Graciela Bidone went from being a curious biology teacher to the owner of Selection Partners, onboarding about 1,000 crew members a year for the world’s largest cruise lines.

The first client was Disney Cruise Line, which paved the way to what the company is today.

“We really learned the business with them, we performed very well…and it brought in new clients. Throughout our journey, I never looked for a customer. They always came to us by recommendation, which makes us feel very proud of the work we do,” she explains to the Forbes interviewer from Uruguay, her most frequent place of residence along with Buenos Aires.

Today Selection Partners has a crew of more than 800 people on board cruises around the 5 continents and 12 people working in the office (4 working in the recruitment department and the rest taking care of everything necessary to embark all the ¨new hires¨ and ¨rehires¨.

As important moments of the company, Graciela Bidone mentions the year 2008 when Princess Cruises announced that Selection Partners would be in charge of managing all the crew members in South America.

The contracts are for 6 months in South America, and the Central American contracts are for 9 months, she explains. During those months on board, they work an average of 11 hours a day, 7 days a week.
In return for so much effort, people get to places they “would never have visited” on their own (although not everyone can get off at each destination) and have no expenses on board. The money they earn is brought back in full: A waiter earns an average of $1,000 or $1,200.

You can find the complete article at https://www.forbesargentina.com/negocios/dejo-profesorado-biologia-42-descubrio-negocio-menos-pensado-ahora-gana-dolares-n27465