Dear All, thought I'd share my experiences which made me turn my back on the hotel and service industry. So right after high school (and before university) I thought I'd take a year off studying and work to get experience and earn some money. Had the glorious idea of applying for a job in one of the few 5 star hotels in my city.
- Interview started with three people interviewing me for 2 hours for a entry level service job. I was nervous as heck as I never had a proper job before. They grilled me for all of the hotel details such as room numbers, suite numbers, hotel layout, offered services, hotel history and much more. Luckily I prepared pretty well and was able to answer most of their questions well. When i was finally done they asked me how i thought it went and I said i was pretty nervous but i think that i did well. They just laughed and said that this wasn't even a proper interview yet just for an entry level position (smh). I ended up getting the job.
- Started off in their banqueting division. Regular long shifts, no routine in breaks so I was always eating / resting at off times, essentially messing a lot with my health. Luckily knew i would only do this for a year so it was somewhat manageable. Worst day / night was a 16 hour shift for a red cross ball, from 3 pm to 7 am. They knew i was their cheapest labour source and abused it without care. I was still working 3 hours after the morning shift arrived. I had to tell my manager that if they wouldn't send me home this instant, I would be breaking down soon. (they grudgingly agreed).
- Manager told me to get 11 huge tables to set up a dinner. I told him, there is no way 11 will fit and only about 9 max. I was told I was hired to WORK not to THINK (this sentence is still burned into my brain). Well guess who had to carry 11 heavy tables to the room, only for him to say “guess you were right. Go bring back those 3 additional tables”. This guy.
- After a few months i asked to swap to their “casual” dining restaurant, as to have somewhat of a routine in my life again. Started to notice a strange patern on my pay / time slips. Even tho I knew i was working a lot of overtime, on my hours sheet it always seemed that I left exactly on time when my shift ended. Now i realised why everyone was documenting their working time, our managers always tried to trick us and change the hours we actually worked. Then I began doing the same. Another slimy trick they used was that after a long shift (when i was already tired) they say “hey btw can you just sign your hour sheet shortly before you go home (hoping i wouldn't look at it in detail and just approve of them ripping me off. When i told them “yes give it to me and I will take it home to look at” they always had an angry facial expression but couldn't do squat about it.
- There was also a 2 michelin star restaurant in the hotel and for busy nights they needed extra help. Well my managers didn't ask, just commanded me to help them out. I told them that I have 0 formal training and that I wasn't sure i could bring the adequate service for that level. They still forced me lol. Well when i arrived they told me that I need to memorise the 15 course meal and present it. (20 minutes before service started…) “yeah no way, definitely not going to happen, I will just bring the food”.
These are just some of the “highlights” could share many more (head cook throwing plates and going into heavy temper tantrum, coworkers being on coke all the time, HR calling me in about getting a haircut – i have curly hair – and seeing them being super flustered not to make it a racial thing, so on and on).
Turnover was extremely high and they are now heavily struggling to get young and willing employees (Karma really does exist). Went to check in some of their latest reviews which are almost all negative since they don't have enough employees to tend to their “high net worth Individual” clientele.
Later on went to work in the financial industry (office job), earning three times as much with regulated working times. I was able to regain my social life, my health improved massively. I understand why no one wants to work in service industry and the hotels and restaurants abusing their employees can go straight to hell.
Thank you for listening to my ted talk, wish you all a lovely weekend 🙂