Our Top 5 Hospitality Management Interview Tips
Interviewing for a new position can be one of the most exciting moments of your career. Landing a new job can change your whole life, especially in the hospitality industry, where taking a new position can mean moving to a new city, state, or even country!
Here are 5 hospitality management interview tips to help you make the best first impression possible and land the hospitality job of your dreams!
1. Be Honest
The purpose of an interview is for your potential employer to get to know you and learn about who you are and how you conduct yourself. Your interviewer is interested not only in your qualifications and experience, but in your personality and character as well.
If there’s anything that you feel might be an issue if it should come up during or after your interview, the best thing you can do, as nerve wracking as it may be, is to lay it all out on the table.
Why is this the best move to make?
- It shows your potential employer that you can be upfront and honest. This is your chance to make a great first impression and prove that you’re trustworthy.
- Because your interviewer’s goal is to learn more about you, they may ask questions that end up leaving you with no choice but to reveal the information anyway. If this happens, not only have you lost your chance to show your interviewer that you are an honest individual, but they may come away with the impression that you are intentionally withholding information from them. If an interviewer detects dishonesty in a candidate, there is often no recovering.
- What seems like a deal breaker to you, may not be a deal breaker for your interviewer. Making a great first impression and wowing your interviewer with your experiences and personality can go a long way in helping them overlook minor issues, especially if you’re open and honest about them.
2. Think About the Truly Memorable Days of Your Career
Come into your interview prepared with a few anecdotes that you feel illustrate something about you or your management style. They say that truth is stranger than fiction and we’ve all had days that prove that to be true.
Think back on those days that make you say “you can’t make this stuff up.” Sometimes, the way you make it through the tough days, or how you turned a negative experience into a positive one, can say a lot about who you are as a person and the way that you handle yourself under pressure.
It’s not uncommon for an interviewer to ask you to recall a time you had to resolve a problem. Coming to the table with a good example ready to go helps you avoid being caught off guard.
Have you ever gotten in an argument and come up with the perfect comeback hours or even days later? The same thing can happen with interview questions! If you come prepared with the perfect story, you can avoid that moment the next day when you think to yourself, “Dang, I should have told THAT story!”
3. Be Specific
“Tell me about a time you had to deal with an upset guest”
When asked this question, jaded customer service agents the world over will turn off their brains and give some variation of the same answer:
“Well, first I listened to the guest… and then I repeated back what I think I heard back to the guest to ensure that I had heard it correctly… then I apologized to the guest and offered a resolution… then I verified with the guest that the resolution offered met their expectations…”
Blah blah blah
Anyone can memorize a problem resolution script, and chances are good that your interviewer is not interested in your ability to do so.
Your interviewer wants to know how you deal with problems in real life. Tell them about a real situation. Think about a real experience that you’ve had and work through the specific steps you took to fix the issue.
This question is a great way for you to make yourself stand out from the crowd. Your interviewer has almost certainly heard the service script recited to them by dozens if not hundreds of candidates. Bringing an actual unique experience to the table shows that your problem solving skills are not just theoretical.
4. Relax
Interviews can be nerve wracking, especially when you’re interviewing for a great position and you don’t want to mess it up. Many times, the interview will be your very first time meeting your prospective employer. Meeting new people can be scary, I get it.
Something to Keep in Mind:
In the hospitality industry, meeting new people is a daily occurrence. For many people it’s what drew them to the job in the first place!
In this industry, part of your job is putting people at ease, your interview is your first chance to show that you can do that!
Smile! Tell a joke! Shake off those nerves and relax!
This is especially important if you feel like your resume isn’t perfect. Making your interviewer laugh is a great way to leave an impression!
5. Ask Questions
This is your chance to learn more about your potential employer just as much as it’s their chance to learn about you!
Taking the initiative and asking relevant and insightful questions can show your interviewer not only that you’re really interested in the company, but also that you have the expertise to know what to ask.
Asking questions shows that you have a level of eagerness to learn and also can allow you to steer the conversation towards topics that you want to touch on, or show your experience with. A well placed question can go far in helping you stand out in a crowded field of well qualified applications.
What Are Your Top Hospitality Management Interview Tips?
Let us know in the comments!
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