Hello. I just wanted to vent because I left my Front Desk job 4 days ago. I was a Front Desk Agent/Lead for a year and 7 months. It feels weird leaving I didn't expect to be working in the hotel industry but I did it because of the money. Also, I thought this was going to be my forever job since I love everyone on the team so much but things changed. A little bit of back story. I was a hairstylist for 5 years and ever since covid happened, it hit me hard in the hair career. I could not work for a whole year due to covid restrictions but after covid started to die down a bit, I did do job searching for at least 6 months. I did probably 6 interviews but didn't get any offers at all. Those jobs I signed up for was mainly Salon Receptionist. Then, I stumbled upon a job offer and it was the hotel. I signed up for it and the hotel denied my application at first. I sent them a personal message through Indeed and they gave me a chance because of that. I got the job right away on the first interview since the General Manager liked one of my answer and that's how I got into the industry.
I would say after 2 months of being a FD agent, I started getting used to the rhythm and learn things pretty quickly. The best parts of the career are probably the team and earning commission as an Front Desk Agent. Most of the colleagues I worked with were pretty awesome and they made me want to get up everyday just to see them and support them. Earning commission for upgrading rooms and selling rooms, I was really good at it. Basically, for each upgrade and sold room you do, you get commission off of it. When I first came into the hotel, most of the FD agents there made like $100-$400 dollars extra in their paycheck and that was it. It was pretty standard to make that amount. Once I started understanding fully of each room type and created my own sale strategy(no one taught me this, I had to figure out everything since the leaders didn't care about the commission since they don't earn it), I started to sell rooms left and right and it was an excitement for me. The thrill of trying to break my record each month just to see if I could push myself. First month I made was only like $23 dollars, second month was $300 dollars, and after that, it was +$1,000 each month. I have broken the record for the highest record twice. First record I have broken was on the 8th month, I made $2,498 dollars as a bonus. After the 8th month, I broken the record again and made myself $3,069 as a bonus. It was the highest record ever achieved and everyone in the department went up to me and congratulated me on even making that much. My Front Desk team was inspired by my achievements so they wanted to do the same thing as me and wanted to make the same amount. I was really proud of myself and wanted to show my team that I did something different and most importantly, I wanted to show my General Manager that I did this to show him my work. The only person who didn't congratulate me was my General Manager. That's when things started to spiral down.
Although, I did amazing in making commission for myself and making money for the hotel, I was labeled as the “Incentive Guy”. My name was going around everywhere in the hotel and I thought that was a good thing(making more money for the hotel and breaking the record 2 times) but the General Manager didn't think of it that way. He sees it as I care about too much about that and not care about improving myself in other areas to one day become Front Desk Lead. He told me straight up to focus less about making commission and focus more on being better with guest satisfaction, reviews, and etc. It did hurt me a lot but I did listen and settled down on the commissions I was making and listen to his advice. I worked on the things he told me to work on and didn't prioritize on trying to beat my record. I felt like I started doing really well in guest's resolution and etc., but the thing was that I kept making +1,000 plus each month and no one at the front desk could ever beat me even when I wasn't trying my hardest. So, it looked really bad on me and I just felt like I could never take the title out of my system. I wanted to prove that I improved in the things he told me and not just look at my incentives. I started getting depressed about it and tried to ask for a promotion as a Front Desk Lead but I kept getting told the same time, “You focused on too much about incentives”.
Eventually, I did get promoted to Front Desk Lead with the help of my awesome Assistant Front Office Manager. She said it is an achievement that I even got promoted in a year when other people took longer. Although I got promoted, there were other factors that made me felt like I didn't deserve the title. I started getting depressed and decided that I needed to start over. My decision to leave all went down to wanting more “growth” since I felt like I was stuck and didn't see myself improving. If I am being honest, I got bored of my role and it wasn't a challenge for me anymore. I was too comfortable with where I was at and I realized, I needed more. I went job hunting for the next 2 months, I literally didn't want to work for the Front Desk anymore because it was stressful. Dealing with shetty guests and having to compensate them for everything when they know they don't deserve it. I know I am good with what I do, but wanted to adventure out to see if there is anything better. I probably got at least 10 Front Desk Supervisor interview offers but didn't take them due to not wanting to be at Front Desk. I signed up for at least 8 Sales Coordinator for different hotels and no one was willing to offer me an interview. Luckily, one did and I aced the interview. I got the job right away and now moving my career as a Sales Coordinator for a different hotel. I am hoping it is a good direction for me and I am starting soon. I am super nervous since it is going to be my first time working for the back office and having my own desk. If anyone also left their Front Desk career for a different department, any advice you guys can give me?
Additional Details:
1.My General Manager didn't talk to me at all once I announced that I was leaving the hotel to head my career into Sales. He gets really personal and salty once people starts leaving his property and blacklist anyone who does. I knew it was going to happen to me too since I knew that he did it to everyone who left. At least, i tried to approached him and explained my reasoning on leaving but he didn't want to talk to me. So, I left a letter under his door and thanking him for everything as well as my reasoning for leaving.
2.My whole Front Desk team was sad that I am leaving but thinks it's better for me since they knew I was good with Sales. They were the only reason I wanted to stay. Without them, my Front Desk career would've been a nightmare. They kept me afloat from all the misery that guests gives me.
3.Working there for a year and 7 months, combining all of my incentives paycheck, I made $25,682.97 extra. Taxes screwed me over so much receiving this lol.
- Even Revenue depertment said they were happy about how much I am bringing in revenue for the hotel. That's why they always scheduled me night shift to handle the incentives.