Good Match = Win-Win Situation

“As an entrepreneur, you have an obligation to provide training and practical working experience for young people because that is something they cannot get at school,” says Gunnar Hedqwist, owner of Ramada Historic, a hotel located in the historic district in downtown St. Augustine in Florida, www.ramadahistoric.com.

That’s exactly what Gunnar Hedqwist did when he offered a 9-month training position to Josefin Strinnholm. Josefin assists Gunnar and his team with the marketing of Ramada Historic towards the tour group industry. Josefin proved to be a self-starter from the beginning. “We were pleasantly surprised to find out that Josefin really is a doer and takes initiatives on her own,” says Gunnar. “Early on, we brought her along to a trade show where she soaked up so much information that she was able to plan subsequent trade shows pretty much on her own.” Since Josefin took advantage of the opportunity to learn from the beginning, Gunnar and his team have been able to give her a great deal of autonomy in her training. “This is not a situation where she is just making copies and fixing coffee,” says Gunnar, “actually, I am the one making copies for her!”

The importance of the interview process should not be underestimated, according to Gunnar. It is very important to find the right candidate, i.e. someone who is really interested in the particular industry and wants to gain useful experience for a future career in that industry, as opposed to someone who is mostly interested in coming to the U.S. to have fun. Therefore, Gunnar always asks what the trainee candidate wants to do in the future and he looks for someone who can clearly state future career goals.

A host company takes on a responsibility to really provide training and it is important that there is a good training plan, says Gunnar. With a good match between company and trainee and a good training plan the benefits to the company can be substantial, as Ramada Historic has experienced. They have just applied for a 9-month extension of Josefin’s training program and they have identified another trainee candidate, Maria Ågren, who will arrive in the early fall. The idea is that before Josefin returns to Sweden to start her career in marketing, she can help train Maria to become as great a trainee as she has been.