LYON, France — A nosy handyman tests your professionalism. Attendees of a wedding party create a ruckus in the hotel lobby. A distraught guest crumbles in panic after losing her passport.
These were the nightmare scenarios that Rachel Yu, 19, had to handle as a competitor in the hotel reception skill area of the 47th WorldSkills Competition in Lyon, France, being held from Sept 10 to 15.
Unlike other participants from Singapore who learnt about this competition when they enrolled in the Institute of Technical Education or a polytechnic, Yu found out about it while still in secondary school.
She was introduced to the competition, dubbed the "Olympics of vocational skills", when she was in Secondary 4 at Marsiling Secondary School, during a visit to Republic Polytechnic (RP) for its open house.
A lecturer there piqued her interest when he spoke about an RP student who represented Singapore in the hotel skill area when the competition was held in Switzerland.
"At that time, I had not taken my O levels yet. But I told myself that I was going to get into RP, get into the School of Hospitality and be a WorldSkills competitor."
Yu enrolled in RP in 2022, and joined the Singapore edition of WorldSkills the following year, where she won a gold medal in the hotel reception skill area and was chosen to represent Singapore at the 2024 international competition.
The third-year student said her course had prepared her adequately for the competitions in Singapore and Lyon. She worked as a hotel receptionist at the Crowne Plaza Changi Airport during a year-long stint under the school's career exposure programme.
But she said the competition conditions were more intense than anything she had experienced during her internship.
"In the industry, your colleagues can help you, and you don't feel the pressure of someone judging your actions. I had the freedom to assist the guest in a way I feel is correct. But here, what I say and do matters, and there's no chance for a second mistake," she added.
In Lyon, Yu competed against 21 young people from other countries over four consecutive days. Each day began at 9am and usually ended after 7pm, with only an hour's break in between for lunch.
Every day, competitors had to show assessors how they handled challenging hotel guests and scenarios in a series of 15- or 20-minute role-plays. Competitors were judged on how quickly they could think on their feet and solve the problems presented to them.
Competitors were also given "back-of-office" tasks, such as responding to e-mails and brainstorming for presentations.
Asked how she kept her cool during the role-playing segments, Yu said she tried to inject humour and creativity, and relied on her extensive industry training.
"Whatever they threw at me, even if I thought I could not handle it, I must find a way to do so because I was carrying the country's flag and reputation. So I just did what felt right, and I got it done," she added.
[[nid:701597]]
This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.
