Career news

Hospitality and tourism internships
by Davide Crisante, 28 July 2008

It’s orientation week at Southern Cross University, which has campuses at Lismore, Coffs Harbour, The Gold Coast and Sydney. The university is running a specialist course in Tourism and Hospitality Management where students are required to complete on-the-job training during the final semester of their studies.

What’s more, unlike other internships where students aren’t paid and just make coffee all day, most of these are paid. Yes – PAID.

Hospitality and Tourism is a booming industry, looking for new recruits to help fill the skills shortage. A large number of workers don’t have a Year 12 or equivalent qualification and the vast majority haven’t completed a university degree. This means that workers who have been through university are well placed to quickly enter a management role, which according to mycareer, has a starting salary of around $55 000.

The Internship Coordinator at Southern Cross University, Leanne Baker, says students love the hands-on experience. She says ‘employers love it too because they get to secure highly motivated, exceptional graduates before they’ve actually finished their degree.’

Janette Davie agrees. As the General Manager of Pinpoint Travel she has personally employed over 20 interns since the program started. Two have stayed on as managers and Janette says they are invaluable members to the team.

Want to know what an intern thinks about the whole deal? Janice Rooney is an intern at the Bellingen Shire Council, working closely with the tourism manager. She hasn’t graduated yet, but already has experience working for the National Parks and Wildlife Service.

Orientation week runs from 14 to 18 July 2008.

Image of Girl going on vacation: © Andres Rodriguez | Dreamstime.com
Background image: © Bertrandb | Dreamstime.com