Mr Subhuj Pradhan
During the ME Alliance Student Seminar, we spoke to a lot of international students and temporary migrants who were qualified, but under-employed or finding it hard to find full-time employment. In order to get a few pertinent questions answered, ME Connect spoke to a manager in the hospitality industry for an insight into what gets a candidate hired.
Mr Subhuj Pradhan is the Assistant General Manager of the Cambridge Management that manages three properties in the heart of Sydney’s vibrant Surry Hills. As a previous international student from Nepal and as a busy manager for three, four and five star properties, Subhuj hires many fresh graduates and we feel his insights can help our readers.
Subhuj says international students have the experience and knowledge of different markets that can be extremely beneficial when being hired for customer facing jobs in the hospitality and the service industry. However many students need to concentrate on creating an effective resume and work on their interview skills.
He says “Australia has a multitude of opportunities. This country doesn’t judge you by your color, sex, ethnic background etc. As long as you know you have a vision and you are on that path people respect you.”
He believes this is a great place to study and work, the hospitality industry in Australia is booming and set to get even bigger in the coming years. The key attributes that any hospitality professional must cultivate are simple but very essential. “When I speak to my team; I tell them to put themselves in the customer’s shoes and treat guests exactly the way one prefers to be treated and they will have a successful hospitality career. Guest is everything. Empathy, understanding, knowledge and time management are definitely the key attributes. However as one progresses in this business one has to become an innovative decision maker, technologically sound and understand the expectations from all stakeholders like guest, owners and staff.”
When hiring staff it’s the little things that make a difference between being hired and being overlooked. Subhuj says “Confidence, past experience, their genuine desire to progress and work within a team are things I look for when hiring someone. In this industry personal grooming is very important, as is personal attitude. If one lacks experience training can always be provided to enhance and sharpen the skill sets.”
