Work Experience- Best Western Westley Hotel

Struggling to get a placement• At first, I was trying to get a placement in PR. Although I was

unsure that this was what I wanted to do I thought this could be an opportunity to discover if I liked it and also could be beneficial to my course. However I did struggle greatly as I didn’t realise just how competitive it was. I applied to approximately 10 PR companies, although only one got back to me telling me I was unsuccessful as they were already full up with placements, even though I applied months in advance. I was surprised at this as I thought my CV and cover letter was a strong point and I had previous experience in journalism. Looking back however I could of perhaps chased these companies up a bit more, such as ringing them to see why I couldn’t get a placement with them.

Dear Sir/Madam, I am writing to you since I am interested in work experience with your company. I am a second year

student at Coventry University studying Journalism and English. As one of our modules we need to participate in a twenty day placement from Easter to the middle of May in 2013.

After studying Journalism for a year I am interested in exploring more about PR and learning more about what you do since I feel this could be a possible career path for me. I have already completed a six month placement at my local newspaper ‘Solihull News’ which I know you work closely with. My duties included writing articles that were included in the newspaper and going out with journalists to find new stories. Although I enjoyed this experience, I would like to find out about other areas of Journalism which could expand my knowledge and public relations is an area I am interested in.

Your company is of interest to me since you are a worldwide company which is active in 131 countries and have had huge success as the world’s largest agency network. I am aware you received 17 nominations for creativity and innovation from the Cream Midlands Award 2012 and have worked on campaigns with top companies such as Vauxhall, Marie Curie etc which is a widely varying client base and would provide invaluable experience to me.

I am hard working, friendly, conscientious and self-motivated. This is reflected in my progression in my part-time job as a waitress at the Best Western hotel. I have worked there since October 2009, starting as a junior and progressing to a senior waitress. I now have responsibilities which include training new staff and helping with weddings and parties at the hotel. I have also worked as a Sales Assistant at New Look from October 2009 until December 2010. Although I was asked to stay, I wanted to concentrate on my A levels. As part of my Duke of Edinburgh Award I worked as a volunteer in an Acorns charity shop for six months which was a very rewarding experience.

My work ethic is to work hard, pay attention to detail and achieve the highest standards I can. I apply the same principles to my studying. I achieved eight ‘A’ grades including in English Language and Literature and two ‘B’ grades in my GCSE’s and in my A levels I obtained a ‘B’ grade in English Language, since this has always been my favourite subject and ‘C’ grades in History and Psychology.

I would be very grateful for any placement you could offer me and would do my best to be a productive member of your team during my time with you.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours Sincerely

Jessica Tavilla

Getting a placement• Whilst doing this I had already thought about doing

something in hospitality. Already being a waitress in a hotel and witnessing the roles other people do such as wedding organiser, I was already interested in this line of work. Having the advantage of working for a big named company (Best Western) I asked around if I could do something to do with conference and events in the hotel business. They got back to me pretty quick saying I could do the placement and offered to give me ten days experience doing front of house (receptionist duties) and my other ten days working on conference and events to discover what I like best and also to give me a taste of everything.

Daily Blog• 29/01/13: First day on reception and did a 3pm-10pm shift. Elaine, the receptionist went

through everything we had to do on reception, which included checking people in, taking payments for rooms, updating reservations, setting peoples wake up calls, making excel charts of total number of rooms booked in the last 4 weeks and what is booked for the next 4 weeks and sending this to the owners and head of management and counting the money in the safe at the end of the shift.

• Found this a bit overwhelming as there is so much to remember to do. Also must remember how to do everything on the computer and what systems are used for what, however I was always with the other receptionist who told me how to do everything step by step.

• 31.01.13: This was another 3-10:30pm late shift. I counted the safe at the beginning of the shift and again at the end of the shift to make sure the totals were still the same as before and no money had gone missing which is quite a big responsibility to be in charge of the whole of the hotels money. Again booked in reservations, checked people into the hotel and put it into the system and also charged people deposits. I filed away all the reservations into the right dates in the cabinet. I also photocopied sheets needed for reception. Again made excel charts for number of rooms booked and how much money made.

• I started to remember some of the processes on the computer of making reservations and checking people in.

• 05.02.13: (3-10pm shift). I organised past reservations that had been found from the as early as august 2011. There were lots of sheets which I organised into piles of months and years and filed them away as everything needs to be noted off and not thrown away. Again checked people in, put reservations into the computer and counted the money in the safe.

• 07.02.13: (3-10pm shift). Counted money from the safe, which was up so had to get a manager to recount to make sure I hadn’t made a mistake but it was still up, showing something had gone wrong in giving/receiving change earlier that day. I also sorted letters that needed to be sent to valued customers, including posters and a letter from the company. I answered the phone to residents calling reception and checked people in and also put reservations into the system.

