Jayne Appleby
Since early 2009, Bachelor of Applied Management (Hotel Management) graduate Jayne Applebe has been working in one of the most beautiful tourism destinations in the world.
Working as a management trainee with Millennium Hotels in the heart of Queenstown, it’s the perfect starting point for Jayne, who settled on a career direction while still in school.
“I went to high school in Timaru and was considering studying management and tourism, but a group from my school came down to the Millennium in Queenstown and did a day of work experience. I thought ‘that’s what I want to do’.”
Jayne enrolled in the three year degree at Otago Polytechnic, where she was able to study theory and gain industry experience in hotel management. Keen to kick start her career, Jayne also worked at a local hotel part-time while competing her studies.
“The lecturers at the Polytechnic were really awesome. They have worked in the industry themselves so can share their own stories - there were no boring drones! The hotel management papers for the degree were great. I would be learning about things and then a similar thing would happen at work and I’d think ‘right, that’s what that was about.’”
As the final step in completing her degree, Jayne undertook a 12-week Cooperative Education Project (CEP) at the hotel she worked for, focusing on the different ways staff members are motivated. Her overall work was so highly regarded that the General Manager and Human Resources Manager created a management trainee position for her in Queenstown.
“I’ll be doing this for 18 months working in all different departments. It’s good to get experience in all areas because it’s really important as a manager to know what staff are doing. If you see that someone is busy you need to step up and help.
“Queenstown is great and there are a lot of opportunities here – that’s why I came. I’d like to move into a head of department positions and the transient atmosphere of the industry in Queenstown means that positions do become available and you can be promoted.”
