Whether to apply as a front desk or housekeeper in a Hotel? (employment, applying)
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I was wondering what is the pay like for front desk and housekeeping? Would they hire someone with only one month of experience as a bagger at Kroger's?
Go to the hotel you're interested in working for and approach their HR department directly to see if they have any openings and whether or not you would qualify. Rate of pay would of course depend upon your qualifications and the caliber of the hotel so there is no definitive answer which can be gained from this forum. Many of your questions about front desk hotel employment were already answered in a previous thread you started last month.
Yes absolutely and also try to introspect which role would particularly appeal to you or you would enjoy to do. I think its worth while to do a job you like even if pay is lower than to go for a slightly high paying job and suffer.
I worked at a hotel for a while and got to experience both sides of the fence, although I mainly worked at the front desk. There are pros and cons to both.
Front Desk
*Lots and lots of interaction with people, especially during tourist seasons. Great if you're really outgoing. You'll meet all kinds of interesting people.
*Depending on where you're working, the slow months are reeeally dead so you have a lot of time to do homework if you're in school, or read or something.
*Pay is typically higher than housekeeping.
*It's interesting, you learn a lot about the inner workings of a hotel and it's kind of fun. On the other hand..
*You may have to deal with drunk, rude and downright furious guests for occurrences that are completely out of your control - like the weather.
*Depending on where you work it can be scary to be alone at the front desk at night. Although depending on the hotel you might not ever be scheduled alone.
*You will work weekends and nights, which can be bad for someone who wants time with family and whatnot.
*Depending on the size of the hotel, you may be the reservations and front desk representative, which is very heavy on sales. There can be a lot of pressure to keep rooms filled.
*Depending on the hotel, you may do a lot of things that are not in your job description. Like cleaning when you're wearing a suit, helping housekeeping, folding laundry, etc.
Housekeeping
*Solitary work for the most part, a lot of our housekeepers listened to music while they were cleaning.
*Less interaction with guests than at the front desk.
*May receive tips. On the other hand..
*You will clean absolutely horrid rooms. It doesn't happen a lot, most people are relatively neat. But every now and then you'll get a room that is absolutely filthy and it will make you question the sanity of the people who stayed there.
*You may be disrespected by rude guests and talked to like a servant. Although that happens sometimes at the front desk too.
*Very physical job.
*Pay can be quite low for all of the work that you do.
*Scheduling is based on occupancy (same for the front desk, but not nearly as much as for housekeeping) so your hours aren't really guaranteed.
A lot of these are "maybe"s or "sometimes" because it's really hard to say what your experience will be like without knowing the size and location of the hotel. Working at a family resort in Orlando, FL is going to be way different than working at a small hotel in Bumf*ck nowhere, WI which is going to be way different than working at the Hilton in New York City.
Good luck with whatever you choose, either way you'll learn a lot (:
ETA: If your only experience is being a bagger at Kroger's you probably wouldn't have a hard time being hired for housekeeping. However, for front desk they usually want people with customer service and cash handling experience. Although you do interact with customers so you might be able to spin that at the interview. Would it be possible for you to transition into cashiering at Kroger's? That kind of experience would be a lot more applicable to the front desk.
Thank you so much, elephanteazul! Do you happen to know how much I could expect for pay for both kind of jobs? $10/hr?
It really depends. I started at $8.00 an hour working at the front desk at a hotel in Wisconsin. It was near Milwaukee so we were busy in the summer but dead in the winter. Housekeeping made $7.25 and rarely got tips. I've seen hotels advertising for front desk representatives for $9.00 per hour in Milwaukee and housekeeping for $8.00 per hour. But again, it would depend on where in the country and the caliber of the hotel. Working at the Hilton is going to pay way better than Super 8.
Based on my experiences, you probably won't make $10.00 per hour as a housekeeper unless you get some really great tips. You might be able to make that at the front desk but only if it's at a nicer hotel in a big city. If you can work night audit (usually from 11pm-7am or 12am-8am) you'd probably be able to make $10.00 an hour in the right area. You'd also have less interaction with people and do more bookkeeping, which can be fun depending on your personality. But again, this is just based on my personal experiences and it might be different depending on where you're located.
I'm applying for Marriot Residence Inn and it says: "Starting out, what do you expect to earn on an hourly basis?" for a housekeeping postion. Should I just put minimum wage? Why do they even ask something like this? Shouldn't they have a pre-determined pay? I'm afraid that if I put minimum wage I might actually get minimum wage even when they usually pay higher, and I'm afraid they might not hire me if I put something that might be too much.
I'm applying for Marriot Residence Inn and it says: "Starting out, what do you expect to earn on an hourly basis?" for a housekeeping postion. Should I just put minimum wage? Why do they even ask something like this? Shouldn't they have a pre-determined pay? I'm afraid that if I put minimum wage I might actually get minimum wage even when they usually pay higher, and I'm afraid they might not hire me if I put something that might be too much.
I would just put minimum wage to start out, but chances are they will pay a bit over that. Or, you could put negotiable. If you are a personable person, I would go for the front desk job since you have a lot more interaction with people. If not, and you are a hard worker, go for housekeeping. Regardless, in that type of a hotel I have heard that you have to be a jack of all trades - the type of person that can do anything regardless of the position because someone always needs help at some point. Good Luck!
The pay in our area is so low-starting at $7.25 hour for either job. I have a degree in hospitality and tourism management-also did my internship as a night auditor-but can't get a job that doesn't start at $7.25-why did I bother to GO to college to earn the same as the guy with only the GED-some don't even have that! The typical person who works in those jobs here are either in college or honestly-they are Hispanic/Mexican for housekeeping. I interviewed for a hotel sales job and I got the job offer-but it was pathetic. 17K a year? .20 mile to use my own car? I'd had to sell a ridiculous amount of rooms just to earn the commission. Now-I live in area of the Hudson Valley that housing is expensive-my school/land taxes are going to be over $5600 this year. I can't live off 17K before taxes. Really think about it.
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