Ok, so before I get into my rant/vent you should know: - I'm a student in hospitality and tourism (looking for a summer job) - Looking to transition from food and bev to front office I have worked with this particular Hotel company for a few summers now. We'll call them Paramount. I have most of my hospitality experience in Food and Bev. But this summer, since I will be graduating in a few more semesters, I have been looking to chance to Front Office jobs, so I can eventually have the experience to work in Toronto. So yes, I don't have the experience. Before I left my old position in Alberta, I spoke with a few front office managers (they have since left...) and with the help of my old manager, helped me get an interview with Royal Service (which is a fancy title for phone operator, reservations, etc). Unfortunately for me, they were only hiring for full time permanent workers, not seasonal employees. So I'm basically out of the running. I have applied to other 'Paramount' properties in Alberta, same position, and actually seasonal; but it doesn't look like I'll be getting a call back from them either. So here is where you may want to face palm. I'll probably be getting a lot of first world problems replies. I have a job lined up for the summer. But it is my absolute last resort. Which looks like it'll be the job I'll have to settle for. It's for Front Desk, the exact job I want. It's in Muskoka, Ontario (cottage region of... Ontario... Canada) With a very small resort. I didn't even take the interview seriously, but I completed my interview in a group of 4, and compared to the others that were in my group, I was like caviar. But that's neither here nor there. The point is, I have a job. With a company I'm not interested in at all. And I have a feeling I won't be happy working there. The pay is considerably less. Other resorts in the area, are paying their Front Office employees about 3$ more than what I will be paid. Ok, sure, it's more about the experience than the pay. And I should especially be thankful they offered me Front Desk, with no prior front office experience. But I'm just not satisfied. Having worked with 'Paramount' for 3 summers would look amazing on my resume. Before I left my job last summer, I set a goal for myself for this coming one. To come back and work with the same property. I've always been rather confident with my resume, and I've gotten every job I've ever set my mind to. This is the first time that I haven't been able to achieve that. It really depresses me, and makes me lack confidence with my skills, etc. I'm stubborn, and I'd much rather go back to Alberta working a servers position. I'm also in a relationship, and he doesn't want me to go back to work as a server. When I write this out, I realize I'm stupid and spoiled for making a big deal out of this... but again, I'm stubborn. I just need to vent a bit. Or maybe I just need more reassurance that this is a good opportunity and it'll be more beneficial for my career than another food and beverage server. I almost want to smack my Professor in the face, cause he keeps saying that Front Desk is an entry level position (it is) and that they're absolutely willing to hire those without experience. Which they aren't. Food and Bev is a lot more lenient with hiring people without prior experience.
I'd sure wish I had your luck right about now. I might need to resort applying to coffee shops and retail to earn a bit of money :(.
=( I really hope things work out for you, and you don't have to resort to that. Now that I've calmed down and reread my post, I sound very spoiled... *sigh*
^ I have a friend currently training in the Canadian Military, in Quebec. Shit does not sound fun. I wouldn't last a minute. lol I'm not saying I'm spoiled, having things served to me on a silver platter. One of the few reasons I complain about the pay is cause I want to be able to make and save enough so I can be financially comfortable for the following school year. I don't want to burden my parents with my school loans, etc. But I am very lucky to have this job coming up. I may not appreciate it right now, as it isn't with the company I originally wanted, but the position will look good on my resume and help me progress in my career. (I hope)
Person, IMHO, the silver lining of all this is, after taking this job, the next time someone asks if you have 'Front Desk' on your resume, you can reply, "...of course." That's the way life is, a bunch of trade offs; one gets the experience that one needs from a lesser desired position in order to move up. But the best line I heard thus far was, LOL...
This here is key. It took me a while, and being told from different people this exact point for me to realize it. edit: Person, now that I reread your post, I find that I'm actually in a similar situation as you are. Though I don't have a "last resort" offer like you do, I find that I'm trying to go through a transition similar to yours. You're looking to transition from food&bev to front office, and I'm looking to transition from developer to business. As Ralph pointed out, sometimes it's best to take the first step into a lesser desired position, and build from there. Personally I needed 3 people to make me realize that (Ralph being the 4th lol).