• 12.02.12: (3-10pm shift). Booked in reservations into the hotel and checked people in. Was a quiet night so just spent the time checking other receptionist’s reservation bookings and making any changes needed, which was a bit or a tedious task, however it needed to be done.

• 14.02.12: (8am-2pm shift). This was my first morning shift which was a lot different to late shifts and a lot harder! Counted the safe as usual. Also had to count money we had taken from customers in the safe and fill out a number of sheets to do with this. Checked people out of the hotel- if there company was paying for their stay I just had to charge them any extras they may have spent, then on the computer check them out, entering their payment details etc. Then had to check commissions that best western were taking from us by cross referencing our booking lists of residents stay against the computer system to ensure they were taking the right commission from us. Answered phones as usual- answering people’s queries and bookings for the hotel and also transferring people through to the right department of the hotel. The other receptionist took me through it step by step however, which was very useful.

• 19.02.13: (8am-3pm shift). Checked people out of the hotel, charging those who hadn’t prepaid- some had to be charged to their company and later we had to put all of these check-outs onto the computer and ensure correct fees were charged to the correct payment methods. Had to count the safe and observed how to do the banking. I had to send the correct banking sheets through fax to the owners and other copies to the chef, duty manager and to accounts. I then had to prepare the bill for a funeral that was taking place that day. I also answered phones, took bookings, answered queries, transferred calls to the right departments and entered bookings into the computer system.

• 21.02.13: (8am-2pm shift). Worked with the Paula the manager, which was good as she explained how to do everything properly and more simply and why we do the things we do, which helped me register the processes more. She went through the banking step by step so I understood it, such as counting the money first them counting money made from each card, and totalling it up and recording it on different sheets and also sending the money off to the bank in the correct way. Also went through checking people in on the system and charging them the right amount to the right place (to the right credit card or to the company). Also put reservations through as normal and checked the commissions from best western and approving and changing them so that best western take the right commission.

• 26.02.13: Back on 3-11pm shift, as it was better to train me fully on the night shift rather that just learn a bit on everything. As usual checked people in, charged them pre-authorization in case any damage is done to the room or they leave without paying. Also checked them in on the computer system, entirety. Checked previous reservations to make sure the other receptionists have entered everything correctly. Answered the phones, which were ringing a lot- booked rooms for them, booked reservations for the restaurants and took payments over the phone, answered queries about the hotel etc. Counted the safe twice (once at 3pm and again just before 11pm and noted it down in the book).

• 28.02.12: (3-10pm shift). Had a step by step sheet which showed everything you have to do on your shift and how to do it through the computer systems. Became more confident at checking people in and answering the phones to take bookings for hotel rooms and restaurant reservations. Printed off the relevant sheets that housekeeping would need the next morning and what the night porter would need for their shift. Set all the wake up calls for residents that had requested for it and wrote it down on the correct sheet along with those who wanted us to order newspapers for them. Took the correct payments for people paying deposits to the restaurants and to book a room and filed the receipts away correctly. Put in reservations into the computer that needed to be done. At the end of shift printed of the ‘x’ and ‘z’ receipts and end of day banking receipts and cross-referenced them to ensure they totalled up correctly.

• 12.03.13: (3-10pm shift). This was a quiet day, so caught up on putting reservations into the system, checked people in, took phone enquiries, counted the safe etc.

• 14.03.13; (3-10pm shift). Usual reservations, booking people in, taking phone queries, setting up conference and funeral folios for the next day. Assigned rooms for tomorrows arrivals and printed off their check-in sheets. Had an Irish funeral in so had to settle their bill. Call taxis for residents. Took room service orders for residents over the phone. Took bookings for the restaurant (ensuring not to over book) and take deposits over the phone if necessary and take all the necessary details off them. Someone tried to book a room but had no I.D and wanted to pay cash which we could not allow, so had to refuse him a room as this is the legal law.

• 19.03.13: (3-10pm shift). Had a quiet week so just caught up with checking reservations, answering phone queries and checking people in.

• 21.03.13: (3-10pm shift). Did the usual tasks as it was quiet, such as checking in guests and printing off registration cards etc. Spent most of the night checking reservations as this needed to be caught up on.

• 26.03.13: (3-10pm shift). Again was quiet, so caught up on tasks such as cleaning the office and sorting paperwork.

• 28.03.13: (3-10pm shift).This was meant to be my last shift on reception before I go onto conference and events so I was put on a test to see if I had remembered everything I had learned and if I could do reception by myself. There were a lot of phone enquiries which I had to deal with, including giving people directions to the hotel, changing people’s dates that they wanted to come to the hotel, taking restaurant bookings and deposits for them and transferring people through the right people/department in the hotel. I checked residents in, programmed the right key cards for the arrivals, printed tomorrows arrival list and created there registration cards and if they were business stays then I printed two correspondents of their payment sheets. I entered reservations into the system that was being sent to us as well as taking payments for those that needed so and filed the receipts in the correct place. I dealt with deliveries that came to us and directed people who had come for a conference to the correct place. The only thing I found hard was the pickup report at the end of the night in which you have to update rooms sold and things like that. I also counted the safe at the end of the night, ensuring nothing had gone missing from it and it totalled to the correct amount.

