Hilton’s Mango House conducts recruitment drive |16 February 2021
The new addition to Hilton Hotels’ portfolio in Seychelles, Mango House, yesterday kicked off its first recruitment drive which will span over three days.
One out of Hilton’s six exclusive Legendary Luxury Resort (LXR) properties in the world, Mango House is located at Anse Aux Poules Bleues, Baie Lazare.
With about 150 positions available for Seychellois at the new LXR Hilton property, the Hilton group hosted the first day of the recruitment drive yesterday at Hilton Double Tree Allamanda Resort to test out the skills and capacity of its shortlisted candidates.
The candidates who had already sent in their CV and provided a 2 minute video about themselves, were interviewed by the heads of the relevant departments and requested to display their skills and techniques related to that department.
A large majority of these candidates had been employed in the tourism industry before the collapse of the industry due to the pandemic.
Thirty-one-year-old Kenneth Labiche, who has worked in the hospitality industry for over 6 years in the food and beverage, noted that the vacancies at Mango House provides people like himself the opportunity to continue to work in tourism.
“I have been working in tourism for a while, had gained some experience so I thought why not go for this opportunity. The recruiters questioned me on the basics elements related to food and beverage service,” Mr Labiche said.
Marie-Paule Monthy, 37, said that she learnt of the vacancies at Mango House through TV adverts and jumped at the opportunity.
Ms Monthy was left without a job following the hardships caused by Covid-19, whereby her last employer was unable to keep her on as restaurant supervisor. She had been working in the hospitality industry since she graduated from tourism school in 2001.
“It’s a three-day interview and selection process primarily for Mango House, but Hilton also has three other hotels in the Seychelles – Allamanda, Northholme and Labriz. We expect 50 shortlisted candidates for today,” explained Hilton’s human resource director, Julita Jeremie.
“The selection process today is a bit different from previous ones. Aside from the interviews with the managers, we made the candidates undergo practical tests. They had also been asked to send us a 2-minute video on WhatsApp so they can tell us about themselves and what luxury means to them,” added Ms Jeremie.
“We are on the lookout for dedicated and passionate candidates, who even though might not have the qualifications, can prove themselves in practice, just as we have seen today.”
The vacancies that are open span from senior management-level jobs to supervisory and operational level.
To note, Hilton Hotels as a collective has had to let go around 100 of its GOP holders, due to the government’s policies in regards to renewal of these permits.
At present, Hilton is not actively seeking out GOP holders, said Ms Jeremie, although she acknowledged that expatriate workers will be needed in regards to specialty jobs.
Once the recruitment comes to an end on Wednesday, Hilton will assess the candidates and those who are chosen to be employed will undergo an onboarding programme to prepare for when Mango House opens its doors in April 2021.
“Mango House is a luxury resort so we have quite a lot of training prior to its opening.”
It is important to note that Mango House does not fall under the flagship of Hilton Hotels but rather as an XLR property, which seeks to provide unique luxury that is not mass produced.
The other five XLR properties in the world are located in Anguilla, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States (Santa Monica, California) and United Arab Emirates (Dubai).
“XLR is a very exclusive brand that tries to differentiate itself with the other brands under Hilton. The brand allows the property to develop its own character, and adopt the style of the country in which it is located,” noted the director for sales and marketing, Amanda Lang-Larue.
“With our XLR for instance, it will adopt the Creole culture and the way and being of the destination. It creates a sense of familiarity without it being corporate,” said Mrs Lang-Larue.
The design for Mango House is being described as “distinctive and contemporary, a modern twist on what we perceive luxury”.
Mango House LXR will not be Hilton’s last addition to its properties in Seychelles; the multi-national conglomerate is expected to add on Waldorf Astoria on Ile Platte and Canopy by Hilton, at Anse à la Mouche, to its expanding portfolio.
The accompanying photos show some of the candidates either being interviewed or demonstrating their skills during the recruitment process yesterday.
Elsie Pointe
Photos: Jude Morel
