No rest for the working

Anneke Love may have a degree and workplace experience, but she is not resting on her laurels as she works to build her career in tourism.

Miss Love has finished her tourism and hotel management studies at The University of Queensland’s School of Tourism and completed a placement in Brisbane at environmental management and certification company EC3.

Even when the placement finished, the 21-year-old from St Lucia stayed at EC3 as a project officer, with a focus on helping managers in their research.

But Miss Love has since returned to UQ to complete the second strand of her dual degree, a major in Chinese and Geography.

“EC3 general manager Mark Olsen mentioned that they normally select candidates with a science or geography background,” she said.

“Geography complements tourism very well, so I am glad it is all coming together.

“I am also going on exchange to China next semester, which will hopefully give me a more competitive advantage, on top of the placement and uni degree.”

Miss Love completed the School of Tourism’s MGTS3000 professional development course, helping her with a host of workplace skills ahead of her placement.

“It was really good at preparing me for placement as well as future jobs. We learnt how to write resumes and address things such as selection criteria.

“The placement was essentially the greatest opportunity I have had to get my foot in the door and work with some of the industry’s greatest people – such as Mark Olsen.

“I learned so much during the placement. I now have the confidence to go into any job, knowing it may be hard at the start but that I can pull through.

The placement has given Miss Love a new-found enthusiasm for environmental management, adding to her love of tourism.

“It will be really great to combine the two areas to hopefully make a difference to the way people travel and our impact on the environment.”

Media: Anneke Love (0448 610 200, anneke-love@hotmail.com) or Erik de Wit (0417 088 772)