beverage.
New Zealand employers are VERY reluctant to offer personnel management/ business/administration/supervisory positions to any intern until they can be assessed.
Below we explain why the initial internship offer is at a lower level than many students are capable of operating at. Often it is difficult to see the connection between the offer and how that directly relates to the level of their tertiary study.
As previously stated most interns starting in Hotels in New Zealand will have to start in Rooms Division (Housekeeping) or Food and Beverage until the hotel can observe the intern at work to see their:
- Skill levels
- Work ethic
- Ability to work as a Team Player
- Suitability for a more senior role (managing people/ administration)
- Where in the hotel you would best fit in
Why are These Positions Offered?
Due to the fact that the New Zealand employer cannot interview the intern face to face, in most cases the employer will contact the referees and will require the intern to start at a lower level than the intern would desire until they can be assessed by management.
Whilst working in Housekeeping/Food and Beverage the intern will learn about the following areas that she/he will need to be well informed of before they can be placed in other areas in the hotel:
- The town/city the hotel is located in and the surrounding area
- What tourist attractions are in the area and how to access these attractions
- The way in which the hotel operates in the New Zealand business environment
Interns are encouraged to have their Drivers Licence so they can be considered to work on the Front Desk.
How do I Move up or Around the Hotel?
An intern who proves they are hard working and a team player can apply for any vacancy that becomes available in the hotel during their internship period, and if proven to be as good and hardworking as they state in their Application can be rotated through a number of departments.
Typical positions interns have in New Zealand (after initially starting in Rooms Division or Food and Beverage):
- Room Attendant Manager
- Porter
- Front Desk
- Accounts
- Administration
- Human Resources Assistant
- Kitchen Hand
- Food and Beverage
- Bar staff
- Shift Supervisor in all areas
- Guest Relations Manager
- Concierge
Below is a quote from a HR Manager of a Hotel Chain that employs many of our interns:
“With interns placed in New Zealand once they have proved themselves as great workers and reliable there is the opportunity to move to other departments. We recently had an intern who started in housekeeping be promoted to “Guest Activities Manager” and this is the attitude your interns will experience in New Zealand. Your initial offer is ONLY a start and as we say here in New Zealand “the sky is the limit” in other words the interns work experience will only be limited by their own attitude and work ethics, good workers with a happy attitude will be given EVERY opportunity!”
What now – More Information or How to Apply
For further information on the programme please see our Hospitality and Tourism Internships page for step-by-step details. If you are ready to apply for the Hospitality or Tourism internship please see the How to Apply page for next steps.
If you have any questions or would like to talk through what we can offer you, the Intern Options team would love to hear from you. You can call us in the office on 0207 353 7699 or via email to info@internoptions.com. You can also book an appointment to stop by our London office for a chat.
Alternatively you can click on the “Enquire Now” button below, fill in your details and we will get back to you as fast as we can.
