JOB HUNTERS queued around the block last Sunday to take part in a career expo run by the Sheraton Hong Kong Hotel. A sizeable crowd of people had gathered outside the hotel in Tsim Sha Tsui by 7.45am, although the expo was not due to open until 9am. By the end of the day, 800 hopefuls had walked through the door.
These numbers far exceeded the expectations of the hotel's human resources director, Winnie Chiu.
The expo was an attempt by the hotel to approach recruitment in an innovative way. Despite its position as a well-known five-star hotel with reliable occupancy rates, it is under continued pressure to attract the right kind of employees.
'There is always a quest for talent,' said Ms Chiu. 'We have to have the right calibre of people looking after our customers.'
With new hotels such as the Four Seasons and the two Disney hotels springing up across Hong Kong, the competition for quality employees is hotting up.
Sheraton, which is part of the Starwood Group, has traditionally followed standard methods of recruitment. But recently they have felt the need to try something other than advertising and using the services of headhunters to set them apart from other employers in the industry.
