A hotel management trainee rotates between departments to learn about daily operations, gaining experience in all aspects of running a hospitality business, including customer service, cleaning, dining, financial and administrative responsibilities. Strong reviews are important for future career success.
A hotel management trainee works in the various departments of a hotel to learn about daily operations across divisions and departments. The trainee gains experience in all aspects of running a hospitality business, including knowledge of seasonal traffic, competition, marketing, sales and budgeting. He or she gains experience in company policies such as submitting status reports and learns how to analyze customer feedback and use it to the hotel’s advantage. Like all hotel employees, the intern needs to be friendly and provide excellent customer service. The criticism that the intern receives from superiors is usually really important for the future of the career. Many interns are still in school or are recent graduates; their on-the-job experiences often lead directly to full-time employment. Additionally, these experiences can help young professionals determine the departments and divisions they like best, which can help make their jobs more fulfilling in the long run.
Focus on Customer Service
Customer service is a top priority for any hotel’s staff, and is often the most important responsibility of a hotel management trainee. Learning how to interact with customers, air their complaints, and resolve their issues is often one of the biggest parts of the job. It can also take many forms; sometimes interns answer the phones, work the front desk, or manage the concierge station. They may also be assigned to randomly check in with guests to assess the quality of their visit and resolve any pressing concerns.
Cleaning service and special services
Training programs can vary slightly depending on hotel and program specifics, but more often than not, interns rotate between different departments to get a comprehensive view of how everything works. Rotation is thought to produce the best general managers. In that sense, many people spend their time managing, supervising, and sometimes even participating in the housekeeping department, making sure all rooms are clean and well-stocked.
Hotels that have special services, such as spas or conference centers, often have additional jobs for the trainee. It is often important to get to know the team that runs these different divisions and understand how these services fit into the larger mission of the hotel as a whole. Likewise, interns also inspect public areas and outdoor areas to ensure that these departments are keeping things clean and presentable.
Dining and kitchen operations
The hotel manager trainee job description also involves overseeing the dining room and banquet hall operations. He or she can review the menu with the chef and ensure operations are running smoothly, and often helps oversee and manage the wait staff. Helping organize bookings and dealing with customer concerns is also typically within the required range of tasks.
Financial and administrative responsibilities
Beneath their polished exterior, hotels are businesses like almost any other business. Understanding basic economics and good business sense is an important part of the training experience in most cases. The intern, typically under the supervision of the hotel manager, will likely learn things like setting rates, managing advertising and balancing expenses so that the hotel can turn a profit and align with the requirements of a larger chain or parent company, if applicable. Managers-in-training may also be responsible for helping the general manager plan budgets for the hotel’s various departments.
The hotel management trainee usually also learns how to interview and hire new staff, as well as regular assessments as per hotel policies. Once that person becomes a manager, he or she will likely have to train new employees; therefore, learning the basics early on is usually very beneficial.
Importance of Strong Reviews
Generally, interns move directly into independent management positions, although much of this often depends on the reviews they receive during their various rotations and the strength of the connections they make during that time. Most interns are graduates in hotel management or recent graduates. The most competitive internships usually go to the strongest students, but even the most convincing position usually doesn’t guarantee a desirable managerial position without a lot of work. Interns often need to prove their worth in order to land the type of work they want in the style of hotel and location they find most desirable.
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