Everyone knows that the world is going through a recession. Its no secret. People do not have disposable income like they previously had and jobs are being lost left right and center. So those of you who have a job consider yourselves lucky. Those of you who are looking for jobs - the competition is tough... I say all this because I JUST had someone walk up to my desk and ask for an application - Now please allow me to set the scene.
I work in a luxury hotel catering to the top end market; don't get me wrong. We do not discriminate, if you can afford our prices you are more than welcome to come. - So the lobby marble floors exquisite decor inside, original artwork and Beethoven's 'Für Elise' playing in the lobby - Interrupted by a voice coming down the corridor saying 'Gur um wakin to da lobby nawh' TRANSLATION "Girl, I'm walking to the lobby now". As soon as I heard this I immediately looked up as this is extremely out of place. Then I saw a glimpse of her. OH MY GOSH. - I could have sworn I was being set up. I was waiting for Ashton Kutcher to jump out and say 'You've been PUNKED!' - But no this was for real.
She approached My desk smacking on pink bubble gum, blowing a bubble every few chews... The *POPS* echoed in the lobby each time. She had on Pink heals, black leggins and a pink and black sleeve - less shirt - Clearly not appropriate attire for this establishment; Still on the phone I asked "Can I help you?" She mashed up her face as if i was being rude, and rolled her eyes and said "Hang on." - So I waited approx 30 seconds until she finished her call. "Excuse me - Can I have an application." - I choked. - This ghetto hood rat, bad mannered, gum popping, rude, ignorant sloppy hoe wants a what? - An application? - I obliged and gave it to her; just for kicks and giggles. "Out of curiosity what position are you looking for?" I asked. - "I Dunno... Front of House i guess. I Like to 'Conversate' with people." - Now by now I still waiting for someone to say You've been PUNKED. But nope not yet. - I told her I am one of the people to hire people for front of house. I asked her for her name and told her I will look out for her application. In reality - I asked her so I can put it in the shredder when it comes across the desk.
FOLKS - I say all of this to say...If you are looking for a job; First impressions mean everything. If going to get an application, Be presentable. A suit is not always necessary at this stage but 'Smart Casual' attire is recommended. If called back for an interview a Suit is a must. Of course it depends where you are applying. If you are a construction worker i am almost sure a suite is not needed for an interview. But still... LOOK DECENT. Use good English and good grammar. And for Fuck sake... Speak English. Not this ghetto slang stuff. I would get into the whole interview process... but That could take all day... But in short... Appearance; resume & professionalism is what i look at in potential candidates... Make sure you have them all and they are on point when going for a job.
Please & Thanks,
Signed,
Davon
P.S. - Follow me on twitter @davon_a & re post!
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Hotels...
Everyone at some point has stayed in a hotel. Having worked in the hospitality industry for approx 3 1/2 years i have seen and experienced a lot. From Theft in hotels... to mistress catching their husbands at the hotel... celebrities doing drugs... guest's dying to lost dildo's; and that's just to name a few. To those who have never worked in the hospitality industry it can be a tough job and it can also be very rewarding. I have worked in large hotels and smaller hotels, and when it comes to front of house issues. You get them where ever you go... Now the reason i am writing this little blog its to tell you some of the do's and don'ts when at a hotel...
