The Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja, has embarked on a capacity-building programme toward educating young persons about existing career opportunities in the hospitality industry.

The annual training, in collaboration with a non-governmental organization, ACE Charity, tagged “Career@Hilton Hospitality Programme” with the theme: “Find Your Thing,” which lasted for two weeks with about 15 interns, has been described as an enlightening career event organized by the hotel in Abuja.

According to the Director of Human Resources, Transcorp Hilton, Olakunle Olorunnisola, the mentorship program was part of the hotel's concerted efforts to educate people who know nothing about the hospitality industry to open them to the different sectors in the industry.

Olorunnisola said: "This is because a hotel is a one-stop shop for everything. We have different sections, accounts, human resources, sales, PR, laundry, kitchen, and more. Most of what people see when they come into the hotel is the waiter and sometimes the chef because of their uniforms.

“What they know about hospitality is just what they see in front. So with this, it opens them up to see what they can do if they decide to join the hospitality industry.

“Bringing them into the system, they understand that there are people at the back end, who ensure the smooth running of operations and which is a career they can pursue.

The Director admonished the trainees to make this count, by making important connections that will enhance the foundation laid for them and make the best use of it.

On her part, the E-Commerce Manager, Public Relations and Marketing Department, Transcorp Hilton, Ijeoma Osuji, reiterated that the program was created for youth in the society who have no knowledge or the faintest idea as of the careers that exist in hospitality, to have an understanding of what career path they can undertake.

“It is believed that in the hotel industry, depending on the carrier you have or your qualification, you may not fit. The essence of this programme was to make them understand that irrespective of what you graduated from in school, or whatever your qualification is, there is a career path that you can grow.

“The team members in the Accounts Department are all ICAN certified, so also there are qualified persons in another department. Most people just feel those working in the hospitality sector are in the low classes of qualification like the school certificate, that is why we create this vision to make people understand that whatever study, you have a place in the hospitality industry," Osuji said.

Also, Senior Programmes Officer of ACE Charity, Hasana Shaibu, maintained that the main focus was youth empowerment, adding the collaboration was to aid young graduates to improve their work employability.

Shaibu noted that "this is an opportunity for them to gain that work experience, to prepare them for the future and future career.

“They say the youth are future leaders of tomorrow when they are the leaders of now; if the youth do not grow, Nigeria is not going to grow, and our economy will not grow. So we need young people who are independent, self-sufficient, who can be gainfully employed and should be employable so that they can contribute to the growth of the country.”

One of the interns, Gloria Fatinikun, who won the award for the most outstanding trainee and was offered automatic employment to work in the Hilton, while expressing her gratitude disclosed: “I did not see this coming.”

Fatinikun advised that the youth should not joke with opportunities, “start first and give it your all because you don't know what might come out of it.”

The highlight of the event was the presentation of certificates to the trainees.