Lifestyle With Steve! having Judith with him to talk about Internships!

Steve : Good afternoon, Steve here on lifestyle. Taking you right away through until three o'clock. And then Jason on drive between 3 and 7. Now between 1 and 2, on a daily basis, we like to drag somebody into the studio, sit them down and have a little chat about what they do. And today, it’s making debut on the radio, is this young lady here. Feeling a little nervous. You’re not nervous, are you Judith?

Judith : Just a little.

Steve : Hold my hand, you’ll be fine, you’ll be fine. You’ll be ok. Judith has got a great personality, she is a very buzzy person. She is in here today to tell us all about Internships Thailand. Now before we go into Internships Thailand. What actually is an intern?

Judith : Well an intern is actually a multinational student who does a practical training in hospitality in Thailand. That is to use their theoretical knowledge that they got from the university or hotel schools. This is to use it in a real work experience. The students are usually Graduates or Undergraduates. And they’re the future generation of hoteliers.

Steve : Right ok. Very interesting. By the way, Judith has got a big background working in hotel industry. You have basically been in Thailand for a few years, haven’t you?

Judith : Yes, approximately 8 years I would say.

Steve : For how long have you been in Phuket then?

Judith : In Phuket, for about 3 years.

Steve : So you know the place very well and obviously your background comes from hospitality and hotels. Me, I have travelled around the world and stayed a lot in these 5 star hotels so it’s very important for them to get the right kind of people. You sort of cherry pick these people and they want to get into the industry. Are they mad getting into the Hotel industry?

Judith : Yeah, they are really really excited to get into there. Because for the interns it’s a really big advantage to stand out of the crowd when they apply for jobs later, after they have finished the internship and after they have graduated. And for the hotel it’s very important to have multinational staff because the interns, they bring not only their own mother language but they bring also a lot of skill and knowledge with them. For example, in many cases, in the hotels they speak only English. And then our interns might speak Russian as well, or German, Chinese, Korean. They have many nationalities.

Steve : Clever people these days.

Judith : Yes very clever people. They are really really smart people that we are having.

Steve : Ok, tell us a little bit more about Internships Thailand. What does internships Thailand do?

Judith : What we do is, we offer custom designed internships in the Hospitality in Thailand. And we have international agents, like educational consultants, universities, hotel schools and also internship agencies. And then, for our local partners, they are usually 4 & 5 Star hotels, mainly in Phuket, Phang Nga and Krabi. But since we’re getting more and more demands from interns all over the world, we are expanding our program to other major tourist areas such as Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Samui, Pattaya and more, more and more.

Steve : It’s such a big Industry. Obviously in Thailand, they do rely on Hospitality and tourism.

Judith : Yes, especially in Phuket, it makes up like 70 to 80% of the industry coming through hospitality in Phuket.

Steve : And they have to be ready for the change as well. I mean, even in the small time I’ve been here, in the beautiful part of the world. There is a lot more people coming in from Russia and there is a lot more people coming in from China moving to have a look at this beautiful place. You are there to try and help to adapt these people. Maybe someone comes from the UK. And in the existence of the UK, we in Britain, we only learn one language. Back to the old empire days, you see. And when we were in school we were given the choice to learn another language but basically we were not sort of pushed to do it. Getting those kind of people here, is very very important. You try to get a fusion of Asian background, European background. Very big international background.

Judith : Yes but also American background. Especially, if they can speak one more language besides English. We always very interested. Also the South American part, because they also speak many languages. Besides Spanish and Italian, they have also many many nationalities there that are really interesting. Of course Asian also.

Steve : So have you seen a lot of big differences in the time that you’ve been here? Obviously, you have background from hospitality. Do you see a lot of things changing; is it sort of changing that’s going to happen more and more over the next x amount of years? Or is there a set plan to it, you think?

Judith : Yes, I would say I definitely see a change in the hospitality, concerning the websites, the social media, because nowadays it’s very easy for a customer or hotel guest to look into the websites before actually booking. It’s very transparent, because they can see the hotel. They can see comments from all over the world from people on Trip Advisor.

Steve : It comes up a lot here, Trip Advisor

Judith : I guess it does, yes. It’s a very important website. A very important platform for people to let some steam off or also to give good comments, of course. And our website is www.internshipsthailand.com, with s. In case you forget the s, you end up on page that exists but it’s not ours, it’s not in use, so you don’t want to get that wrong.

Steve : Because it’s interesting, your actual website is very colorful and bright. And it obviously highlights the beautiful part of the world that we live in.

Judith : Thanks.

Steve : But you were saying before, the news, social media etc. plays a big big part of it. So obviously, first impression is a big thing isn’t it?

Judith : Yes exactly, it is really important to make a good first impression. And also on our website, you will find links to the social media such as Facebook, twitter, we are also on blogger. That is our new blog, it has just been launched last week.
 

Steve : You put that together?

