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Being Hospitable Translates Into Career Opportunities
By Claudia D. Wheeler
Do you enjoy working with people, especially when you meet new customers
every day? Are your verbal skills more polished than your written ones?
What do you think of the following work environment: busy and noisy, lots
of people who ask demanding questions and expect immediate service, phones
ringing, FAXes beeping, and ongoing issues needing resolution.
You will know right away whether this brief description of a hotel work
environment is the right place for you. It either sounds exciting or nerve-wracking.
Professionals who work in a hotel don’t usually work nine-to-five.
You might occasionally have to work the
11 pm to 7 am shift since there must always be someone available to help
guests. Weekends are often necessary as well since hotels are open 24/7.
On the plus side, there is a lot of flexibility and a varied schedule
is helpful if you need childcare because your partner or family members
may be around more on the weekends. This career also appeals to people
who don’t like sitting at a desk in an office all day. You may stand
for a good part of your shift, juggle the telephone, answer questions,
and perhaps even move around the hotel to handle different issues that
might arise.
Hispanic Career World magazine interviewed Ana Diaz, Hilton Hotels, to
explore the hotel career environment and its pros and cons. Diaz has a
longtime professional history with hotels around the world, including
hotel chains such as Sheraton, Holiday Inn, and Hilton. She enjoys her
career so much, mostly because of the opportunity to meet new people every
day, several times a day. She gets to pick and choose her shifts now but
when starting out in her career, she had to occasionally take the “graveyard
shift” which was difficult. Diaz loves to learn new skills and is
always challenged in her career. Here, Diaz answers questions about her
career and offers advice to readers.
CW: Why did you pursue a hotel career?
Diaz: I knew it would offer me the opportunity to meet new people and
talk to them, on a daily basis. Previous office assistant positions were
too solitary for me. I didn’t enjoy sitting at my desk all day—it
bothered my back and legs—and there wasn’t enough in-person
contact. The idea that I could actually talk to people all day was a great
motivating factor. I am also a person who tends to stand more than sit;
I like to move around a lot even on the weekends. In fact, I prefer walking
or bicycling to driving so even on the weekends I am never still for long.
CW: What other aspects of this career do you enjoy?
Diaz: I enjoy the variety of skills I use every day. I talk to people
most of the time, but I need to be a good listener, too. I juggle the
telephones, computer, and FAX all day. I even use math skills to calculate
bills or help guests.
CW: What challenges have you had to overcome on your career path as a
member of a minority group?
Diaz: My Hispanic background has always helped me in my career. My Spanish
skills are extremely useful when I communicate with guests. I don’t
feel there were any challenges being a member of a minority group. I was
given more opportunities rather than less, and I feel I have perhaps advanced
in my career more quickly because I am bilingual.
CW: What advice can you offer to readers interested in this career?
Diaz: Go for it because my career has been wonderful. Anyone who is a
“people” person will thrive in this environment. You can’t
be shy, that’s for sure. It’s also rewarding when guests are
grateful to you for making their stay exceptional—sometimes they
even fill out those room surveys and mention your name. To me, it’s
essential to make a good first impression. I am always “on”
and it can be exhausting at times. At the end of the workday, I am tired
but satisfied.
CW: What other benefits does your career provide?
Diaz: It is never dull. There are always new people and new issues. It’s
satisfying to me to be helpful; I guess I have a helper personality. Schedules
are more flexible in a hotel. I work a four-day week, including Saturdays
and Sundays, when my husband is home with our two children. This schedule
works well for us because I only have to worry about childcare for two
other days during the week. When my youngest goes to kindergarten this
September, I will only have to worry about a babysitter for a few hours
on Wednesdays and Fridays.
CW: What’s most important to you in your career?
Diaz: I enjoy myself and am satisfied and rewarded by the hard work I
complete every week. My supervisors appreciate me; they tell me all the
time. I have fun. I could never work somewhere where I felt bored or uninspired
in any way. When I get up to go to work, I know I will have a good time.
Sure, there are unpleasant guests from time to time, the complaining types,
but after so many years of experience, I know exactly how to handle them
and it never escalates. Usually, I end up calming them down and they actually
become more pleasant themselves—and being able to influence people
in that way is a special skill I have learned on the job. I use it in
my personal life as well.
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