The students received four weeks of hands-on experience in human resource management and industrial relations<\/a> at some of the Maldives\u2019 most deluxe hotels and resorts.<\/p>\n We spoke to one of the students, Claudia Foster, who shared with us her intern experience at One&Only Reethi Rah resort.<\/p>\n \u201cMy first impression of the Maldives and the airport was that it was very crowded and compact, but as soon as we reached the resort it was an entirely different experience all together,\u201d says Foster, who is in her final year of a double degree in psychology and human resource management and industrial relations<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cReethi Rah was so pristine and secluded, the gardens were immaculate and the ocean had such clarity and colour. I knew as soon as we got off the yacht that we were going to be part of something very special over the next month.\u201d<\/p>\n During her internship, Foster helped to implement One&Only\u2019s new food and beverage online training program and localise its international human resources policies and procedures to better suit its operation needs.<\/p>\n \u201cWe also spent a significant amount of time identifying which departments needed further training by examining guest surveys and using performance standards programs,\u201d says Foster.<\/p>\n \u201cOne of our major tasks was empowering employees to work at their maximum potential and ensuring they had the tools and training to do this. Guests staying at the property are paying thousands of dollars a night and have very high expectations. One of the core values of the Only&One brand is blowing the guest away, so there is a constant need to refine and update guest service skills.\u201d<\/p>\n The New Colombo Plan Mobility Program funds undergraduate students aged between 18 to 28 to live, work and study in 40 locations across the Indo-Pacific region.<\/p>\n It enables students to gain practical experience in their field of study while developing their knowledge of a different country and culture.<\/p>\n \u201cWe were working and living with 800 other employees from 36 different nations on a tiny island in the middle of the Indian Ocean \u2013 that experience in itself is something I never would have had without the New Colombo Plan grant and internship,\u201d says Foster.<\/p>\n![\"Eight](\"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Foster5.jpg\")
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