Internships offer chance of potential hires

JMU students head for Athens to work in the Olympic Village

Two students from JMU will be working behind the scenes to help feed the Olympic athletes in Greece this summer.

Seniors Marshall Dyer and Kyra Papafil will head to Athens while working for ARAMARK, a corporation that provides food and facilities management services to stadiums, arenas and JMU.

Dyer and Papafil will be working with 42 other students from around the nation. While in Athens, the interns will work in the main dining or casual dining halls of the Olympic Village where the athletes, coaches, trainers and other service personnel eat, according to Papafil.

The interns then will be placed in a variety of positions, including service at a hot or cold buffet station, facilities, warehouse, food preporation or other area of the Olympic Village restaurant.

“I will be a student manager working with the back of the house operations,” Dyer said. “This includes helping feed the coaches and athletes during the Olympic and Paralympics games this summer in Athens. There are many ceremonies and banquets in which we will have to provide services for throughout the games.”

The interns are expected to work 50- to 60-hour work weeks, and are paid $12 to $15 per hour.

According to Papafil, the internship is well-paid, but all students must provide their own transportation to Greece and arrange their own living accommodations.

Receiving the internship was a lengthy process, according to Papafil. She first heard of it in October 2003 when a flyer was distributed in one of her classes, and only about a month ago found out she had received the internship.

According Pam Kokkalis,the ARAMARK director of human resources for the ARAMARK Athens Project, when choosing where to recruit from, ARAMARK identified schools with which they have had a strong relationship and proven success in student placement. Among these are Cornell University, Penn State University, the University of Delaware, Boston University and JMU.

To have a shot at going to Greece, interested students from selected schools were asked to first submit resumés. A team of recruiters then evaluated the scores of the applications and invited the students to interview during an on-campus college job fair. The interview itself hoped to assess the students' interests, skills, experience and motivation, according to Kokkalis.

Propsective interns must have an interest in working for Aramark after graduation, two years work experience in the hospitality industry and strong leadership skills, according to Kokkalis.

The students also must be pursuing either a hospitality or culinary degree with good standing at their universities. In addition, they must supply two faculty recommendations.

“The characteristics of a great intern include the ability to ‘roll with the punches,' as interns will not know what type of position [they will have], nor their schedule until they arrive in Athens,” she added.

Both students see working at the Olympics as an incredible opportunity. “It is unlike any other internship I have ever had,” Papafil said. “It is much different than any of my friends'. But, the full impact won't fully sink in until I'm there.”

Dyer said, “It is a great opportunity for me to travel; I need to do it while I'm still young.”

Papafil's Greek heritage enhanced the appeal of the internship, she said. She will be living with a family friend in Greece during her internship.

Dyer will be residing in the Olympic Village. He will be working from July 15 to Oct. 1, but will remain in Europe until January so he can travel.

He says he may be interested in continuing to work for Aramark if a position opened up on the West Coast or internationally.

According to Papafil, about 30 students from JMU applied for the positions and only Papafil and Dyer were chosen.