Five years after its inception, the Queenstown Resort College has grown from a modest operation catering for 11 students to a fully-fledged tertiary institution with a roll of just under 300. Joe Dodgshun speaks to graduate Vivian Lyngdoh (20), who is having an agonising wait for his visa before he can start his new job at the luxury Millbrook Resort, near Arrowtown.
"I just got offered a reservations/sales specialist job at Millbrook Resort, Queenstown," Vivian said.
"However, I am still on the verge of getting my visa, which unfortunately has forced me to take a holiday before starting my exciting venture within Millbrook."
His new job will involve attracting potential clients to the resort and he says this experience in itself would be the best part of the job.
"I would say the bringing in of customers to the resort to have them enjoy the Queenstown experience and having known that I have made a contribution to their experience will be quite rewarding - not forgetting the resort itself is absolutely beautiful and that scenic drive to Millbrook is a good start to the day."
For someone who came to Queenstown with no experience whatsoever in hospitality, Vivian says QRC gave him an excellent platform for a start in the industry.
"The subjects being taught at the college ranged from housekeeping to marketing to food service to macroeconomics, everything I needed to know about the industry ... After completing my internship at Eichardts Private Hotel, I, in full confidence and with no regrets, can say QRC has been a major contributing factor as to where I am now and where I will continue to go in the future in the industry."
Along with the skills gained on the course, asking the right questions and getting the right answers at the right time had contributed to getting him to where he was now, Vivian said.
"If I was hesitant about something and was uncomfortable, I had to find the solution to it. The skills gained during internship, the education about the industry and networking within the industry are also some of the factors that have also helped me get here."