Yeah, it's hard. I think I only realized after all the other offers were taken off the table for me. Realistically taking this job would be good for me. Though now, the dilemma I originally had has come back. I received an email from the supervisor from Alberta, for the position I wanted. Trying to see if the contract can be shortened by a month, cause I can only work till end of August. The position is still in Front Office, but not Front Desk. It's working the phones. The position right below Front Desk. The contract is still up in the air, but it's re-lit the hope I once had, which has completely confused me once again. Ralph, you are right, I do want Front Desk Guest Agent on my resume. I can apply to almost any hotel with the help of that.
Think this way the office job might be less money but you can promote in next couple yr. And You work in office verse server. You have more stable time, probably weekend off. Server is a job, office job is a career.
The comparative sense that I get from this whole discussion is that even if you're a police chief of a small town and not a big city, you're still a police chief, which entails a certain level of professional responsibilities and obligations. Sure, one may actually learn more working as an assistant police chief in a big city, but seeing that "Chief Of Police" on a resume? Well, nothing compares to that. Ultimately, it's up to you to decide which is more worthwhile to your career at this point in time; getting the solid foundation that your resume sorely needs, or getting the actual experience from a setting that you had seriously wanted. One word of advice, no matter which one you pick, down the road, there will ALWAYS be a 'what if' sense of regret for not having picked the other; that's just us being human. But life stops if all one does is second guess speculation. Don't let that derail you from making the tough choices. IMHO, from my life's perspective at least, it's better to have made a bad choice and learned from it, than to have made no choice at all. On a personal note, I want to say how much I envy you, even having to make such choices, as you still have your whole life ahead of you. Best of luck in all that you do
Yeah, that's very true. I'm just now trying to accept it. Cause I selfishly want the job and the pay too. But obviously, since I'm still in school and just starting out, I can't have both. Yeah, that's true. I think I've decided to take the Front Desk job in Muskoka. For my career, and resume, it'll benefit me more. One of the reasons why I didn't want to take it and instead go back to Alberta, was the fact that, if I take this Muskoka job, I can't reapply to Alberta. The property doesn't hire seasonal front desk. And to take royal service would be a step back rather than forward. So in a sense, taking the royal service job this summer could prolong my stay, etc. On another note, at work, I have customers who like to ask me about my plans for the summer. One of them knew I worked at Alberta and asked me once again if I would be returning. I said possibly, but I was offered a better job position in Muskoka. He literally gave me this 'what the fuck, Muskoka?!' look. Yes, the area cannot compare to Alberta, Muskoka = cottages and lakes. Alberta = Mountains and lakes. In the end he walked away with a 'wow what the fuck, Muskoka' look and said, 'Ok... well, good luck'. That really pissed me off. Who are you to judge me and the types of positions I take? This is one of the reasons why I dislike talking to my longtime customers now. Especially a specific few, because they're insensitive and say things like, 'What you're not graduating yet?! You're kind of a slow learner aren't you?' ?! It's bad enough I deal with my parents telling me how long I'm taking to graduate. I don't need to hear it from strangers who don't know me at all. Ralph, can you be my parent? lol. I wish my rents were as understanding. They're really traditional. It's difficult to explain to them my choices. Sometimes I think they care more about saving face than my actual future.
Unless you have absolutely no other option between now and summer; I wouldn't settle for anything less. It depends on how aggressive you are ....
Let me flip it around for you; can you be my kid? Mine don't even bother paying attention to me anymore, they only talk to me when it's time to pay tuition, LOL...
Don't be frustrated...keep it up! =) Just keep trying and honestly in life, everything is what you make it to be. I honestly believe in pursuing your dreams or at WORST....it is just a MEANS TO AN END. remember this! good luck!
I don't know how much more aggressive I can be. I emailed the supervisor and applied twice. I even applied to other properties- within the same company. I have contacts in all 3 resorts in Alberta. The one in B-town got me pretty close and had the supervisor look over my resume. She's also the super for F&B. And asked me why Royal service (phones) and not F&B? Obviously that means she'd rather hire me for that instead. Pay would be amazing, just not what I want anymore. I would love to have Trump Hotels on my resume, but Toronto, jobs are so competitive AND not to mention Trump is so big, they're only offering students unpaid summer internships. There's no way I'm going for that. Maybe if I was a 1st year with absolutely no Hospitality experience. Haha, I'm not going to lie, I keep to myself at home. I'm not much of a chatter box with my parents. But I do my chores, etc when I need to. @Lina - that's true. I am thinking about the positives.
