TGLife
Born and brought up in Goa, she is pursuing her education at the V M Salgaocar Institute of International Hospitality Education (VMSIIHE) and is in her last year. Having completed her schooling and education from King’s school in Margao her other interests are dancing, painting and basically everything creative! Meet Tanya Natasha De Souza, a 19-year-old from Goa who was awarded The Best Star Intern 2019 out of 150 interns from around the world while on a global internship at the JW Marriott Marquis in Dubai.
Just returned from her seven-month internship in Dubai, Tanya is super excited to share her experiences of working in the midst a team of employees from across the world. “It was a very challenging experience,” quips this student at VMSIIHE in Goa.
“There were 1608 rooms and suits with twin towers, 14 outlets of restaurants and bars; each with a specialised cuisine and its exotic saloons and gyms. Indeed, it was intimidating and yet exciting to be part of the team,” smiles Tanya who finds the hotel industry a really challenging one with a new lesson to learn every day.
Her selection included three rounds of interviews with the HR team and managers via Skype. Tanya’s hard work paid off. She was awarded the Best Star Intern 2019 Food and Beverage Department among the 150 interns from around the world. “I was also awarded the Intern of the Month on some occasions. We were the very first batch of interns at the JW Marriott Marquis Dubai,” recalls Tanya.
Happy and enthusiastic towards the new endeavour, she found it exciting as that offered her an opportunity to be a part of a multi-cultural environment, experience different cultures and interact with new people. “I also had a new platform to showcase my talents and also grow in an industry that aimed at providing excellent service to guests,” she quips.
Recalling that all the guests were greeted by a smile, Tanya briefs, “In an industry as ours it is imperative that our guests always experience happy and lively greetings no matter what we go through in our personal lives. During our briefing given by our managers we were told never to say no to a guest instead smile and say yes. It was the enthusiasm of the HR and the team who handled associates that drove us to do the same.”
The institute I studied and am still studying in Goa has a very important role to play as they were the roots that helped me grow into a stronger and confident individual. In the institute we were trained by Prof Irfan Mirza and his team who taught us how to tackle every challenge with confidence.”
While she was interning at Dubai she had theme nights at the restaurants. Working on this wasn’t a problem for her as she had already handled theme nights at the institute and hosted cultural nights. It was easy managing a huge team and having friendly relations with her colleagues.
A people’s person Tanya wanted to join the hospitality industry and recalls that while she was studying in her higher secondary she had the opportunity to have an educational tour at the VMSIIHE campus in Raia where she had hands on experience of what it’s like to operate the hotel.
At Dubai, she managed to explore Dubai in all its essence, by visiting the most talked about malls, museums, desert safari, street food, water parks, Atlantic palm, gold souk etc. “I also had a taste of their world famous cuisines, sweet dishes,” concludes Tanya.