When checking in -
Do not approach the desk with an attitude. Even if you had missed your flight, have been waiting in line for 10 minutes etc. That is a no no. If you appear annoyed and mad that instantly puts the receptionist in a bad mood to the point they want to check you in and get you out of their face therefore not being friendly or helpful. - Not wat you want. You want to be the receptionists best friend for the few moments you interact with him or her. They hold the power. REMEMBER THAT. They are the ones who know the hotel. They can put you in a shit room or a nice room. They can put you in a room that smells like vomit or nice air freshener, they can put you in the room which looks at a rooftop or has beautiful views. Do not piss them off. If you are one of those people who ask for an upgrade if we have it and we can then we will do it. It may just be your lucky day. If we say no its because WE CAN'T. Do not try to bribe us with money or say "I will take care of you". No means NO! - Now lets say you've been assigned a room. You go to the room and something is wrong. Do NOT walk back down to the desk with your bags. Save yourself the embarrassment of the walk of shame when we send you back to the same room because we have no other rooms. A simple telephone call will work. Once again... Be polite. Do not DEMAND a room move or say "I am not staying here". The more polite you are the more we are willing to help you. Simply explain what the problem is..."The room smells like smoke." or "The room is too near to the elevator". We will see what we can do. its not always possible to move you but we will try... Most of the time we will ask to call you back while we look. Do not call back after 3 minutes and say i am still waiting. We have not forgotten about you. You are not the only guest in the hotel. Keep in mind we still have to do check ins check outs not to mention we most likely have 2 other people complaining about one thing or the other. So patience is a virtue. Most of the time when we deal with disgruntled guests we dont want to make the problem better. Some times it is fun to piss you off even more. We say No just for kicks and giggles. Sad but true. Most people who work in hospitality wont admit it. but its the truth. Yes we try to make your stay great so you will come back but you have to work with us. Things do go wrong. Just like your house... A light bulb may go out. The hot water may stop running, a toilet may be backed up. These things happen. Remain calm and let us know. We can't keep track of everything in every room at all times although we try some times it is hard. Now... If something major happens like we send you to a dirty room in error (yes it does happen. We are human). Then you are allowed to come back to the desk because obviously we are not going to send you back to that room. Yes we will apologize because that is one thing that is awful. Some sort of compensation is called for - In all cases where compensation is due... it is NOT i repeat... NOT up to you to determine the level of compensation.- We are professionals. We can do it ourselves. If it is a comp night a room upgrade etc. We know what is acceptable. Do not fish for more compensation. It does not look cute at all. You come across as stingy and greedy. Your name and room number will travel the hotel like a wild fire. From housekeeping which will do a shitty service to your room because you may not tip cos your stingy to the F&B outlets for the same reasons. Not a good look at all. Oh and while i think about it... Do not come back to the desk for more than one replacement key because you lost it. You dont loose your house keys that often so please do not loose your hotel keys. There is nothing worse than being really busy and then someone say can i have another key when you gave them one 2 hrs ago you just give them one of the looks like... O_O. At check out there are some times errors on the bill. We dont do it on purpose. We are not out to steal all your money. It doesnt come to us anyways. It goes to the hotel. So do not get angry at us. once again... politely bring it to our attention and we will look into it. Most of the time we will ask "How was your stay" when you are checking out (unless you pissed us off your whole stay and we dont give a shit and just want you to leave.) This is the time to tell us any problems that we should know about. Serious problems though. Do not say "There was no pen in the room next to the phone." or "I had to wait 6 rings for someone to answer the phone". To be honest. The receptionist couldn't care less. Really. They couldnt. If you have a serious problem with a member of staff etc. This would be a good time to say it. If your problem was with the member of staff checking you out ask for a supervisor. If they are the supervisor leave it alone and then write a letter to the GM. You do not want to get in an argument at the desk during check out. It makes any future complaints should you write a letter seem silly as you will look like the trouble maker. Now for those small minor complaints its good to inform us, But you have a comment card which you can list those things on. Yes they do get read. Feedback from guests is how we improve out service.
Things will NOT always go smoothly and sometimes we mess up at hotels. We dont do it on purpose. bring it to our attention and allow us to fix it...
I am sure i have missed out a few things so stay tuned as i am sure i will be posting some more about the hotel life.
Make sure you follow me on twitter!
@davon_a
Signed,
Davon
When checking in -
