{"id":3002,"date":"2017-09-14T00:14:37","date_gmt":"2017-09-13T23:14:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www2.ift.edu.mo\/NewsPortal\/?p=3002"},"modified":"2017-09-14T12:16:02","modified_gmt":"2017-09-14T11:16:02","slug":"ift-graduates-on-fast-track-to-management-at-luxury-retailer-dfs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.utm.edu.mo\/NewsPortal\/ift-graduates-on-fast-track-to-management-at-luxury-retailer-dfs\/","title":{"rendered":"IFT graduates on fast track to management at luxury retailer DFS"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id='gallery-1' class='gallery galleryid-3002 gallery-columns-3 gallery-size-herald-lay-c1'><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a class=\"herald-popup\" href='https:\/\/www.utm.edu.mo\/NewsPortal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Marcela.jpg'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"470\" height=\"313\" src=\"https:\/\/www.utm.edu.mo\/NewsPortal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Marcela-470x313.jpg\" class=\"attachment-herald-lay-c1 size-herald-lay-c1\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-3003\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.utm.edu.mo\/NewsPortal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Marcela-470x313.jpg 470w, https:\/\/www.utm.edu.mo\/NewsPortal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Marcela-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.utm.edu.mo\/NewsPortal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Marcela-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.utm.edu.mo\/NewsPortal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Marcela-414x276.jpg 414w, https:\/\/www.utm.edu.mo\/NewsPortal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Marcela-640x426.jpg 640w, https:\/\/www.utm.edu.mo\/NewsPortal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Marcela-130x86.jpg 130w, https:\/\/www.utm.edu.mo\/NewsPortal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Marcela-187x124.jpg 187w, https:\/\/www.utm.edu.mo\/NewsPortal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Marcela.jpg 990w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 470px) 100vw, 470px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-3003'>\n\t\t\t\tMs. Marcela Fok\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a class=\"herald-popup\" href='https:\/\/www.utm.edu.mo\/NewsPortal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Kiwi.jpg'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"470\" height=\"313\" src=\"https:\/\/www.utm.edu.mo\/NewsPortal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Kiwi-470x313.jpg\" class=\"attachment-herald-lay-c1 size-herald-lay-c1\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-3005\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.utm.edu.mo\/NewsPortal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Kiwi-470x313.jpg 470w, https:\/\/www.utm.edu.mo\/NewsPortal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Kiwi-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.utm.edu.mo\/NewsPortal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Kiwi-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.utm.edu.mo\/NewsPortal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Kiwi-414x276.jpg 414w, https:\/\/www.utm.edu.mo\/NewsPortal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Kiwi-640x426.jpg 640w, https:\/\/www.utm.edu.mo\/NewsPortal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Kiwi-130x86.jpg 130w, https:\/\/www.utm.edu.mo\/NewsPortal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Kiwi-187x124.jpg 187w, https:\/\/www.utm.edu.mo\/NewsPortal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Kiwi.jpg 990w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 470px) 100vw, 470px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-3005'>\n\t\t\t\tMs. Kiwi Leong\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a class=\"herald-popup\" href='https:\/\/www.utm.edu.mo\/NewsPortal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Gigi.jpg'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"470\" height=\"313\" src=\"https:\/\/www.utm.edu.mo\/NewsPortal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Gigi-470x313.jpg\" class=\"attachment-herald-lay-c1 size-herald-lay-c1\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-3004\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.utm.edu.mo\/NewsPortal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Gigi-470x313.jpg 470w, https:\/\/www.utm.edu.mo\/NewsPortal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Gigi-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.utm.edu.mo\/NewsPortal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Gigi-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.utm.edu.mo\/NewsPortal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Gigi-414x276.jpg 414w, https:\/\/www.utm.edu.mo\/NewsPortal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Gigi-640x426.jpg 640w, https:\/\/www.utm.edu.mo\/NewsPortal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Gigi-130x86.jpg 130w, https:\/\/www.utm.edu.mo\/NewsPortal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Gigi-187x124.jpg 187w, https:\/\/www.utm.edu.mo\/NewsPortal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Gigi.jpg 990w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 470px) 100vw, 470px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-3004'>\n\t\t\t\tMs. Gigi Hoi\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<span class='pum-trigger  popmake-3007  text-center font-blue' data-do-default=''>\u4e2d\u6587\u6458\u8981 \/ Summary in Chinese<\/span>\n<p>A group of 3 IFT graduates has been given a flying start to professional life at luxury retailer DFS. The graduates were selected to join the firm\u2019s 18-month management trainee programme in 2015, and have now progressed to working as permanent product sales managers at the company.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLanding my first management role is an exciting and rewarding experience,\u201d says IFT alumna Ms. Marcela Fok.