Charles joined QRC after completing his studies at Kristin School in Auckland
With a passion for skiing, he always had a dream of pursuing a career in the outdoors. He was also interested in a career that was ever evolving with opportunities to work in different areas which led to him embarking on a career within the dynamic Adventure Tourism Industry.
Read more about Charles’s internship experience below:
On the Couch with Charles Trigg
Why did you decide to follow a career hospitality?
I chose to follow a career in adventure tourism management to have an unique and ever-changing work dynamic as well as having the ability to work in the outdoors.
Why did you choose to study at QRC?
I chose QRC as I visited Queenstown a few times while skiing and wanted to make the move down here to chase the winter seasons. I knew that QRC would set me up well for this path.
Tell me about your internship journey.
My internship journey has been really interesting due to Covid. I moved to Queenstown early to line up my studies purposely for the winter season. I got my first internship as a lift operator at NZSki. I loved every minute of it and have now decided to set my target for next season to be a part of the park crew at the Remarkables. To do so I offered my days off and worked for free to get my foot in the door as it is one of the crews that are harder to get in with no experience. As the season subsided, I started looking for opportunities straight away. Almost less than a week later I had my interview set at Millbrook to begin greenkeeping at Millbrook resort. I then started the job the week after.
What are you doing now?
At my current role, greenkeepers maintain the golf course to the highest standard for both members of the public and Millbrook members. We look after our two 18-hole courses multiple different jobs a day. We all come in every morning not knowing what jobs we are going to be set to do throughout the day and what skill progression will look like.
What do you enjoy the most about your current job?
The things I enjoy most about my job, are certainly the awesome team I get to work with as well as the day-to-day variation as it makes work interesting to go to everyday!
What has been your biggest takeaway from your internship experience to date?
The biggest takeaway from internship experience for me so far is the ability to adapt with the ever-changing covid situation. This has definitely been handy this year.
What’s the best advice you were ever given and who was it from?
The best piece of advice I have been given at qrc is from Adam our internship manager, he told us at the start of term 2 “the more you show interest in finding jobs, the harder we will work to help you get those jobs” this showed me that it’s a two way street and to always put in the effort to find the jobs you want!
Any words of wisdom for someone thinking about a career in hospitality Management?
My advice for anyone who wants a career in adventure tourism management is that you should go for it! Soon the industry will be back on its feet running at capacity and we will all be able to get back to experiencing some epic adventures
Plans for the future?
Anything in the Snowsport industry but I will definitely be chasing back-to-back winters between the northern and southern hemisphere. I would also love to share my passion with others so I could possibly get involved with creating short snowboarding films.
