I interviewed with for an assistant front office supervisor position at a downtown Minneapolis hotel. This hotel is very well known for being the leader in guest satisfaction. Being that I was a Guest Services Supervisor as well as a former restaurant manager I felt I was well qualified for the position.
I was dressed in my recently dry cleaned suit. My shirt was pressed. I wore the tie and cuff links that my brother had given me as a gift for being the best man at his wedding the previous year.
I greeted the Assistant General Manager, introduced myself, shook his hand, and placed my resume on the desk in front of him. He introduced the front office manager who was sitting to his left and stated she would be part of the interview and sat down. I greeted her and took my seat.
I sat in the chair opposite the Assistant General Manager’s desk. The chair was rather uncomfortable. You know those wooden chairs with minimal cushioning that hotels keep in the guest rooms? That was what I was sitting on in this guy’s office. Then again, what else would you expect to find in a hotel?
He asked the usual questions, tell me about yourself, your experience, etc. I answered with the stories of working at a downtown Minneapolis extended stay property, supervising the front desk and assisting the other departments. I also went in detail about my experience managing a pizza restaurant in the northern suburbs, what I brought to the business, what procedures I developed and implemented successfully, and how I drove customer satisfaction results and increased sales.
My hotel supervisory experience was verified by the current front office manager who was sitting to the side of him. She had worked previously for the same hospitality group. The company had two hotels in the same complex; one extended stay property and the other a full service hotel. They were separated by an indoor water park and arcade. I had seen her before. It was common for me to walk through the water park to the full service hotel for the purpose of making deposits and checking the mail. I would always spend a few minutes speaking to the front desk personnel over there.
At the end of the interview the Assistant General Manager asked, ‘why should I hire you?’
I confidently stood up, shook his hand firmly and stated, ‘my resume, experience, and proven results speak for itself’, then turned around and walked out of the office.
A felt a pit in my stomach. I had just done something that I had never done before. It felt good.
Once I got outside I called my other brother, a software QA engineer. I told him what I had just done. He quickly responded, ‘Wow!’ There was a pause. Then he continued, ‘you have got some extra-large balls. If anyone ever did that to me during an interview, I would hire that person right there on the spot’.
That was a great feeling.
A week later I got the generic rejection postcard in the mail. I guess I was the only person who had the balls to take a chance in that interview room.