• 30.04.13: (3-11pm shift). I have been off reception for a few weeks as the manager was still trying to get me to work on conference but this was again successful so I returned to the receptionist role. Being off for a few weeks had made me forget a few things so I had to refresh my memory. Again my duties included checking the safe, checking guests into the hotel and showing them their rooms if they were staying in our townhouse. Also assigning guests rooms that would be staying the following night and printing off there registration cards, as well as entering reservations that were being emailed through onto the system and logging down best western bookings in our book. Also at the end of the night I was shown how to close the shift which included printing off the ‘x’ receipts and cross-referencing this with the banking sheets to insure they matched up and then printing of the ‘z’ receipts, however this was something I struggled to get to grips with.

• 02.05.13: (3-8pm shift). Was extremely quiet, only had two guests checking in and a total of 12 guests staying at the hotel so wasn’t much to do. Spent the time tidying up the office, sorting old paperwork, throwing away what wasn’t needed and polishing. Also had the tedious task of laminating letters that needed to be put in every room which was a very slow process. Also did the usual tasks of assigning rooms for tomorrows arrivals and printing there registration cards as well as photocopying correspondants for those whose companies were paying and attaching it to the registration cards. There was some problems as the correspondants for one guest could not be found so this was left for the manager. Also I had to enter new bookings into the system that had been emailed over from Best Western ‘Member Web’. The receptionist who was on earlier also left 3 guests payments to us, whose companies needed to pay, however the card details they gave us was coming up as declined on our PDQ, so again we left this to our manager to sort out.

• 07.05.13: (3-10pm shift). Was a quiet week due to it being bank holiday so caught up on checking reservations.

• 09.05.13 (3-10pm shift). Did the usual tasks as it was quiet.

Problems with the placement• Although I was meant to do ten days on each

department, after my ten days on reception they were unable to put me on conference and events due to lack of staff and being too busy but was told I would be put on it at a later date and to continue my placement on reception. However every week when I asked to go onto conference and events there seemed to be a problem which meant I was unable to do my placement there. This was disappointing as I was particularly looking forward to getting an insight into this area of work, however there was nothing I could do about this as it was out of my control.

Skills I had and gained from my placement

• Going into the placement I had a basic idea of what to expect and already had a knowledge of the Best Western company which was to my advantage. However the placement showed me that it was a lot harder than I expected and that there is a lot more duties that receptionists at this firm had to carry out. The computer systems that the company used were very outdated and so a lot harder than what most other companies use and so this took a lot of getting used too. The receptionists there also did a lot of other duties that most receptionists wouldn’t have to carry out such as doing the banking for the whole hotel and looking after the hotels money, which would usually be the duty managers job. However this was useful to me as I got to learn a lot more than I would have at any other placement. My computer skills improved significantly as I learned to use different software and also had to send formal emails to guests and other companies who were looking to send there employers to the hotel for work stays. It also improved my people skills as I had to welcome guests to the hotel and solve any problems they had, ensuring they were happy about there stay as you are the face of the company.

What I’ve learned• I have learned that I am a very organised person and so this

placement suited me well as you need this quality in order to ensure things like paperwork are correctly filed and is kept on top off in order to prevent confusion and problems at a later date, especially as you have to work alongside other receptionists who all need to follow the same processes. Also I have learned that a wider knowledge of the hotel and even other Best Western hotels is needed as the queries from potential guests are very varied and as you work alone as a receptionist you need to be able to answer these queries by yourself, which can be a difficult task if you get stuck. It also made me realise how independent you must be to work without any help from anyone else and how focused you have to be as it is east to make a mistake such as charging the wrong persons card or over booking the hotel. The work can also be very repetitive, such as the tedious tasks that need to be done, such as filing bookings, sorting out paperwork, photocopying sheets etc and so patience is needed which I know is a skill which I already had as this benefited me at certain times.

How this has benefited my future

• This placement has being extremely beneficial to me as I have really enjoyed it and felt it was something that I was good at, thus am thinking of possibly doing something in this line of work in my future. It has helped me gain experience in hospitality which could possibly help me gain further experience or even a job which could help me get my foot in the door to work towards a higher career such as a legal secretary. The reception manager who is currently looking for a new receptionist, offered me some paid shifts at the end of my placement if I wanted them, which I am strongly considering for some work over the summer and this could improve my skills and knowledge even further, as well as having even more to add to my CV.

Updated CV