Do not approach the desk with an attitude. Even if you had missed your flight, have been waiting in line for 10 minutes etc. That is a no no. If you appear annoyed and mad that instantly puts the receptionist in a bad mood to the point they want to check you in and get you out of their face therefore not being friendly or helpful. - Not wat you want. You want to be the receptionists best friend for the few moments you interact with him or her. They hold the power. REMEMBER THAT. They are the ones who know the hotel. They can put you in a shit room or a nice room. They can put you in a room that smells like vomit or nice air freshener, they can put you in the room which looks at a rooftop or has beautiful views. Do not piss them off. If you are one of those people who ask for an upgrade if we have it and we can then we will do it. It may just be your lucky day. If we say no its because WE CAN'T. Do not try to bribe us with money or say "I will take care of you". No means NO! - Now lets say you've been assigned a room. You go to the room and something is wrong. Do NOT walk back down to the desk with your bags. Save yourself the embarrassment of the walk of shame when we send you back to the same room because we have no other rooms. A simple telephone call will work. Once again... Be polite. Do not DEMAND a room move or say "I am not staying here". The more polite you are the more we are willing to help you. Simply explain what the problem is..."The room smells like smoke." or "The room is too near to the elevator". We will see what we can do. its not always possible to move you but we will try... Most of the time we will ask to call you back while we look. Do not call back after 3 minutes and say i am still waiting. We have not forgotten about you. You are not the only guest in the hotel. Keep in mind we still have to do check ins check outs not to mention we most likely have 2 other people complaining about one thing or the other. So patience is a virtue. Most of the time when we deal with disgruntled guests we dont want to make the problem better. Some times it is fun to piss you off even more. We say No just for kicks and giggles. Sad but true. Most people who work in hospitality wont admit it. but its the truth. Yes we try to make your stay great so you will come back but you have to work with us. Things do go wrong. Just like your house... A light bulb may go out. The hot water may stop running, a toilet may be backed up. These things happen. Remain calm and let us know. We can't keep track of everything in every room at all times although we try some times it is hard. Now... If something major happens like we send you to a dirty room in error (yes it does happen. We are human). Then you are allowed to come back to the desk because obviously we are not going to send you back to that room. Yes we will apologize because that is one thing that is awful. Some sort of compensation is called for - In all cases where compensation is due... it is NOT i repeat... NOT up to you to determine the level of compensation.- We are professionals. We can do it ourselves. If it is a comp night a room upgrade etc. We know what is acceptable. Do not fish for more compensation. It does not look cute at all. You come across as stingy and greedy. Your name and room number will travel the hotel like a wild fire. From housekeeping which will do a shitty service to your room because you may not tip cos your stingy to the F&B outlets for the same reasons. Not a good look at all. Oh and while i think about it... Do not come back to the desk for more than one replacement key because you lost it. You dont loose your house keys that often so please do not loose your hotel keys. There is nothing worse than being really busy and then someone say can i have another key when you gave them one 2 hrs ago you just give them one of the looks like... O_O. At check out there are some times errors on the bill. We dont do it on purpose. We are not out to steal all your money. It doesnt come to us anyways. It goes to the hotel. So do not get angry at us. once again... politely bring it to our attention and we will look into it. Most of the time we will ask "How was your stay" when you are checking out (unless you pissed us off your whole stay and we dont give a shit and just want you to leave.) This is the time to tell us any problems that we should know about. Serious problems though. Do not say "There was no pen in the room next to the phone." or "I had to wait 6 rings for someone to answer the phone". To be honest. The receptionist couldn't care less. Really. They couldnt. If you have a serious problem with a member of staff etc. This would be a good time to say it. If your problem was with the member of staff checking you out ask for a supervisor. If they are the supervisor leave it alone and then write a letter to the GM. You do not want to get in an argument at the desk during check out. It makes any future complaints should you write a letter seem silly as you will look like the trouble maker. Now for those small minor complaints its good to inform us, But you have a comment card which you can list those things on. Yes they do get read. Feedback from guests is how we improve out service.
Things will NOT always go smoothly and sometimes we mess up at hotels. We dont do it on purpose. bring it to our attention and allow us to fix it...
I am sure i have missed out a few things so stay tuned as i am sure i will be posting some more about the hotel life.
Make sure you follow me on twitter!
@davon_a
Signed,
Davon
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Allow Me to Introduce Myself...
Hey you... Yes you... Reading my blog; WHATS UP?!
Let me see... what can i say about me? I really hate these introduction bits because i never know what to say about myself. I am random, fun, crazy at times. I love to travel. Actually if i could travel the world and blog about it that would be my dream job. But hey... Doesn't hurt to dream right?! I work in the hospitality industry and in 3 years i have worked my way up to being a manager. I have never been to Atlanta (random). LOL. URGH. i am running out of things to say lol... Oh oh... I will most deff blog about ettiquite in hotels. Some people are so rude. But anyways before I bore you with my first blog and you never read it again... Let me finish this one up.
Blog you soon...(can you say that)??
Signed.
Davon
P.S. make sure you comment so i know people actually care about what i say, and follow me on twitter @davon_a
Let me see... what can i say about me? I really hate these introduction bits because i never know what to say about myself. I am random, fun, crazy at times. I love to travel. Actually if i could travel the world and blog about it that would be my dream job. But hey... Doesn't hurt to dream right?! I work in the hospitality industry and in 3 years i have worked my way up to being a manager. I have never been to Atlanta (random). LOL. URGH. i am running out of things to say lol... Oh oh... I will most deff blog about ettiquite in hotels. Some people are so rude. But anyways before I bore you with my first blog and you never read it again... Let me finish this one up.
Blog you soon...(can you say that)??
Signed.
Davon
P.S. make sure you comment so i know people actually care about what i say, and follow me on twitter @davon_a
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