Olaf Vieth got his bachelor's degree in Hotel and Event Management and then left for Dubai. In May, he will start his new job as restaurant manager at the renovated The Address Downtown hotel. “This wonderful, enormous city gives me new energy every day.”
Signature restaurant, banqueting, cigar lounge
During New Year’s Eve celebrations, a short circuit caused a fire in the sixty-three-storey-tall Address Downtown hotel in Dubai. Fortunately, the fire was quickly under control. The hotel still had to undergo extensive renovations, of course. In May of this year, it will reopen and former Tio student Olaf Vieth will begin managing the signature restaurant (for breakfast, lunch and dinner). It also includes banqueting (eight boardrooms) and a cigar lounge.
Recruitment agency
Last year, as he was trying to decide what to do after graduating, Olaf was suddenly approached by a recruitment agency that wanted to get him a job at the Address Downtown hotel in Dubai, which would soon reopen. “The same agency had already approached me a year before on behalf of a different hotel in Dubai, although the negotiations for that job eventually failed. I had graduated since then and had always been intrigued by a possible move abroad. During the meetings we had, I got more and more excited and I finally left for Dubai in November of last year.”
Living and working in Dubai
When the reopening of The Address Downtown was postponed, Olaf was offered a job at the Armani Hotel, which is part of the same chain, to bridge the gap. It is located in the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world. “It was a chance to get used to living and working in Dubai and prepare for the reopening of The Address Downtown.”
Well prepared for the employment market
How did he manage to get such an amazing job right out of the gate? Olaf: “It is mostly due to LinkedIn. I am truly grateful to Tio for stressing its importance and teaching us how to set up and optimise our own accounts. That is also why I recommend Tio to others: you receive personal attention, you are prepared for the employment market with internships and there is extensive focus on your CV, the application process and planning.”
Building your CV
He built his own CV quite deliberately. “When I chose my internships, I did not look for what I liked most or what would be easiest for me. Instead, I searched for whatever would look best on my CV.” He did internships in Barcelona and the UK (in a town called Sunningdale) and spent more than five years working at Van der Valk, including three years in the position of restaurant manager. “When recruiters see that, you capture their interest and gain a lead on other applicants.”
Three internships at Tio
Another important reason for Olaf to choose Tio was the fact that he could do three internships. The project Hotel and Event Week was one of the highlights of his time at Tio. “You start your study and are having quite a nice time. However, during the Hotel and Event Week, I realised that I truly loved what I was doing: a high-pressure environment, a lot of people around you, guests everywhere. I knew then that I wanted to make a career out of this.”
The energy of a metropolis
That is exactly what he is now doing in Dubai – first at the Armani Hotel and then, from late May, at The Address Downtown. “The best thing about the whole experience so far is how international everything is here. I live in Dubai, this awesome, huge and beautiful city, and I am working hard to create something unique. That gives me a ton of energy every single day.”
Follow Olaf on LinkedIn.