Dandee Cleofas has managed restaurants all over the world. From his home in the Philippines to the
Middle East, Alberta and now Toronto, he has worked in the food-services industry for the last 20 years.
Cleofas’ experience in customer service has taught him that people skills are paramount to succeeding in
today’s workforce.
“After 20 years of work, I’m very familiar to hospitality and the restaurant industry, but in different
countries there are different approaches,” he said, referring to the communications styles that vary
from country to country.
So, after arriving in Canada, he turned to Evergreen College to enhance his employability and improve
his skillset. During two academic years of study in the Hospitality Management diploma program, he
honed his communications skills to help him in his restaurant career—one that is highly driven by social
interactions with customers.
During his internship placement, Cleofas worked in the corporate office of a fast food chain, where he
says he was exposed to the back-end functions of a restaurant such as marketing, finance and payroll.
He says a lot of what he learned at in the college program is directly applicable to his work.
“The college taught us the leadership skills that are important to being a restaurant manager,” he said.
“We always need to motivate our employees, give positive feedback to our team, give them
opportunities and recognize their developments. These are modern people skills.”
While he was up-to-date on the technical skills required in his line of work, Cleofas admits that the
academic side of the restaurant industry was new to him.
“I learned more about time scheduling, employee training, how to handle people and how to manage a
team,” he said. “The academic side is now helping me to achieve additional career goals.”
This past September, Cleofas graduated from Evergreen’s Hospitality Management diploma program
with a new-found understanding of his industry’s most in-demand skills.
“The most important skills I learned are about how to approach different people in various situations
during operations,” he said. “There are certain dynamics and flows of operations that you need to
handle.”
Upon graduation, he was hired by one of the world’s largest fast food chains for a position located in
Saskatchewan. While he originally began working for fast food chains in entry-level positions, and then
advanced to the role of team leader, his new position is a management role.
When asked if he would recommend a college education to future hospitality workers, Cleofas was quick
to say yes.
“A career-focused college program is needed in the hospitality business. It teaches students the very in-
demand people skills.”
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