Moving to a new country and being away from all his friends and family for more than seven months has been a challenge that he has overcome successfully. He feels so well settled down in Dubai that he is planning to return for another 2 to 4 years after graduating at Dania Randers. "In Dubai there are a lot of career opportunities, it is easy to get a higher position or move around in companies," says the 22 years old student.
Emil Knudsen's desire to study at The Emirates Academy of Hospitality came after spending a holiday in Dubai in 2010: "Dubai is in my opinion a very good place to be when studying International Hospitality Management. It is one of the fastest growing tourist destinations in the world, with an extremely fast development, with many big events in the near future, such as the EXPO2020 in Dubai and the FIFA World Cup in Qatar. Besides, you can find 200 nationalities here, so being together with interesting people is quite easy."
He found the opportunity to follow his dream as a student at Dania since this institution has a partnership agreement with The Emirates Academy of Hospitality. "This made the application process to study abroad quite easy," states the young student from Randers. Part of Emil Knudsen's tuition fee at the Emirates Academy of Hospitality is funded through the Scholarship for Studies Abroad program, part of the Danish State Educational Grant and Loan Scheme (SU)
As a student of International Hospitality Management, Emil considers it important to gain experience in a different culture, work with people with diverse cultural backgrounds and get ideas from others' perspectives.
Being a student in two countries has also given him the chance to experience two different teaching styles. "In Denmark you have a few heavy courses and a lot of classes at school, whereas in Dubai you have not-so-heavy courses but twice the amount compared to Denmark, and you only have a few classes during the week; the rest of the time is self-study and group work. I like both teaching styles though. My impression of the education at Dania is that it is more focused on the business aspect behind hospitality, whereas the education in Dubai is a little bit more focused on the practical aspects as well. However, I would still recommend Dania because they really go into details with the courses they offer."
Gaining experience for the future
Emil Knudsen has been doing his internship since April as a Procurement Coordinator at Cairncross Martin LLC - a hospitality procurement company in Dubai. Cairncross Martin LLC buys all the interior and operation supplies that are used in hotels and restaurants. "I am on the OS&E (Operating Supplies & Equipment) team, and currently working on two projects. The first project I am working on is for a new hotel group called Paramount Hotels & Resorts. We are helping them to create their OS&E Brand Standards, a guideline that every hotel chains have.
The second project is a new InterContinental hotel in Dubai. Here I am doing the procurement, selecting items with the clients by making presentations with suppliers (e.g. tabletop presentations for F&B outlets, and uniform presentations)," explains Emil Knudsen.
During his AP Program in Hospitality Management at Dania, Emil Knudsen did his internship at the Marriot hotel in Copenhagen, so this time he wanted to try something new. "I try to get as much experience I can during my education to be able to make a good decision for my future career."
The normal period of an internship is three months at Dania, but he prolonged it to five months in Dubai. "Expectations from companies in Dubai might be higher than what we see in Denmark. They want trainees to have an internship of minimum six months. I believe extending our official three-month internship is the best thing to do. You gain a lot more experience because you have time to actually learn the things and work with them before you have to stop. I also extended my internship during the AP Degree in Hospitality Management, and I can only recommend others to do so."
According to Emil Knudsen, at The Emirates Academy of Hospitality students do not write an internship project like in Denmark; instead, they have to do three projects with focus on the development of their personal and professional experiences.
During his stay in Dubai, the only cultural shock that he has experienced so far has been about the different perception of time that the two cultures have. "If you arrange a meeting in Denmark at 10 am, people will be there on time or maybe even a bit earlier. In Dubai people are more relaxed about time and it is normal to be late, and it is hard for me to adapt to that kind of thinking about time," he admits.
The whole experience so far has broadened Emil Knudsen horizons; "It has helped me to develop myself personally by standing on my own feet in a completely new environment. Through my internship I have gained a lot more confidence by interacting with clients and suppliers, and by facing problems that I have to solve on my own."