Macdonald Hotels recruits for a successful season

Macdonald Hotels Ltd is launching a new group intern partnership programme in conjunction with the world renowned Swiss Education Group (SEG) to help relieve general managers of the cost and time implications of recruiting.

Set up by Dr Craig Thompson, who was previously academic director of SEG, the intern programme lasts for a minimum of 16 weeks and is designed to provide more experienced, committed and capable recruits. Hotels will benefit from a rolling supply of the best interns available, meaning the difficulties surrounding seasonal staff are minimised.

The first Macdonald interns, Gina Lokke from Norway and Carina Favero from Germany, started their placements at the Macdonald Aviemore Highland Resort in February and have already made an impact, as Sean Sullivan, managing director explained: ìWithin a week of arriving, the interns completely understood our booking system, the resort layout and many of our internal processes, which they had learned during their course work.

ìWe were staggered by how quickly Gina and Carina learned and how well they bonded with the team. They are a real asset and we are already talking with Craig Thompson about taking on more interns to help us fill other roles during the year.î

The internship programme is a key element of a two and a half year course at SEG, undertaken by 1600 students a year. All tuition is undertaken in English ensuring students have a strong command of the language.