We catch up with the team at Crown to learn about the lesser-known (but industry leading) education initiatives the group has to offer. Plus, the hospo giant has just become the hospitality services partner for Victoria Racing Club – adding more exciting opportunities for new staff to join the team and learn a broad set of skills.
When people think of Crown they picture resorts, restaurants, bars, big events and exciting hospitality experiences. With destinations across Australia, the hospitality opportunities for employees at Crown are seemingly endless. Hotel staff, front-of-house crew, kitchen pros, event managers and support office people can all find their place with the brand.
One of the perks on offer to Crown employees is the opportunity to work across multiple venues. During the course of the week, staff can find themselves behind the bar one night and working in fine-dining the next, with shifts across casual and high-end restaurants making up the rest of their schedule. With the recent addition of Victoria Racing Club (VRC) at Flemington Racecourse to their portfolio, Crown has added another exciting string to its bow for hospitality professionals.
The opportunities that come with working at Flemington on race days are both exciting and invaluable, but Crown will be running the show year-round, with weddings, corporate lunches and other events for staff to gain experience at. Aside from these eclectic in-venue learning opportunities, the group also runs Crown College – a registered training facility for incoming and existing staff where employees can gain industry-recognised graduate qualifications without incurring any costs.
We caught up with some of the crew at Crown to hear about the education opportunities across their venues, learn more about the Victoria Racing Club hospitality services portfolio, and to find out how you can join the team.
Brittany Poulton is the Operations Manager for Victoria Racing Club. She’s been at Crown for 10 years, starting as a food and beverage attendant. Poulton says she worked her way up to her current role by gaining experience in multiple group venues.
“I've had the chance to work in premium restaurants, casual restaurants and bars, starting as a food and beverage attendant then working my way up to supervisor, assistant manager, venue manager and operations manager,” she says. “I was promoted into a new venue each time, which was great for my skill set. Crown is awesome at noticing people who want to progress, there's a huge focus on internal progression here.”
Poulton also gained experience at Crown College, the brand’s registered training facility, set up to train current and prospective staff members in all things hospo. Participants can also gain qualifications such as a Diploma of Leadership, which Poulton obtained through the college.
“You can do a diploma and other courses over a year or 18 months, and you get to implement a project and present it to the CEO, which is awesome,” she says. “Crown also has emotional intelligence training, courageous conversations; lessons on how to lead and motivate people – we’re focused on training people to be leaders, not just managers.”
Crown College also runs entry-level hospitality training, a culinary school, patisserie courses and security training. Upon completion of courses, graduates are normally offered jobs with the group. This is a big focus for Crown and Victoria Racing Club heading into racing season, with numerous new positions up for grabs. Poulton says the excitement of working at Flemington Racecourse is unlike anything she’s experienced in her hospo career to date.
“It’s hectic, it’s exciting and the day goes by in an instant. It has a completely different atmosphere to other hospitality venues, everyone is so invested from the bar staff to the horse trainers,” she says.
With up to 110,000 punters coming through the gates for major events, race days at Flemington are large scale, fast-paced and a lot of fun. Despite the size of the operation, Poulton says she comes to work every day because she feels a close connection with the team.
“Crown feels really big for our customers but really small for our staff,” she says. “People think it’s amazing that I’ve been here for ten years, but the majority of the people that you talk to at Crown have worked here for 15 years or more, and that says a lot.”
It’s a sentiment embodied by Michael Pigdon, Director of Operations across Crown and VRC. Pigdon has been with Crown for more than 20 years, working in venues as a waiter, bartender, service manager and beyond. He says that career progression opportunities and the support from Crown employees around him has kept him with the business all these years.
“Crown's always had good people and good teams; that's the reason I've stayed the whole time. You work hard and get paid well, you can park on site, you’re getting staff meals and a uniform supplied, as well as those Crown College training opportunities,” he says. “They just make it easy to come to work here, and I feel that it’s the jewel of Australia as a place to work.”
Pigdon credits his progression to opportunities to work across different Crown venues. He says hospitality professionals at any stage can benefit from working in different environments – a practice that’s encouraged at Crown to help people build their skills.
“You’ll be better-rounded if you do a couple of years in bars, a couple of years in casual restaurants, then some premium or fine dining venues. Later on in life when you’re in management roles you’ll have a better concept of what it takes to run a team.”
Pigdon says the opportunities at Victoria Racing Club reflect his philosophy on a concentrated scale.
“Spring Racing weekends here are really fast paced, so you get an understanding of high volume in both casual and premium venues within the same building,” he says. “But there are slower bars here where you’re focused on service and cocktails, and with weddings, corporate lunches and other events year-round, there are a lot of different skills you can pick up here.”
A Crown employee who has expanded her skillset beyond hospitality is Renee Choi, food and beverage operations manager. Originally from Korea, Choi has an extensive hospitality background, working at hotels in China, Sydney and the Maldives before the recruitment team at Crown sent her a job offer.
“Once your career is around mid-management level, you want to settle down with a good company in a good country. Melbourne is beautiful, very safe and has an amazing food scene,” she says. “Crown is a very well-known brand; they offered to sponsor my visa application – which isn’t that common throughout the industry – so I moved over to take on a new challenge.”
Choi started as an assistant restaurant manager and moved up into a venue manager role, all in Crown’s fine-dining spaces. She’s now taking on an events-focused role with VRC, which she’s relishing.
“Race day is a little like Christmas or New Year's Eve for Crown. You have many happy customers, it’s quite chaotic, but I feel comfortable in that kind of environment with these teams around me,” she says. “For us to execute every part of service on that scale is just crazy, but I’m learning about efficiency that I didn't get to experience in fine dining.”
Choi has gained plenty of experience across different Crown venues and at VRC race days, but she says some of the people skills she’s picked up are the most valuable – and the biggest reason she’s still working for both brands.
“Crown considers what kind of personality and cultural background you have and they’ll put you in a position to excel because of these things. Coming from Asia, I got the opportunity to be that translator and bridge between staff from the same region and local employees,” she says. “Putting me in that space, they really considered my strengths, personality, and where I had come from. The empowerment and the trust I get from senior management makes this the best place I’ve worked in my career.”
If you like what you’re reading, you’re in luck. Crown is currently hiring positions for Victoria Racing Club to work race days and other exciting events.
This article is produced by Scout Jobs in partnership with Crown and Victoria Racing Club.
Photography: Hugh Davison
