The interview process took almost a full day.
In the morning we were shown a short video about the various Club Med resorts followed by a lengthy presentation about the company history, culture etc... We then had a short break and given a chance to mingle with the other candidates. The morning ended with a game show style quiz about the content we had covered and small prizes (mini trophies, bracelets, shirts) were award for correct answers. I must say that I quite enjoyed myself in the morning and had felt excited about working for the company, however that feeling would quickly change.
In the early afternoon the group of candidates reassembled for a Q&A session about the roles and responsibilities. During this time candidates were called out of the room for one on one interviews with G.O.’s from various departments. This part took quite some time and a few candidates decided to leave early, as a result this created quite a bit of confusion.
When it finally came to my turn, I was interviewed by a member of the sports team even though I was applying for a hospitality position (Guest Relations). This is when the experience became a negative one, when looking over my CV they commented on my current enrolment in a university program. They made it clear that they would not be considering my application while I was enrolled and that I would effectively have to drop out of university to be considered as a potential candidate. I explained that I would be willing to take a gap year in my program to work for Club Med as long as I was given enough notice before the start of the next semester. Once again they restated that I should have dropped my program before applying for this position. The rest of my CV was briefly discussed before the interview concluded.
I was sent a rejection letter the next day. While I understand that it is not possible to study and work internationally simultaneously I still find it preposterous that they expect candidates to drop a university before even receiving an employment offer, it seems like an unreasonable request to make especially since there is no guarantee that I would have been accepted. I recognize that this may be an isolated case and this might just be the opinion/view of the employee who conducted the interview but it still discouraging and reflects badly on the company.
In hind sight even if I would have been selected for the position I would not have been hired as just a few days later Club Med was forced to close almost all their resorts due to the Coronavirus pandemic and those who had received offers had them revoked or postponed indefinitely.
I may consider reapplying in the future with the hopes that I will have a better one on one interview experience but it will definitely have to wait until the pandemic is over, until then I will continue my university studies.