Who got that job?

By LIANE VOISEY

Were you one of the people who applied for this job and wondered who got it?

Job title: Chief executive officer, Hospitality Standards Institute

Working in tearooms while still at school, gave Steve Hanrahan, 39, his first taste of the hospitality industry. Since then he has had 20 years in the more corporate side of industry.

The Hospitality Standards Institute, Hanrahan explains, has the job of administering the national qualifications in hospitality, organising training for workplaces and a leadership role in seeking to identify and address the future skills and training needs of the industry.

A big challenge, he says, is making all parts of the hospitality industry an attractive career option.

"Chefs have always had qualifications in the past and people look at being a chef as a career choice, but not so much in being a waiter, barman or receptionist or other parts of the industry," he says.

The institute will address this, he says, by "developing a training culture in hospitality organisations and getting employers to put some sort of training programmes in place in their organisations".

Hanrahan had been working with institute for five years, starting as a training adviser, and then for the past three years he was national operations manager.

Having built up a knowledge of the workings of an industry training organisation (ITO) and "what makes them tick", Hanrahan was keen to take on the chief executive role when it became vacant.

Before working for the institute, Hanrahan worked in the industry as a food and beverage manager, and gained a diploma in hotel and catering administration from (what was formerly known as) the Central Institute of Technology in Heretaunga.

Hospitality is growing as an industry, says Hanrahan, and he is looking forward to being part of the industry as it matures.

"We've got a long way to go but that's exciting and I think there's a lot of good things happening."