✺ The program
What does a week in the programme look like?
Twelve weeks are not twelve identical weeks. This is how the days are split between the classroom, the kitchen, the front desk and the company where you do your internship.
Three stretches, not one
The programme runs for twelve weeks, Monday to Friday, on a mixed schedule, at Sienna Village, ten minutes from Las Terrenas. But a week at the start and a week at the end look nothing alike.
Weeks 1 to 4: intensive training
- Every day at Sienna. Fundamentals, life project and the first technical knowledge.
Weeks 5 to 12: work-study
- Three days a week in a partner company, two days of class at Sienna.
Week 12: job readiness
- Mock interviews, portfolio, certification and a graduation with employers present.
Before the first class: integration day
The programme does not start in a classroom. It starts with a day out: team sport, a meal away from Sienna, a hike. It has three stated aims: to get to know yourself, to build team spirit, and to achieve something together before studying anything.
In those first days you also go round the professional booths: one space per specialisation where you see up close what a cook, a receptionist or a guide actually does, before confirming yours. Some arrive convinced of one thing and walk out choosing another. That is normal.
A week in the first month
Mornings are for fundamentals. Afternoons are for the trade. This is how the foundation's curriculum lays out a typical week, as an example; the exact timetable is set by each cohort's teaching team.
Monday
- Morning: Spanish. Afternoon: soft skills class.
Tuesday
- Morning: maths. Afternoon: specialisation.
Wednesday
- Morning: English. Afternoon: soft skills workshop.
Thursday
- Morning: computing. Afternoon: specialisation.
Friday
- Morning: professional knowledge workshop. Afternoon: specialisation.
One hour of every week is reserved for support on your life project, with at least two one-to-one sessions during the programme.
Spanish, English, maths and computing are not filler. Spanish includes reading and writing, because some students arrive struggling with them. The maths is the maths of costs, portions and inventories. The English is the English of the trade, from day one.
And the specialisation afternoons are hands-on from the first week: basic handling of kitchen equipment, check-in drills, tours narrated in Spanish to practise storytelling.
A week in the second and third month
From week five, the week splits in two.
Three days in the company
- Beach restaurants, boutique hotels, excursion operators. Real shifts, real customers, a real supervisor.
Two days at Sienna
- Advanced English for your trade, leadership techniques, entrepreneurship and personalised follow-up.
Throughout the internship, someone from the team meets you, alone or in a group, to review how it is going, sort out problems with the company and answer your questions.
One practical detail: in the first four weeks you must devote yourself fully to the programme. After that, the internship is part of the training, not a separate job.
The last week
Portfolio, CV and cover letter
- With the internship done, they are updated with real experience and aimed at concrete openings.
Mock interviews
- Specific to your trade, with feedback.
Certification
- Food handling, first aid or the guide exam, depending on your specialisation.
Graduation
- With employers in the room. For many, the real interview happens that day.
And afterwards
Six months of placement support. Meetings at 6 and 12 months. And a new cohort every four months, in which earlier graduates are already part of the network.
What you need to start
Be between 18 and 22, live in Las Terrenas or nearby, and be fully available Monday to Friday for twelve weeks. Nothing else. No experience, no English, no CV. That gets made here.