Hospitality Academy Offers Fast Track to Hotel Jobs

IRC Atlanta is pleased to announce the launch of its new Hospitality Academy, a vocational training program developed in partnership with the Intercontinental Hotel Group (IHG). The Hospitality Academy is specifically tailored to prepare refugee and asylee adults for employment in housekeeping and hotel customer service jobs.

The four week curriculum not only teaches students the vocabulary, communication skills and standard practices used in hotel housekeeping and customer service positions, but also it offers hands-on training in a model hotel guest bedroom, equipped with a cleaning cart and access to a serviceable bathroom. Hotel furnishings and cleaning equipment are used to replicate the real work environment and allow students to practice typical room preparation tasks that are required on the job. Students spend a total of 30 hours in the classroom preparing for these service related job responsibilities.

A Hospitality Academy student practices hotel housekeeping skills.
Photo: IRC 

During the last week of the program, each participant who successfully completes the classroom portion is placed in a three day internship at an Atlanta-area IHG hotel, where they gain on-the-job experience working directly with housekeeping staff. At the conclusion of this internship, program participants are given an opportunity to interview for an open position with a local IHG hotel.  During the four-session pilot program, IRC expects to graduate 40 adult refugee clients, who will be fast-tracked for employment in the hospitality industry.