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Club Med Career Profile Michael Clarke, Chef de Village (General Manager), Club Med Turkoise
Michael John Clarke is a 30-‐year-‐old who works in the coveted role of Chef de Village (General Manager) for Club Med’s pristine Caribbean resort, Club Med Turkoise. Queensland-‐raised, Michael attended school at Clairvaux Mackillop College in Southern Brisbane and completed a Bachelor of International Hotel and Tourism Management at the University of Queensland. Following his university graduation, Michael went on a family holiday to Club Med Lindeman Island (now closed), where his interest in the Club Med ‘spirit’ was sparked. He was inspired by the unique and fun attitude of the resort staff, and the opportunity that a career with Club Med would give him to travel the world and gain life experience. Upon his return, Michael successfully applied for a role as a golf instructor at Club Med Cherating Beach (Malaysia), starting his career with Club Med that has now spanned for almost a decade. During the past nine years, Michael has worked in various instructor and management roles at over eight different Club Med resorts in all corners of the world, from Kabira Beach (Japan) to Colombus Isle (Bahamas), Marrakech (Morocco) and Bintan Island (Indonesia). Michael is now the Chef De Village (General Manager) at Club Med’s Turkoise resort – a role that requires six months of intensive training following appointment, from Club Med’s Paris head office. This is the most senior resort position, and requires Michael to oversee all operations of the Turkoise village. At any given time, he is responsible for managing upwards of 1,500 people from over 20 different nationalities, including:
• Senior management team: Five key department managers that report directly to him, including a Human Resource Manager, Finance Manager, Maintenance Manager, Hotel Services Manager and the Leisure Services Manager.
• GO team (resort staff): over 100 GOs who work in instructor roles • GE team (local staff): over 200 maintenance, cleaning and supply chain staff • Resort guests: between 400-‐1,000 guests depending on the time of year
Overall, Michael is responsible for day-‐to-‐day operations of the resort, co-‐coordinating team leaders, budgeting and projections for the resort and reporting to regional management. He is also in charge of daily staff (GO) programs for the activities and entertainment in the resort and liaising with local media and local government. In addition to these responsibilities, he embodies the Club Med spirit and shares it with staff and guests, with an
upbeat personality, strong communication skills, as well as a professional, entertaining, creative and welcoming attitude. This ensures guests experience what Club Med is all about – creating special holiday memories in a premium all-‐inclusive environment through delicious food, fun activities, relaxation, discovery and entertainment.
Michael’s role requires him to be very hands-‐on with his team and resort guests, and he loves being ‘on the field’ on the resort floor, acting as the face of the resort. This sees Michael wear many different hats all in a day’s work, from friend, counselor and advisor, to security guard and entertainer.
Michael’s favourite part of the job is seeing his team and the guests interact and have fun together, as well as welcoming returning guests. He is an avid entertainer, and loves being a part of the shows that Club Med is renowned for. In his nine years with Club Med, Michael has travelled the world, experiencing different cultures and learning languages along the way. He is now conversational in French and Japanese, and is currently working on improving his Mandarin. Future gazing, Michael is interested in returning to one of Club Med’s Asia resorts in a General Manager role, to support business expansion in this region.