<\/p>\n<p>She and Ms. Kiwi Leong were the first newly-graduated IFT alumni to be accepted directly into the DFS training programme. The scheme provides opportunity for a big career jump: those successfully completing such a programme are considered by DFS for permanent manager-level positions.<\/p>\n<p>Having achieved that, Ms. Fok says one of the challenges she now faces as a young professional is honing her leadership skills. She states the DFS programme was important for her personal and professional development. \u201cI am now constantly looking for innovative ways to accomplish work more efficiently and with higher quality,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n<p>Ms. Fok states the education she received at IFT has been important in helping her advance her career. She holds a Bachelor\u2019s Degree in Tourism Retail and Marketing Management, having graduated in academic year 2014\/15. She praises the \u201cgreat amount of resources\u201d made available by IFT to its students, and staff commitment to providing students with opportunity for a well-rounded education, \u201cfrom theory to practice, from observation to critical thinking\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Ms. Gigi Hoi was part of the first batch of graduates in the IFT Tourism Retail and Marketing Management Bachelor Degree Programme, completing her studies in academic year 2012\/13. After gaining some retail industry experience, she applied in 2015 for the DFS programme and was accepted.<\/p>\n<p>She says attending the course allowed her to strengthen her skills and enlarge her professional network. Ms. Hoi says it was an \u201cunforgettable\u201d experience and very enriching from a professional standpoint, with regular feedback and support from the DFS team. She says the programme helped her become more resilient in the face of challenges and made her more aware of the importance of continuing learning for career development.<\/p>\n<p>Ms. Hoi says IFT provided her \u201ca foundation\u201d for professional success in the retail industry. \u201cAt work, I remember the many useful things regarding customer behaviour or marketing analysis that I learned during my studies,\u201d she says. Ms. Hoi also highlights the focus at IFT on project presentation skills, which she says are particularly \u201cimportant in the real business world\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was lucky to study in IFT,\u201d she adds. \u201cIt really helped me to prepare myself and be competitive.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ms. Juliana Ma, Learning and Development Manager for Macao at DFS, praises the quality of IFT graduates.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe graduates are well equipped with retail and marketing professional knowledge and technical competence,\u201d she says. Ms. Ma says this enables the Institute\u2019s graduates to go \u201cinto action right away\u201d once they enter the industry.<\/p>\n<p>Ms. Ma also notes the \u201cwillingness\u201d of IFT graduates to learn. \u201cThey are very passionate about retailing,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n<p>The DFS Graduate Development Programme is designed to provide young higher education graduates \u201can opportunity to fast-track their careers with DFS\u201d via an 18- to 24-month training programme involving rotation between various company roles, says Ms. Ma. \u201cWe offer in-depth training and mentoring to develop them into future leaders in the retail industry.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She says management trainees are exposed to several areas of the business during the duration of the programme and can choose to specialise in a particular field.<\/p>\n<p>Ms. Ma says the company\u2019s Graduate Development Programme looks for \u201cindividuals who are passionate about retail, are action-focused and can drive results\u201d. DFS, she adds, \u201cvalues the talent of its team\u201d and looks forward \u201cto having more IFT graduates\u201d on its workforce.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A group of 3 IFT graduates has been given a flying start to professional life at luxury retailer DFS. The graduates were selected to join the firm\u2019s 18-month management trainee [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":3001,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[55,136],"tags":[553,262,554,486,145],"class_list":["post-3002","post","type-post","status-publish","format-gallery","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni","category-main_headline","tag-dfs","tag-internship","tag-luxury-retail","tag-retail","tag-tourism-retail-and-marketing-management","post_format-post-format-gallery"],"views":3,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.utm.edu.mo\/NewsPortal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3002","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.utm.edu.mo\/NewsPortal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.utm.edu.mo\/NewsPortal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.utm.edu.mo\/NewsPortal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.utm.edu.mo\/NewsPortal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3002"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.utm.edu.mo\/NewsPortal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3002\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3009,"href":"https:\/\/www.utm.edu.mo\/NewsPortal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3002\/revisions\/3009"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.utm.edu.mo\/NewsPortal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3001"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.utm.edu.mo\/NewsPortal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3002"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.utm.edu.mo\/NewsPortal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3002"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.utm.edu.mo\/NewsPortal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3002"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}