Las Vegas Sands Offers Real World Experience to Students Around the World
Las Vegas Sands has made a commitment to helping people thrive and advance in the hospitality industry, whether through courses offered to over 45,000 Team Members worldwide, but also students living in the regions where the company operates. With internship programs through Sands Academy in Las Vegas, Sands China Academy in Macao and the human resources departments in Singapore and Bethlehem, the company continues to enrich and educate students from local universities.
The Las Vegas properties recently hosted 15 interns from various universities across the country, including UNLV, to be a part of the company’s 10 week paid program. The Talent Acquisition Team travels to various universities to promote the program and recruit students.
“The focus of the internship program is to allow students the opportunity to view the workings of a successful hospitality company by partnering with specific departments and providing exposure to operational activities and strategic projects,” Sylein Burgos, talent and organizational development manager, said. “We get to expose newer generations to the hospitality industry and our company culture. We are able to foster new talent and hope to become their future employer of choice.”
The process begins with the human resources team capturing interest from the properties’ various departments, then partnering interns with the departments based on interests and college major. From there, projects are assigned to the interns by the Travelution Team, which introduces project topics and then match the students. The Travelution Team is a small and diverse group of Team Members that work together over 6 months to research innovations in hotel, gaming, meeting and experiential travel. Some of the projects this year included a marketing plan for the co-working space in the Congress Center, reducing food waste in the employee dining rooms and a new, revamped resort app.
“We have had nine interns that were offered positions and are now current Team Members,” Burgos said. “Some notable positions acquired were in catering and conference management, corporate accounting, and corporate cyber security. This opportunity allows them to get immersed in the Las Vegas Sands culture, network with company leaders, and participate in Sands Cares events. They truly get to know our company.”
In a similar manner, Sands Bethlehem recently hosted nine interns in eight different departments, ranging from human resources to cage operations. Students came from various universities on the East Coast, like University of Scranton, Penn State and West Virginia University. In Macao, Sands China Academy has established three internship programs for local university students. Earlier this year, 78 students graduated from the company’s Integrated Resort Internship Program, which gives students opportunities to work full-time at Sands China Ltd.’s Integrated Resorts, while earning academic credits. Over 300 students have participated in the internship to date. Other notable SCL programs are Career Experience Opportunities Program (CEOP), which started in 2015 with 122 potential candidates. A total of 15 students are still active and 23 have been transferred to full-time Team Members, and the Fast Track Program, which has over 70 participants with 24 of them being promoted to supervisory positions.
“We partner with various universities like the Institute of Tourism Studies, Macao University of Science and Technology, University of Macau, Macao Polytechnic Institute, City University of Macau to name a few,” said Bernadette Vong, human resources supervisor for SCL. “The internship program offers local university students opportunities to work full-time at our properties on a short-term basis while fulfilling a portion of their degree requirements. The positions are available in 15 non-gaming departments including concierge, food and beverage, corporate communications, information technology, facilities management, props design and others. While the Integrated Resort Internship Program and Career Experience Opportunities Program (CEOP) are for current local university students, the Fast Track Program partnered with the Institute of Tourism Studies, Macao University of Science and Technology, University of Macau, City University of Macau offers the exceptional university graduates to reach supervisory-level full-time positions in an intensive way.”
To learn more about how Las Vegas Sands supports the personal and professional growth of its Team Members, visit the company's website.
