Create a 30-60-90-Day Success Plan for Your Hospitality Job
While some jobs require new employees to create a 30-60-90-day plan, those in the hospitality industry typically do not. Despite the fact that it’s not a hard-and-fast requirement, 30-60-90-day plans can really go a long way in bolstering your success within a new role. For starters, you should always view the first 90 days at your new position as a grace period or ongoing evaluation. The first 30 days are typically used to provide hands-on training, while the remaining time is generally used to provide education and guidance to new hires. Moreover, managers will use this entire timeframe as a means of gauging your effectiveness at the position you’ve been hired to fill. As such, it’s crucial that you develop your personalized 30-60-90 plan around these factors. The First 30 Once you have a better understanding of how a particular company’s onboarding process works, then you can begin to establish your own 30-60-90 plan. The first 30 days of your plan should be used to focus on your training, refine your skills and meet your teammates. You should also take advantage of this time to familiarize yourself with any internal systems, policies, or procedures of your new employer. The Next 30 The period from 30 to 60 days is a crucial one. Any training should be wrapped up by now, and you’ll likely receive less supervision than before. However, this doesn’t mean that your productivity isn’t being monitored. In fact, it’s the opposite. Employers will still use this time to monitor your progress and success at your new role. You can use this time to assess the employer according to your own standards, establish goals for future career development or even to continue your assimilation into the new workplace. The Final 30 Finally, the last leg of your 30-60-90-day success plan is focused solely on action. Taking what you’ve learned from the job in the first 60 days, you should be able to work in tandem with the goals of your supervisors, your team and your new company in order to ensure future success for all involved parties. Timing Like most things in life, timing is important when creating a 30-60-90 day success plan. Most plans are made following the completion of an initial job interview. However, if a job requires multiple interviews or several layers of screening before onboarding, you may want to wait until the second or third interview is complete to establish your 30-60-90-day plan. As such plans should be tailored to the individual job in question, avoid planning for a job that isn’t already secured. Despite the use of a 30-60-90-day success plan, orienting yourself to a new role in hospitality can be a cumbersome process. With that in mind, don’t hesitate to reach out to the professionals at RMG right away. We can help you achieve all of your career goals through the various services we provide. Contact us today for more information!
Using Situational Answers During an Interview
While many job seekers spend the majority of their time preparing for questions that involve their past employers, academic history or day-to-day responsibilities, employers within the hospitality industry tend to look for specific examples of problem solving, conflict resolution and customer service from your career. As such, they’re bound to ask situational or even hypothetical questions during the interview process, as a means of identifying and targeting top talent. Requirements of a Situational Answer Apart from concrete achievements and hard facts or figures, a situational answer requires several qualities from the interviewee. First and foremost, it requires a high level of problem-solving expertise on your behalf. By asking a hypothetical or situational question, your interviewer is really trying to gauge your ability to think on your feet and react on the fly. Next, situational answers also require a great deal of analytical prowess on your part. The ability to quickly analyze the question, review your past achievements and deliver a cohesive answer is an art that can only be mastered through practice. As such, you may want to rehearse the interview process with a friend, co-worker or even in front of a mirror. While this won’t prepare you for every possible situational question, it can help you prepare by reviewing your most recent and relevant accomplishments in the field. Learning Experiences One of the most effective strategies you can use when providing a situational answer, especially if it could be conceived as a shortcoming or potential downfall, is to describe how you’ve been able to learn from your past experiences. Employers of today realize that nobody is perfect, so it’s crucial that you are able to illustrate how you’ve been able to rectify any prior mistakes or inefficiencies. If this was achieved through extracurricular training or development, make sure to mention that during the interview. Not only does this show motivation and initiative on your behalf, it is something that can usually be verified by a potential employer or hiring manager. Difficult Situations Describing how you’ve been able to overcome a complicated situation in a prior job, whether this pertains to a troublesome co-worker, a difficult task or an unfair manager, can also go a long way in demonstrating your self-motivation, commitment and persistence. While you should take care to maintain professionalism when describing such situations, especially if it involves a former manager or supervisor, the ability to overcome adversity, complexity and difficulty in the workplace is a highly desirable trait in the hospitality industry today. A Lack of Career Experience Situational questions can be even more difficult when you have little or no experience in the field. If this is the case, mention it to the interviewer. You might still be able to answer their questions, however, by relying on your past experiences in school or life in general. If so, don’t hesitate to do so. This can go a long way when trying to make up for experience in the hospitality industry or trying to fill in gaps or periods of unemployment throughout your career. Turn That Interview Into Your Next Job There’s no denying the stress and worry of a job interview. However, the process doesn’t need to be so stressful. If you need help refining and developing your interview skills, or even if you need help securing an interview in the first place, contact the staffing professionals at RMG Staffing today!
How Long Should My Hospitality Resume Be?
The topic of resume length is a highly contested debate in the hospitality industry. While you may be excited to submit your four-page resume that highlights every single job you’ve had and every menial task you’ve accomplished, this approach usually isn’t conducive to today’s fast-paced job market. Remember, the purpose of the resume is to highlight your skills that are most relevant to the type of job you are applying for. With that in mind, there are a number of factors to consider when trying to decide on the right length for your hospitality resume. Keep It to No More Than Two Pages Although some of the most successful resumes only consist of one page, this isn’t a requirement. In fact, condensing your career history into one page may not even be possible, especially when you consider the heading of your resume, formatting quirks and bullet points. However, a two-page resume is generally considered the maximum length for resumes in the hospitality industry. If you are having difficulty summarizing your experience in two pages, there are a number of tricks you can use in order to trim some of the excess content. Trimming the Content For starters, try to focus your bullet points on concrete achievements, statistics and facts instead of detailing vague accomplishments, menial duties or general tasks. Such achievements will carry even more weight if they are verifiable, though this isn’t required by any means. Moreover, keep these bullet points brief and concise. Sticking to the facts will let you avoid excess verbiage and give you more space to list your past accomplishments and skills. Next, try to eliminate redundancies wherever possible. While you may have multiple jobs where you served patrons, greeted guests or provided general customer service, it’s not necessary to list such points under every single job description in your resume. Instead of repeating yourself, try to utilize the space to highlight new and different aspects of your career. Alternatively, the strategic use of keywords can go a long way in eliminating redundancies such as this. Simply indicating that you have expertise in customer service, either in the resume’s opening paragraph, in a section devoted to skills or even in your cover letter, can be used to indicate your prior experience in serving customers, greeting patrons and working with the general public. Separate keywords can be used to group other related jobs, concepts or tasks. Finding Opportunities in Hospitality If you need assistance in developing your resume, writing a cover letter or even finding that next big opportunity in the hospitality industry, don’t hesitate to contact the professionals at RMG Staffing today!