Thursday, November 03, 2005
of dreams - 9:53 PM
What is the best compliment someone can pay you?1) NI HEN MEI LEHHHH (you're very pretty LEHHHH)
2) NI HEN CONG MING LEHHHH (you're very smart LEHHHH)
3) WO XI HUAN NI DE TOU FA!! ( I LOVE UR HAIR!!)
4) I saw in you something I didn't see in the rest
SORRY HOR, Hong Ruoying doesn't have the good fortune to inherit compliments 1-3 (or rather, I used to receive no. (3), but since now that low quality, dried up hay on top of my head that calls itself HAIR is no longer looking like it did just 3 mths ago, I'VE NV gotten that compliment anymore. HOW tragic. ), so I guess I'll have to settle for (4)... 'I saw in you something I didn't see in the rest.' But HEY, its not too bad isn't it, seeing that it actually came from a potential employer!
I don't know whether I told you all, but The School of HB had our Career fair on Tuesday this week. Its the largest Hospitality career fair in the nation, and almost 70 companies came, whether they're Hotels, Resorts, Motels, BNBs, Restaurants, Hospitality Real Estate companies, Hospitality Finance companies, Casinos etc etc etc... whether they're looking for summer interns or graduating students, THEY'RE ALL THERE.
From the high-end brands of the legendary Waldorf Astoria Hotel, Chicago Peninsula to the boutique hotels of the W and Kimpton to the budget Motel Red Roof Inn; from International Starbucks to the hot new concept Bubba Gump Shrimp Company to everyone's favourite suburban family restaurant AppleBees; from the Native-Indian Kewadin Casinos to the glittery Venetian of Las Vegas; from the mountain resorts of Aspen Colorado to the beach resorts of sunny Florida to the golf resorts in Michigan.... from the world of Walt Disney to the humbleness of the Bavarian Inn, you name it, they were there. So as you can imagine, everyone was decked out in their finest suits and polished shoes, armed with their resumes (on special resume paper somemore), their brighest smile, waiting to land their dream job.
but -DUDE-, it was scary. Everyone was so SIAO-on... and to land that internship/job, You have to be literally, the best of the best. We had to practise 2 min commercials about ourselves, because thats about the time we have to impress the recruiter, and THEN they will allow u to interview with them the next day. If you went up to them and be like 'my name is ehh yingg.....i'm ummm a sophomore this year and UHHH i wanna work at your hotel this summer.' PLZ, turn around and GO HOME. So imagine the things I had to say. Ruoxi gave me a few tips here and there and I did use them (she said I'm damn kua zhang). muahahhaa.
So I had interviews with 3 of the companies that were offering internships that I was interested in on Wednesday. I tried KSL Resorts, only cos they had these magnificent historical resorts on the West Coast, Sandestin resorts in Florida just for fun, and the Venetian cos I figured that with Singapore and the all that IR jazz going around, I might as well try out the REAL deal.
KSL interview was alright but I don't think I'm gonna get it cos they're looking for only 1 intern. But its ok cos it was my warmup. Sandestin offered me an internship on the spot. I asked them 'So who do you think are your competitors?'. THe guy who's the Asst Director of Front Office Ops said 'well...disneyworld is in our region...' WHOA. WHAT?! 'yeah.. well we have huge shoes to fill.. u know, no one can compete with mickey mouse.' YES SIR, thats right, NO ONE can compete with that rodent. but nevertheless, they're cool.. haha.
Venetian... ahhh. Casino-hotel in Vegas. Other than the 4 Seasons and the Ritz Carlton, no one comes close to the Venetian in Vegas. PEOPLE I TELL U!! I met the lady (she's the Director of Front Office at the Venetian) at EXPO, within 10 seconds of scanning my resume, she didn't circle my HIGH GPA (wahahaha), neither did she look at past experience, NOR did she glance at my extra curricular activites.. FIRST thing she zoomed into and CIRCLED, 'fluent in Mandarin'. (wah i tell you all, chinese is damn useful.) then she went on to ask (within 1min of meeting me, mind you).. 'I WONDER IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN EMPLOYMENT AFTER GRADUATION?' -WHOA- I was thinking 'WHOA I'm only looking for an internship but HELL if you wanan offer me a perm job, YAH DURH?!' Cos she said the Venetian might be bidding for the Singapore IR on top of their Macau/China projects, so knowing Mandarin is a HUGE plus.
