It's all about Hospitality

Through no fault of my own, I now find myself in the hospitality industry…this is in fact an area that I have always been somewhat curious of – and that’s not just because of my love for luxurious hotel beds, silver spoon service and people being at my beck and call 24/7.

And so Madam Fate happened to stick her beautifully manicured fingers into my life and after a few tedious and mind numbing temping assignments I find myself in the sales and catering department of a luxury hotel in DuPont Circle, Washington DC.

Little did my unknowing future employees know; that this “temp” actually has what she likes to think of as a little bit of experience in the event planning/marketing/sales/ promotion arena and actually does know what she is talking about.

So 6 weeks of proving myself (no one here has ever asked to see my resume) and I turned from “temp” to Sales administrator, another few weeks of doing what I do best and Voila – I am now catering coordinator. I have my own desk, computer, phone and get this – business cards!

I have learnt a lot about this new professional home of mine.

1. Hospitality is surprisingly the art of be hospitable – making people feel welcome and happy. It requires that you have a smiling happy and shiny disposition, know how to talk to people, be friendly and polite. Surprisingly – not everyone seems to know this.

2. A hotel is a conglomeration of many different departments. It is essential that these departments work seamlessly together to achieve the common goal. Communication between these departments is key. Again – not always the case…

3. There is no such thing as a 9 – 5 hotel job…

4. Possibly the most interesting thing about this job is the people. Colleagues and clients, this place is overflowing with different personality types. Some great, some testing, but nevertheless there is always something going on. There are flamboyant flairs, girly sparkles, catty conflicts and lots of peacock tail fluffing but the thing that I think is the common bond is that we all have a little bit of crazy…

So although I do not yet know if this is a permanent home for me I am enjoying it and we all sure know that I do indeed posses that little bit of crazy.

Honey I'm Home!!

Hello Folks,

Yes I'm still alive and somewhat kicking.

I have made a conscious decision to get back to my adoring fans (or at least I like to think that…) and make somewhat of an effort to keep up with my thoughts and put pen to paper a little more often.

So just a brief catch-up:

• The tempting thing landed me a permanent thing – I am now
Catering Coordinator at a hotel in Washington DC’s DuPont Circle
(more to come on that later)

• I very briefly touched on this a very long while back but I was
assisting some Amazing Wedding People with planning weddings. Well
I am now one of those Amazing Wedding People (again more to come
later)

• The Ikea Experience became somewhat of a hobby and I can now say
that my house is officially decorated and Mr. Ikea is a very rich
man.

• The Administrative nightmare known as a Greencard has been brought
back into my life and is just as annoying the second time round.
(You know there will be more to come on this one!)

So that’s the brief version. I promise to elaborate on all this in time to come.

I have missed you all and hope you missed me more!

PT

The Temping Experience Part 1

Assignment 1: Receptionist

As part one to a hopefully short lived topic, this will be the intro into what I embark on along my road to finding success. As someone who, like so many people, is fighting the daily employment battle, I have signed up with a temp agency. Basically they offer me various short term assignments which generally involve filling in for people who are taking a much deserved vacation. Obviously, this is not something that I wish to be doing for very long but I figure that while I am taking the time to find my dream job and get on a career path that will actually lead me somewhere I want to go, I figure I might as well share my experiences. I also hope to learn a little something about the places I’m not so keen on visiting, or staying for an extensive period of time.

Please bare in mind that I write this from a temp point of view and actually have very little insight into what really happens in the places that I visit.

My first assignment was for 4 days and I found myself at the reception desk of a not very busy property management firm.

So property management – what I learnt from my very short visit seems to be full of very full inboxes with very little motivation to go through them. Tenants call you at every opportunity and at any time of day or night because it is your unfortunate duty to care that the ceiling caved in because of rain. Bills, bills, and more bills are on your daily to-do list and those don’t even include the ones you have to pay to keep your own household running.

On to the reception part of this position, and please remember that I say this from a very uneducated point of view and the fact that this generally was a very quiet office. But in saying that, I have the utmost respect for people who take this position on as a full time profession. Not because it is challenging by any means but because it is mind-numbingly boring. OK, so maybe if you are more than just a temp you probably have more day to day responsibilities and you could eventually build up a to-do-list.

For someone in my position, a temp, there are periods of maybe ten minutes when you have to take a call or stuff an envelope but then that’s about it. I find myself sitting there, begging for a box of filing or a storage room to organize, or even for the stupid phone to ring. I was told by various people in the office that this was extremely rare and that the regular lady who works there is constantly busy and the phone is ringing off the hook. I guess I should count myself “lucky” that for those four days that I was standing in all the clients/tenants/suppliers or anyone else who had any vested interest in the company all decided to go on vacation.