Have you tried going directly to the hotel HR dept and talk to the manager or go to the front desk and speak with the hiring manager there? You mentioned being employed with the company for sometimes; use that to persuade them to reconsider your application. That should give you enough leverage to at least get an interview. Make sure to dress properly and give them the best first impression as much as possible. Nowadays, most (if not all) applications are screened by computer system and that mean, only key words will get you through the first few steps. If you have inside connections, then your application obviously go directly to the hiring team. For someone who has no experience and no connection, the application just go to the trash. Sometimes, even though if you don't have or enough experience, your other employments/training might make up for that. Computer doesn't recognize it .. only a manager would know best but to get there, you have to hop through thousands if not hundreds of applications.
This advice is excellent advice for all new graduates. A resume made out of gold is still less effective than reaching out and networking. I've recently been made aware of this advice and am practising it. I never realized that resumes only show so much, and the ability to reach out, network, interact and socialize with prospective employers shows more character than anything written on paper.
Yes. I did all of that. I talked to HR (I could only call them, cause they're in a different Province), I had a contact there, and emailed her too. They suggest phone operation (royal service) for me. But they were still looking for full time permanent employees. And they wanted me to work till end of September. School starts in beginning of Sept, nothing I could do there. I basically exhausted every contact I had in Alberta. Guess it just wasn't meant to be. I recently spoke with my Professor, for his opinion on where I could go from Front Desk. If working Front Desk this summer and then working phones next summer, would that affect my resume. He said it wouldn't, but recommended I try a summer as a housekeeper, so I could have that experience if I wanted to move up, above Front Office Manager. (GM, Rooms Director, etc). I've cross trained in Housekeeping, hated it. I also know that a few Supervisors in the Alberta property I worked had, had no housekeeping experience prior to their promotion. I'm now frustrated on how I can progress and what job to apply for next summer. I know I'm planning too far ahead, but the way I see it, school is always there. The summers help motivate me to study hard, etc. Also, next summer will be the last summer before I graduate. I want to make sure I find a job that will be good.
Needless to say, the fact that you're planning ahead and have such high ambition is a great thing. I'm on the same boat. Though I'm starting to ask myself if having overly high ambitions is more negative than positive. The way I see it, your Front Desk job will still be there this year, next year or in a few years, much like how the management jobs I'm trying to fast-track to will still be there. Say you do get Front Desk, will you be satisfied then? From your ambition level and how much our situations parallel, I'm taking a wild guess that you will be, but for a short time. You'll want to continue moving up to GM, Rooms Director, etc, much like how I want to move up to Department Director, Vice-Presidency, and executive management. I can't speak on your behalf of course, but I can tell you that I understand and share your frustrations. But there's no need for these frustrations, because otherwise, we will always be frustrated for always striving for a better job. You say you hate housekeeping. Understandable, I hate being a code monkey and I'm in Computer Science lol. I have friends who are project managers while skipping the coding jobs. You can imagine how much that makes me rage lol. But here's the thing, sooner or later, you will end up in Front Desk and I will end up in project management. It will happen. Though, working at the jobs we hate so much also has great benefits and experience that we can acquire. We just need to see it. So is it necessary to carry all this frustration, simply because we want to get there a bit quicker? This is an honest question, because I'd like to know as well . P.S I don't mean any offence by comparing your situation with mine. I just want to express that I understand and share your frustrations very well lol.
That's fine, Dan. It helps you work out the frustrations you have too. It's good to know I'm not the only one feeling this way. Yeah, I've only recently starting thinking about the career path I want to take. I don't know if I want to set my sights on GM quite yet, because, what if I decide to work towards it? But then never be able to obtain it? I know I don't want to become complacent with my job either... I just don't want to become overly optimistic, just in case. At the same time, I sort of wish I knew to work in housekeeping earlier. That way, I would have gotten the position out of the way, rather than having to do it now. Since your friends skipped the coding jobs, and my one colleague skipped housekeeping and went straight to supervisor, I *hope* I can do the same too. Like your friends, I want to try and bypass housekeeping altogether. I understand how it can be important, but isn't it mostly about how the department runs? How to plan and fill out the room cleaning sheets? I feel like I don't need to subject myself to cleaning 17-24 rooms (during the busy season) a day, or have to clean condoms, etc. I'm so against it, I'm willing to try cross training this summer in housekeeping. The company I worked for the past two summers, has this leadership program for graduates. For one year, they move you to different departments in a managerial position, and you learn the ropes that way. Eventually, when I graduate I hope to apply to that and learn housekeeping that way. That's the plan anyway.