So I met her the nx day for an interview and the first thing she said was 'I'm hungry, come with me to get a bagel.' -MMmm...wadeva u say, Mdm- Then we just chit chatted for awhile and oh, I casually dropped the thing about 'working' for the Grand Hyatt in the summer.. MUAHAHHA. So she asked me what did I learn. PEOPLE, ONE TIP: recruiters sit there in the same desk the ENTIRE DAY, the interview 10 to 20 to 30 of people who want the same job as you, THEY DON'T WANNA LISTEN to the same boring ol' answers. They may be the most POLITICALLY CORRECT, they may be what your instructor taught you, but hell, you have to take some chances and pray that what you're gonna say is what they wanna listen. So instead of saying 'OH i learnt to give EXCEPTIONAL service' (which I didn't, so it would had been a complete LIE), I said 'I learnt to communicate with people who aren't as educated as me'. Then I went on to say how my friends are people like myself, from the Middle Class and college-goers. At that job, DUDE they're all from either India, Bangladesh or Sri Lanka, people who paid loads to leave their country in search of a better future. Yeah sure serving might not be the most glamorous job in the world, but at least they have a diploma from Shatec and need not wind up being a farmer like their father, grandfather and great grandfather. WAH, RUOYING! GOOD CALL MAN. She immediately jumped in and said 'that is so important blah blah blah blah blah'. Then I told her how demoralised I was after going home to Singapore and realising that people in the service industry were treated like SAI. She shared the same sentiments.
When I asked her about the Venetian's competitors and how they distinguish themselves apart from them, she disclosed some of the nei mu of the gaming industry. VERY EXCITING, I TELL YOU!!! N thats when I got my most flattering compliment. Surprisingly, it wasn't about my HAIR, wasn't about 'WAH U LOST WEIGHT!', wasn't about anything but a simple 'I saw in you something I didn't see in the rest.' and she felt that way within that 3mins when she met me the previous day at EXPO! that led me to wonder, CAN WE REALLY TELL that about other people within mere seconds of meeting them? But anyhow it was very extremely fulfilling to hear someone say that.
Ok so she didn't really offer me an internship, cos apparently I will have to go to their website and do something, but she'll put me down as a candidate and pull me into the Front Office Dept if I wanna work there. But DUDE, summer in Death Valley REALLY can DIE lor.
You know how recruiters like to ask about our personal career goals? If you had asked me that question a year ago, I would tell you that I wanna manage one of the grandest, world reknowned hotels of New York City. But now, after one year of studying this course and seeing/learning more things, I realise I can't have fixed career goals anymore. For starters, the NY Plaza hotel has closed its doors, there goes my dream of working there. And of cos, I now know that International students will always be at the short end of the stick just because we're International. Its increasingly difficult to find a company willing to sponsor your work visa after graduation, esp after 911 where they are taking more stringent controls on immigration. (and lets not EVEN talk about that guy who sits in the White House) Cos we're not going into banking or finance jobs where they are able to calculate the value you are able to add to their company. I've never thought of going into the Gaming industry, but now since Singapore's so ONZ about it, that might JUST be my calling. (somemore my new house will be built by then!) Of cos I still would love to work in exciting cities, but sometimes, the alternative might not seem that bad.
OH well, I still wanna interview with Kimpton who is this rather new chain of Boutique hotels in the US. THEY'RE damn cool. SO if you all are free, go tour their sites! its fun!
OH, I'll be going to Puerto Rico for SPring break next year! We have an alum there who's a property developer and he owns the hotels he builds. He's sponsoring our accomodation there! ROX. Its been a good week, its been a good week. I'm happy.HEY, its one of the perks of my major! =)