Dominique Gautier (2012)

Event Planning Coordinator at the Marriott Château Champlain (completed the Atlific Hotels Management Training Program)

My greatest surprise

The quality of the professors, who have really diverse professional profiles. Since most of them are from the industry, they don't just provide knowledge, they share their experiences, and in my opinion that’s one of the most rewarding aspects of the program. Some of them have travelled around the world, while others have remained in certain cities or vacation spots. The variety of experiences, realities and issues we encountered really contributed to what we learned.

My greatest satisfaction

For me, it was the incredible wealth of knowledge that I acquired from the professors, industry people and fellow students. Learning and growing together as a small group, we built strong ties and have remained in contact. We still get in touch when we need outside advice on work situations!

How I adapted to this intensive program 

It definitely takes some getting used to. I was working while taking my courses, so I really had to figure out how to make every minute count. I think the intensive nature of the program is fantastic though. It forces students to go that extra mile to succeed. As students we got to know each other very quickly, learning each person's strengths and weaknesses, how to work together more effectively, and how to help each other out.

My internship experience

The great thing about the ASIHM internships is that in the vast majority of cases, we get assigned to supervisory roles in line with our age and experience. We find ourselves in utterly new situations that pose major challenges. We attend the same classes, so we can base ourselves on what we learn there and from talking to professors to advance more quickly in our professional milieu. The course content also gives us an objective view of our work environment and the duties it involves. And because we're interns, our employers are often more open to providing certain information, or even to letting us spend time working in other areas.

ASIHM: the bottom line

Compared to other programs, ASIHM is much more focused on the experience of each student, and the content is defined based on real-life situations that can occur in different environments. You leave the program equipped with a lot more tools for facing everyday challenges.