Marriott

Marriott

I tossed in an application to Marriott hotels for a Director of Marketing and Sales. I knew I probably wasn't qualified for it. I get that. I just wanted to up my quota of jobs I had applied for that day so I didn't feel as guilty about being lazy. One of my friends got hooked up with a job as director of marketing and sales in Virginia, and I didn't feel like he had too too much on me, so why not. I apply, let it simmer in the company, and wait for a response.

Alas, I get one. A woman names Susanne calls and leaves me a message. I listen to the message and hear her say her name- but it was somewhat muffled in the message. I couldn't tell whether her name was Susan, Susanne, or Susannah. Whatever it really doesn't matter as long as I have it around the same thing. I call her back, and she greets me. She proceeds to tell me that she got my application for director of marketing. Good, good. Then she tells me that I am not qualified for the job, but she does have another position available that I might like. Ok, whats the job? Front desk. I hesitate on the moment, wondering whether or not it's worth going down there for. But, I have a weakness for saying no to potential interviews, especially when they're not flowing in as frequently as they were. So I say yes, thinking that since the hotel is more towards the Atlanta area, they may pay a higher premium on front desk staff. Maybe it's a place that young professionals start so they can make good contacts for the future. And Susanne says it's a full time job too, so maybe it comes with a salary too.

Quick side note. Last summer, I didn't do much. I decided that I was going to live in Clemson for the summer, because I had heard that everyone should do it once because it's a lot of fun. So fresh off my gig as an RA, I decide to go job hunting around Clemson. At the time I was interested in hotels, so I went and applied at the Comfort Inn. I get the job- it starts every day at 6am and goes until 2pm. I show up the first day of work, and I feel out of place. The people working behind the desk are all at least 40, and women. The maintenance staff is even older and black. We don't have much to talk about. I'm standing behind the counter looking at the computer while my "trainer" sits in a chair off to the side. I am never offered a chair, nor am I really trained. The woman, Beth, starts up some conversation, but not the kind I wanted to hear. She starts, and goes on, for 30 minutes about her urinary tract infection and how she really needs to go to the doctor because it's really starting to become a problem. It's 7 AM on my first day of work at this point. I don't need to hear it.

Around 9 AM, several things cross my mind. 1. I hate this place. It's old, its dumpy, and I dont like getting up at 5:30 every monring. 2. This woman is grossing/freaking/weirding me out. She finally says at 9 AM that it's going to be a pretty boring day and that I can leave if I want to. I say alright, thankful to get out, and never return. That is the extent of my hotel experience.

I get up on Wednesday morning, do my daily routine, and head out to Marriott. I get there, with a few minutes to spare, and go up to the front desk. I mentioned before that I wasn't exactly sure what the woman's name was that I was meeting with. So instead of worrying about it, I decided to go with one and stick with it. I go up to the woman behind the desk and ask for Susannah. "Oh, you mean Susanne?" Oops. I say yeah and she says to have a seat. I do, and a woman and a man come sit down. The woman is dressed in jeans and a t shirt, and the guy in a shirt and slacks. I assume they're waiting for someone in general.

A few minutes pass and Susanne come walking out. She's about 35, but looks much older. Her hair is dyed blond but her roots are making a comeback. She is thin and dressed in a suit, and her face is leathery as though she's been out in the sun too long or in a tanning bed since birth. She walks over to me and says "Scott?" I say no, it's Steven actually, and she says "Ohhh right, well come with me." She looks at the woman in jeans sitting across from me, and tells her to come along too. Hmmmm. Apparently it's not as formal as I thought.

We walk through the back halls of the hotel- it's dark, dirty, and there's a lot of people running around. I'm getting weird looks from being in a suit. We make a few turns and get to her office. It's a 15' by 10' office split into two rooms. It's small, and its cramped, with about enough room for someone to stand in the room and one person to sit. She tunnels through one of the cabinets until she finds two standard application forms. She gives one to me and one to the jeans girl, and we go to fill them out. At this point, I'm wondering whether it was worth driving down here.

I finish putting in my vital information, and hand it back to Susanne. I'm the first one done so she escorts me back into her private tiny office. I sit down in a chair and she starts going over my application. She mentions again how I was not qualified for the job I applied for, and I responded with the fact that I know I may not be totally qualified but I wanted to submit it anyways just in case there were other opportunities available. She starts asking questions related to why I like the hotel chain, and I manage to get out a response about how I like helping people, etc. She continues by saying that there are two positions open- one for banquet staff, which I am currently doing right now for $10 an hour, and one for the front desk I tell her I want the front desk.

She goes on to explain the front desk- that it's a great way for me to get started in the hotel industry and make contacts and while the pay isn't that great, it can really help me with a sales job within the hotel industry later. I don't care about that. I want the nitty gritty. I want hours, I want pay. She finally antes up by saying that I would have to be EXTREMELY flexible with my schedule between 7 AM and 11 PM, and that the pay is $9.25 an hour. At that moment I mentally checked out of that interview. I was at least hoping it would be something worthwhile for me to drive down there every day. I extend the conversation a little more to keep things less awkward, and then we finally end the interview. I leave her office, tunnel through the back alleys of the Marriott, grab some complimentary coffee, and head home.

Time spent: 10 minutes applying, 10 minute phone pre-interview, and about 2 hours worth of driving there and back.

Lessons learned: Just apply for the big boy jobs and leave the summer work to those who really need it. Overall, not a bad experience, but a somewhat waste of my time. Coffee wasn't bad though