Tuesday, January 4, 2011

EDUCATION VERSUS EXPERIENCE

Over the last 20 years I have opened several hotels and restaurants this does not include seasonal properties which I have managed, all of which involved extensive recruitment.

Throughout the process of hiring often raises the question is education or qualifications more important than industry gained experience.

I have always kept an open mind when recruiting even when looking for key management positions, corporate hotels I have worked for will insist on formal qualifications and education.

For a big part of my career I have worked for private owners which have allowed me to select candidates with no strict criteria.

In the late 1990’s I was the General Manager of a two Michelin Starred restaurant rated as one of the top 10 in the UK, to my surprise the Head Chef had no formal training as a Chef but had worked his way up the ranks from a kitchen porter covering every area of the kitchen under the guidance of the Chef proprietor eventually becoming Head Chef. To this day he is in my eyes one of the best Chef’s I have had the pleasure to work with, great attention to detail, an excellent leader, trainer and mentor to all those around him.

More recently I was GM of a high profile 5 Star resort and needed to find an Executive Chef for which I interviewed several candidates and finally selected who I thought would be the best for the role.

The person I appointed had no formal qualifications but I felt strongly he was the right person, unfortunately not everybody agreed and his appointment was initially frowned upon.

Since then that particular person has completed 4 very successful seasons and has become a great ambassador for the property.

Qualifications are very important and valuable, they are certainly are big plus when looking for employment, however it is an individual’s work ethic, professionalism, leadership qualities and job skills that will determine their future.

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