Ayman Salah, 19, a student in the second year at the Faculty of Commerce, is one of those enthusiastic young people who decide from year one to do their job training in a company, organisation or bank. Salah said he had submitted his CV to several businesses two months before the beginning of the summer vacation, but the only place that accepted him was a five-star hotel that called him to work as a waiter for three months. “I was frustrated, but I decided not to refuse the offer. I thought it would be better to go to the hotel and try to negotiate the offer with the hotel's HR department,” he said. “The HR manager said he would try me in the waiter position for 10 days, and if I succeeded he would transfer me to the finance department. He said the experience would be good for me and that I would thank him later for having had the opportunity to overcome my shyness,” Salah said. However, the first four days were horrible. “I had to deal with dozens of people every day in a job I disliked. Later I began to get used to dealing with lots of people, and working hard for eight hours on the go changed a lot in my character. It made me more sociable,” he says. Salah said that he got used to talking easily to strangers as a result of the job. He gained a lot from the job in terms of being able to work under pressure and perform multiple tasks at the same time. Salah asked the HR manager to continue the job for a month. He admitted that it was tiring and not in the field he wanted to work in or that he was studying, but at the same time it had taught him lessons that could help him succeed in his practical life. “By the end of the month and after the restaurant manager had praised my work, the HR manager fulfilled his promise and transferred me to the finance department. I also felt I really earned the money. It was different from any other money I have earned. There was a feeling that I had really earned the money, a unique feeling that can make you understand the meaning of independence and freedom,” Salah commented. He went on to train in the finance department for two months, gaining experience in accountancy, his chosen field, that complemented what he was studying theoretically at university. Ahmed Emad, 21, a fourth-year student in the Faculty of Tourism, worked for three consecutive years in a five-star hotel in Heliopolis. “During these three summer vacations, I worked in most of the departments of the hotel, like food and beverages and marketing and reservations, in addition to working as a waiter, receptionist and cook,” Emad said. He added that the work had helped him gain experience and increased his opportunities to be appointed after graduation in a large hotel. “I love tourism, but unfortunately tourism is now suffering from the recession, so job opportunities in the field are few. As a result, I need to gain more experience and enrich my CV by summer training work to increase my chances of getting a job after graduation,” he said. A Bachelor's degree was not enough to find a job in his chosen field today, he added. There is also a need to have worked during the summer and to do post-graduate studies. The writer is a freelance journalist.
