A legendary place to be'' - An internship in New York
As part of the BBA program, students do an internship to get hands-on industry experience. Fourth semester BBA student Nikolaus Szolar headed to the Big Apple, to spend six months in the biz at a world-renowned international hotel. Nikolaus checked in from New York City:
''One of my greatest dreams was always to live in a big city like New York, but I never knew how to make this dream come true. Then I had the huge opportunity to apply for the Carlyle in New York, which is part of the Rosewood Collection. The interview was conducted through Skype, which was highly interesting and strange, but successful; I got accepted just two days later.
Most of the Rosewood Hotels are located in North America, Middle America and the Middle East. The Carlyle is one of the most famous hotels in New York, highly ranked by Conde Nast Travelers Magazine. In 2011 the Carlyle achieved #1 in N.Y. and #8 in the United States. It is known for being a permanent hot spot and is the first choice of a lot of important international business people and celebrities.
My family advised me that applying for the Carlyle would be the optimal chance. It’s probably the best city to gain experience in the field of hospitality in the short time of six months, because tourism never sleeps in New York. There is always something going on!
The internship lasted nearly six months from March 2012 – August 2012. I had the chance to work at the Department of Housekeeping and the Front Desk. In just a couple of days my colleagues fully integrated me in their team and there was good harmony throughout the six months, which definitely helped me feeling comfortable, especially at the beginning. Working with my experienced colleagues and the demanding guests of the Carlyle helped me in improving my language skills, gaining more self-confidence, reducing my shyness towards people, and maturing from an inexperienced to a quite -knowledgeable person about hospitality, even though I spent just six months at the Carlyle.
It was an amazing experience with difficult challenges, such as fulfilling the detailed wishes of particularly demanding guests and trying to satisfy their needs, which we didn’t always match, but that’s part of the business. It was definitely the hardest work I’ve done so far, but it was a unique time of my life. Besides working in New York, the city itself has so much to offer for a young person, so it never gets boring.
MODUL Career helped me with responding to all my questions concerning the preparation for the internship and the visa. They provided great assistance, which made the process of preparation much easier and faster.
My future plans indicate that I first will finish my BBA studies in summer 2013, then continue my studies with an MBA, hopefully in Switzerland. At some point in the future I might consider returning to Rosewood, it’s a good brand to work for with great employees.''
