Topic: Work Experience
Company name: Apex Hotels Ltd.
Scheme partner: National Council for Work Experience (NCWE)

About NCWE
The National Council for Work Experience is part of HECSU, the Higher Education Careers Services Unit. It promotes, supports and develops quality work experience for the benefit of students, organisations and the economy.

About Apex Hotels
Apex Hotels is a family owned hotel chain with three hotels in Edinburgh, one in Dundee and one in London. A further hotel in Edinburgh is opening this year, along with a second London property planned for 2009.

Total number of employees
480 employees, both full-time and part-time. In addition to this there are also a number of students carrying out work placements and internships along with a number of fixed term, temporary employees.

Operational countries
Apex Hotels currently operates in the UK only.

Challenge
Often work experience is marred with images of tea-making and filing, but this is not the case with modern work experience programmes.  Employers today face the challenge of implementing and maintaining a quality programme that benefits both the company and the individual. Structured programmes can enable companies to complete projects, recruit new employees and allow the student invaluable workplace experience.

Project name
Work experience programme.

Project manager
Jointly managed by Queen Margaret University and Apex Hotel’s Human Resources department.

Length of scheme
Apex Hotels have a long standing and successful relationship with Queen Margaret University. They currently have 12 graduates working on a full-time basis at the hotel.

Work experience structure
• The work experience programme at Apex Hotels is run in partnership with Queen Margaret University, with the hotel taking placements students from the International Hospitality Management course.

• Apex Hotels agree a profile for students who would be best suited to a work experience programme with the University. 

• A short list is then drawn up of students who meet this profile and they are then invited to a formal interview.

• The interview consists of a face-to-face behavioural style interview. Applicants are also asked to choose a topic to present on which is current to Apex Hotels Business Strategy but that is also relevant to the Hospitality Industry as a whole.

• Once a student has been selected to take part in the work experience programme to suit the student’s particular needs and experience.  For example if a student has had a great deal of operational food and beverage experience it would be more beneficial for them to develop knowledge and gain experience of sales, revenue and marketing areas of the business.

Benefits
• The programme allows both the student and the company’s current employees to learn from each other and share knowledge. This gives both the opportunity to develop their hospitality skills by working along side each other, communicating with each other and observing each other.

• Students benefit from hands-on experience of the hospitality industry, an experience which allows them to put some of their theoretical knowledge into practice.

• The company benefits as the students make a real contribution to the areas within which they are working.

Results
• Students grow in confidence whilst making a real contribution to the areas of the business that they are working within.

• Some students have presented feasible recommendations for changes that could be made to the hotel in order to benefit the company as a whole.

• Apex Hotels is a finalist in the ‘Careers Advisor Nomination’ category at the 2008 NCWE Awards.

Lessons
• One size does not fit all – work experience programmes need to be tailored to meet the needs of the placement student in order for them to be beneficial for all involved.

• Initially Apex Hotels offered the same placement every year with the student dividing their time between Food and Beverage, Housekeeping and the Front Desk. This is too rigid and does not suit every student.

• As a result of this the hotel changed the way the student was selected to include a presentation in the interview. This allowed the HR team to look more closely at which department(s) the student should be placed in.

Future plans
• Following the completion of the two most recent acquisitions in Edinburgh and London, Apex Hotels are planning to introduce a graduate scheme to enable future growth of the company.

Key tips

1. Always meet and select candidates face-to-face in order to get a real understanding of what they already know. Students can then be placed into a part of the organisation that will best suit their further development needs.

2. Maintain regular communication with your university contact. This ensures that everyone is up-to-date with the progress of the student and allows any issues that arise to be resolved quickly.

3. Get involved in other aspects of university’s activities i.e. attend job fairs, recruitment events, present to the students as an employer.  This strengthens the relationship between the two organisations, raising the profile of the company within the university and with the students.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

The National Council for Work Experience is part of HECSU, the Higher Education Careers Services Unit. It promotes, supports and develops quality work experience for the benefit of students, organisations and the economy. Its role includes disseminating information and good practice, encouraging the development of quality standards and encouraging more employers to provide placement opportunities. NCWE run an annual awards scheme to encourage and reward organisations that display good practice in work experience.


National Council for Work Experience and the Quality Mark accreditation scheme:
T: 0161 277 5267
E: workexperience@prospects.ac.uk
www.work-experience.org


ADDRESS:

National Council for Work Experience
Prospects House
Booth Street
Manchester
M13 9EP