Dubai, a vibrant and modern city located on the coast of the Arabian desert and overlooking the Arabian Gulf, is one of the most sought-after destinations among global job seekers, offering exciting job opportunities and great prospects for career growth.
According to The Economic Times “Hospitality World” currently there are more than 350 fast-developing, active hospitality projects across Dubai, making it an attractive location where to find lucrative and challenging job offers.
As a reaction to the booming hospitality sector in the United Arab Emirates, the Academy of Culinary Arts Cambodia has partnered up with several renowned hotels and resorts in Dubai, which are seeking culinary talents to enrich their existing professional teams for an internship and potential further employment.
ACAC graduates, Lo Sokmey, Heng Kimfong and Man Kofalida have leveraged the Academy’s partnership with the Emirati state-owned luxury hotel chain Jumeirah Group to complete their final internship and gain an unlimited, full-time employment contract in Dubai.
Interview
ACAC: After spending the past 6 months in Dubai. What impressed you the most?
Sokmey: Despite the worldwide pandemic, Dubai’s hospitality industry didn’t seem to take any breaks and kept busy. When we arrived for our internship in December, the Dubai Expo was operating in full swing, attracting a vast number of visitors from all over the world, turning the place into a real international hub for the sector.
Kimfong: Yes, that’s right. Generally speaking, Dubai is a very international place with people from all imaginable countries and even though Arabic is the official language of the UAE, English is most commonly spoken.
ACAC: And what have you learned during your internship at the Jumeirah?
Kofalida: One amongst of the many things we learned, is to work in this very international environment, with people having different backgrounds and cultures, different ways of communicating and interpret the world. I think working overseas, made us all become more mature and more adaptable.
Sokmey: And also, to perform under pressure. All three of us were located at the Madinat Jumeirah Conferences & Incentives. Being assigned to the banquets department with hundreds of guests receiving food and beverage food services from the hotel, there was simply no time to ask many questions, we just had to pay attention to the instructions and then go!
ACAC: Did the time you’ve spent studying at the ACAC help you to deal with this new situation?
Kimfong: Yes, it definitely did. Even though we were studying in Cambodia, we experienced an international atmosphere on campus every day. Working with people having different nationalities was not completely new to us, of course, all the technical knowledge and skills gained at the ACAC helped us to implement instructions quickly and tackle new tasks with confidence.
ACAC: And it seems like it worked out very well! All the 3 of you have received a full-time employment contract at the Jumeirah. Congratulations!
Kimfong: Thank you! It really means a lot to us and is a very unique and life-enriching opportunity! Kofalida and I were both able to access the ACAC only thanks to the Naomi Tami Memorial Scholarship Fund. Without this support, we wouldn’t have had the financial means to join this program.
Kofalida: Exactly, the scholarship enabled us to pursue the career we were only dreaming about. To be standing here now, looking towards a promising professional job opportunity abroad fills me with pride, joy, and gratitude.
ACAC: What are your expectations for your job in Dubai and in the future?
Kofalida: The Jumeirah Group is a very large Hotel and Resort chain, with a wide variety of restaurant types. They offer many opportunities for professional growth within the company. My goal is to climb the career ladder and get a long-term management position within the Jumeirah Group.
Sokmey: Most of all, I’m seeking to enrich my experience in the kitchen. In the long term, my goal is to open my own high-end restaurant and bring Cambodian cuisine closer to international guests.
Kimfong: My goal is to gain more technical expertise and further strengthen my professional status in Dubai. In the future, I’m planning to return to Cambodia and use the knowledge I have acquired to share what I have gained in my country and actively contribute to the development of the local hospitality sector.
Are you also dreaming about a career in the hospitality industry or working overseas?
Then make sure you get a study place and enrol in our upcoming intake in December!