New challenges, new rythm for this new school year. © Unsplash

Autumn also marks the start of the new school year for our two apprentices! Our trainees are starting their final year of master’s degree and hope to get the grail at the end of the year. In the meantime, no more distance learning under a blanket, this year it’s back to school with masks and barrier gestures. After a year spent behind a screen, it’s time to meet new people and return to an (almost) normal life! It is also the time for Talent Developer to review its organisation and the tasks entrusted to it. Indeed, following Lior and Elena’s work-study programme, which now divides their week between school and the company, the tasks they carry out have to be completed over a few days of the week. It’s sometimes complicated to leave tasks pending from one week to the next”, explains Elena, “you have to adapt to this new organisation and find the right balance between the time spent in training and the time spent in the company, which is not always easy. So at Talent Developer, every Monday morning a weekly briefing has been established so that the trainees are informed of the latest news, changes and innovations that have taken place during their absence.

It is essential for Talent Developer to share its knowledge and help young students to develop their skills. Their main mission throughout the year is to find the right company for the right profile, so it is quite natural that Talent Developer has found the right profiles to complete the team!

Lior, Assistant to the Sales Manager, answers our questions and tells us more about her role at Talent Developer:

How did your induction at TD go?

I started my work experience at TD at the beginning of September. The team welcomed me very well, there is a pleasant atmosphere which enabled me to quickly find my feet.

From the very first days, I attended the first Talent Developer anniversary with the whole team gathered around a good lunch and a magnificent cake which had been bought for the occasion from Yann Couvreur. It was like a family affair!

Why did you choose this sector?

I never thought I would work in the hotel and restaurant sector, but the opportunity came to me with Talent Developer. I’m getting to know this field more and more every day, it’s a very interesting sector that offers many opportunities for growth that you don’t necessarily know about when you are not familiar with it

 What is your role at TD?

I am Assistant to the Sales Manager and I am in charge of developing new markets such as the USA, Japan, Israel and Canada. As the international market is still a bit slow, I also focused on business development in France, which allowed us to obtain new profiles that were not part of our potential target. So I set up a project to canvass a number of business schools in order to make Talent Developer’s services known to French students in other sectors whose professions are also present in the hotel and restaurant industry.

What are the projects you are going to set up?

I really like to take initiatives and have responsibilities, so after talking with Estrella I wanted to set up a series of webinars in order to make our company and our services known to as many students and professionals as possible. Estrella and Philippine trusted me and gave me carte blanche for this

project, which I was able to set up. In mid-October, I went to meet students in front of their schools to invite them to our webinar on the subject of “The importance of back-office jobs in the hospitality and restaurant industry”.

I hope to be able to continue this project in the future and organise regular webinars.

Meeting with a former student, now Head Bartender

We were contacted by a former student whom we helped and placed in internships a few years ago: Akki. We met him when he arrived in France for his Bachelor’s degree in culinary arts and hospitality management and have always kept in touch and followed his professional development. This week, Akki kindly invited us to his new workplace to discuss his new role and responsibilities as Head Bartender at the Grand Duc.

Akki , Head Barman at the Grand Duc © TD
The bar and its contemporary atsmophere ©TD
One of the cocktails available on the bar list ©TD

When we first met Akki, he didn’t speak French, had never tasted champagne, and didn’t have the standards of the industry! With no knowledge of the bar a few years ago, today he manages a team and trains apprentices. At the Grand Duc’s bar, you will find cocktails created for unique experiences, signed Matthias Giroud. And exclusive info just for you, Akki also elaborates his own cocktails which will soon be on the bar’s menu, we can’t wait to discover them!

Constantly looking for novelties, they elaborate cocktails in their research and development laboratory where future beverages are made according to the seasons and trends. The spirit that reigns in this bar is 0 waste with the only watchword, the use of the product in its entirety! Fruit is handled in all its forms, so you can enjoy pumpkin chips with your cocktail for example!

Talent Developer is proud to present its evolution and to have contributed to its success!

Article written by Talent Developer