Judith : Well, I put together, that we enter the social media more. But I distribute the task to my employees.

Steve : Ok. When I was growing up, many many years ago, my father as well.  When we used to sort of look in trying to get a job, there used to be something called "an apprenticeship". So you sort of serve an apprenticeship for 3 or 4 years, maybe have a day release at college, if you’re going to be a mechanic etc. I don’t see that these days, cause possibly there is a lot of people who don’t stay in jobs long enough, number one. Or the Jobs aren’t there. So times have changed a little bit. I’m going to ask you an interesting question. Because I’m probably working towards the answer.  Why should actually a hotel take on an intern?

Judith : Well, because the intern, like I said before, is multilingual. That is a great advantage for the hotel. The hotels can actually provide the hotel guests with a contact person who speaks the guest’s mother tongue. So that’s a big advantage for the hotel. It also looks very good if you have an intern for example in Front office or Food & Beverage. And the guests can see it’s really an international company, because they’re having international staff there.

Steve : Of course yes. So when you bring in these people, they obviously want to get into this industry. It is like an apprenticeship for them as well, isn’t it?

Judith : It is, really, yes.

Steve : So how do you actually supervise these particular interns? Since you get hold of somebody and you sort of put them under your wing, what happens then?

Judith : Well, first of all when we get the inquiry from the interns, we access their CV’s, and then we have a Skype interview with them as well. And we want to make sure that we get interns who will fit into the hotel requirements and to place the intern in the perfect match with the host company. We make sure really that they fit into what the hotel needs in terms of language also the skills, the department as well. They really are perfect match for both sides, both parties.

Steve : Do you get a lot of interest from Thais themselves to get involved in an internship?

Judith : Actually, not too many. We are more with the international side.

Steve : Because there is an opportunity there, obviously this is their country and hospitality etc.

Judith : Exactly, but if Thais would like to do an internship, they can just call up to the hotel and ask directly, they wouldn’t really need us too much, I suppose.

Steve : Good answer. So basically, when you take them under your wing, what support will you actually give the intern?

Judith : Well, the interns get a whole package of support from us. We have a monthly social event, where we take the interns, well our interns from Phuket because we're based here, on an excursion or a nice lunch or dinner.

Steve : Can I come?

Judith : Yes, of course you can come. Next time will be in March. So we monitor the interns’ progress. We have three appraisals with them during the internship together with the hotel supervisor. To ensure they are making progress and they’re happy with the internships, both parties.

Steve : That’s very interesting, of course with the home sickness and sort of being in another part of the world. That plays a big part.

Judith : Yes, also. We are always available via phone. They have 24/7 point of contact with us. They get our private mobile phone numbers. They can call us whenever they need us. And also they have the website, the Facebook, the twitter. And of course the parents are also invited if they want to join the conversation or need to ask us anything.
 

Steve : That’s a good idea. This is proving to be a successful thing. I mean, with Internships Thailand you’re sort of gradually building as you go along, as well. I mean, if for instance, someone comes in to sort of contact you. And you sort of get the idea, “Yeah yeah, you’re really going to be good”. Do they ever get cold feet, and they think “Oh no, I don’t want to do it”. Do you ever get that situation where you go; “Yeah I want to go for it”. You set it all up, and they back out. You try to convince them? Is that a good idea?

Judith : No, no, usually after we receive the inquiry and we access their CV and we had the interview, we find the perfect match internship for them. So it really fits to their skills and what we feel they’re able to do. It will be exactly what they need, so. So far we have never had anyone who would not take our offer and back out. It has never happened so far. Knock on wood it’s not going to happen.

Steve : A question I didn’t ask you, because we talk all about this. Is there any sort of age limit for an intern? Could I do it? Or am I too old now? What are you laughing at?

Judith : If you under 35, yes definitely.

Steve : Well, my waistline is.

Judith : Our age requirements are 18 to 35.

Steve : Oh, right. Really, as far up as 35? So if someone is looking for a career change it’s a good opportunity for them.

Judith : Sure, you could definitely send your CV and we check it first.

Steve : Ok, well I will mention it to Jason Wilder for you, on your behalf. internshipsthailand.com. Great website, details and contact numbers etc.

Judith : Our website is internshipsthailand.com, with the s. We have the same name for the Facebook account, so you could also check on our Facebook. Twitter would be InternshipsThai. And the blog is internships-thailand.blogspot.com. But you could also call to us on 076 612 550.

Steve : And you’ve got an email address they can contact you as well.

Judith : Yes, my email address would be info@internshipsthailand.com.

Steve : Well, it’s been a pleasure speaking to you, thank you very much indeed for coming in and have a little chat with us.

Judith : Thank you.

Steve : Check out the website by the way, internshipsthailand.com and Judith will answer any question for you as best as she possibly can with all the experience she’s had here in this beautiful part of the world.

Judith : Of course.

Steve : Judith, thanks for popping in to speak to us.

Judith : Thank you very much Steve.