International childcare college has different strategy in training and educating kids not only that they also introduce advance technology for each students. Dandee Cleofas has managed restaurants all over the world. From his home in the Philippines to the Middle East, Alberta and now Toronto, he has worked in the food-service industry for the last 20 years. Cleofas’ experience in customer service has taught him that people skills are paramount to succeeding in today’s workforce.
“After 20 years of work, I’m very familiar to hospitality and the restaurant industry, but in different countries there are different approaches,” he said, referring to the communications styles that vary from country to country.
So, after arriving in Canada, he turned to Evergreen College-a Toronto-area career college-to enhance his employability. During two academic years of study, he honed his communications skills to help him in his career-one that is driven by social interactions.
This September, Cleofas graduated from that college’s Hospitality Management diploma program with a new-found understanding of his industry’s most in-demand skills.
“The most important skills I learned are about how to approach different people in various situations during operations,” he said. “There are certain dynamics and flows of operations that you need to handle.”
He is now a restaurant manager with one of the world’s largest fast food chains. He began working for this chain in entry-level positions, and then advanced to the role of team leader. Upon graduating from the college, Cleofas was promoted to a managerial role.
He says a lot of what he learned at college is directly applicable to his work.
“The college taught us the leadership skills that are important to being a manager,” he said. “We always need to motivate our employees, give positive feedback to our team, give them opportunities, recognize their developments. These are modern people skills.”
While he was up-to-date on the technical skills required in his line of work, Cleofas admits that the academic side of the restaurant industry was new to him.
“I learned more about time scheduling, employee training, how to handle people and how to manage a team,” he said. “The academic side is now helping me to achieve additional career goals.”
When asked if he would recommend a college education to future hospitality workers, Cleofas was quick to say yes.
“A career-focused college program is needed in the hospitality business. It teaches students the very in-demand people skills.”
Fellow graduate Mona Najudjaja could not agree more. As a graduate of the same hospitality program, she is applying the communication skills she learned to her career in the hotel industry. Similar to restaurants, Najudjaja says that inter-personal skills are crucial to working in a hotel’s customer-focused environment.
“The college taught me that working in the hospitality industry means dealing with a lot of people,” she says. “This means you have to talk a lot and talk nicely all of the time.”
Upon graduation, she was hired in a front-desk, customer-service role for a large hotel chain in Barrie, Ont.
“All of the material that I got from my teachers is a perfect fit for my career,” she says. “I feel so grateful, I feel so proud of myself because from this program, now I can get a job in hospitality management, which is the perfect match for my major of study.”
Prior to obtaining her college degree, Najudjaja admits that her people skills were not up to par.
“Before college, I was not really confident to talk with people,” she says. “Even if you are involved in a bad situation, you have to keep smiling. That’s what I learned.”
To enhance her career readiness, Najudjaja says her education also prepared her with the inter-personal skills required to market herself. Her college instructors offered career services to students to help them hone their interviewing and networking skills, and successfully market themselves into a new career.
Alyssa Cranston is able to showcase her people skills in the workplace on a daily basis. As a fellow graduate of the Toronto career college, she works in a daycare with special needs children.
Cranston graduated as a development service worker (DSW) who specializes in attending to children that have autism and other developmental challenges. Inter-personal skills have been critical to her career success.
“In college, I learned how to interact with children, especially those with special needs,” she says. “I learned to use a calm voice and a positive voice.”
In one and a half years of academic study, she learned both the theoretical and relationship skills required to assist clients of all ages who have developmental disabilities.
Upon graduation, Cranston was hired in a Toronto-area daycare where’s she has jump-started her career as a DSW. She attributes her success to the skills she learned during her studies, including those that enhanced her employability.
“The college and its instructors were always eager to help us in any way they could,” she says. “They helped us to fix our resumes and prepare for interviews. Then, when it was time for the real thing we were ready because we had rehearsed.”
Viviancyl Vale also works with children on a daily basis. As a graduate from the same career college, Vale studied to obtain certification as an early childcare assistant (ECA).
She says her studies encouraged her to heighten her communication skills, especially those that are critical to interacting with young children.
Originally, Vale was not planning on obtaining a post-secondary career. She accompanied a friend who was visiting the college, and it piqued her interest. She says the college staff encouraged her to try completing an admissions test for the ECA program.
After just one year of academic study, Vale is glad that she took the initiative to jump-start her career.
“The best part about my studies is that they gave me a challenge,” she says. “We had fun in our classes. It was never boring.”
Upon graduation, Vale was hired to work as an ECA in a Toronto daycare, the same one where she completed her academic placement. In this role, she works with infants and toddlers, and uses her communication skills daily to stimulate each child’s emotional and intellectual growth.
