In a hotel, the front desk agents are the first people who greet customers at the reception or entrance. Whether they are in a corporate office or in a hospitality setting, they are a face of the company and leave a great impact on the customer’s satisfaction. The following Interview Questions are recommended for HR Managers to assess the candidate’s competencies based on the job functions
Interview Questions
Job Function: Greet and Meet Guests
Competency.
Professional and Neat appearance, communication, extroversion
Present a professional presentation according to the requirements. Ability to receive ideas and information and convey them clearly through different mediums to groups or individuals in a way that the listener is engaged, and retains and understands the message, and provides feedback and response.
Questions
Tell me about yourself?
I am XYZ, YY years old with 3 years’ experience in the hospitality field. I hold a Diploma in Hotel Management from XYZ University. My experience at XYZ company for 2 years refined my skills in time management and during the course of my career, I have helped document flow and effective communication to both external and internal clients and management. I am particularly interested in this opening because it provides me with an opportunity to manage and engage different clients in order to be able to present the best benefit to them and play my role in improving the ratings of the hospitality services.
Have you worked as a front desk agent before? Describe your duties
Before this, I have been employed in receptionist jobs at different organizations, that allowed me to have a wide experience with a range of duties associated with the position. Some of my major tasks in previous companies has been to direct calls, answer multiple phone lines, confirming or scheduling bookings, taking messages, welcome customs as well as maintaining records in an organized filing. and communicating with customers about their needs. Further responsibilities included handling emails, data entry and copying documents.
Job Function: Customer a 90% walk-in conversion rate
Competency.
Negotiating, Decisiveness
To be able to commit oneself or make active decisions by taking a position and speaking your mind. Negotiation refers to being able to acquire maximum desirable results from meetings where there may be varying interests or conflict between participating members, on maintaining relations or in term of content terms and conditions.
Questions
Describe a situation where you planned to negotiate and it was successful? What did you do? What happened? How did the plan work?
In my previous company, the manager assigned an unreasonable deadline to me for a project. I negotiated with him about it, which he had set according to his own deadline to present to the CEO. To negotiate, I provided him with an outline of each step needed for the project and the time required to realistically undertake each step. Then I discussed ways that could possibly help reduce those time frames. I put together a project proposal to him suggesting to allocate more resources. He used my proposal to convince the CEO to extend the deadline and therefore we were both able to settle upon an achievable deadline for the project.
Job Function: Register, Check-In, Assisting Guests with Recommendations
Competency
Attention to Detail, Customer Orientation, Presenting
Being able to use existing or available resources and present plans and ideas clearly according to it. The willingness and ability to understand the customer’s requirements and act accordingly taking the company’s benefits and costs into consideration. And Being able to present an articulate view of the situation.
Questions
Guests often have to be made to wait. How would you ensure that they feel welcome?
Sometimes a warm greeting and smile are very important. I use this time to make small conversations about what event they’ve arrived to attend or where they originate from. The interaction leads towards a personal touch. I ask them if they would like any recommendations for local activities or restaurants or if they have any special requests. I let them know that they are welcome to ask for anything they need and that my team will be reading to assist them whenever required.
In your position what would you do in order to avoid making mistakes? What happens if a mistake has been made?
If a mistake has been made, I own up to it and ask for help. If I am asked to make a concession that the organization cannot afford or accept, then I consider it better to lose the sale. I ask the supervisor in assisting me to explain the mistake to a client and offer any complimentary services as a goodwill gesture. I make sure to learn a valuable lesson and note it down in my personal log in order to not commit it in the future (Toffolo, n.d.).
Job Function: Compute bill, collect payment, Record Keeping of room availability and accounts
Competency
Problem Analysis, Workmanship
Ability to carry out responsibilities independent in compliance with professional standards of that profession. Gaining solid knowledge of one’s professional area of choosing, and developing oneself in it. Problem analysis is being able to detect problems, link different sources of information and recognize or prioritize important information, to trace for possible causes to the problem, and identify relevant details for that purpose.
Questions
Describe how you were confronted with an unexpected problem? What caused the Problem? What kind of a problem it was and how did you solve it?
I was in a situation when the manager unexpectedly left without a warning one day. The workplace became a bit disorganized since no replacement was available, while some processes used by the manager were not all public. I and my team took the initiative, assessed her work and began to perform some of her daily tasks, asking another employee to handle organizational duties. I figured out how to prioritize her work, while also not be negligent of my own work. For this purpose, Some of my own tasks were delegated by me to some other team coworkers and teams, for which I regularly followed up with them to make sure they were not overwhelmed by it. I created logs and notes on the processes so that if anyone wanted to fill up that role, it would facilitate them (Martin, 2016).
What is your way to prioritize tasks?
To prioritize one task over the other, I begin by creating a list and working out to assess which order to place my tasks in according to their level of importance and urgency. I identify tasks that are more important through research before making that decision and add any new tasks to that list to be able to prioritize when to do it. I also sort the work based on my own efficiency and energy level (TargetJobs, n.d.)
Job Function: Answer inquiries, transfer and receive telephone messages, make reservations for guests
Competency
Listening, Verbal expression
Listening skills is one’s capability to understand and absorb vital verbal or nonverbal information and ask any questions to make sure they are understood properly. Verbal expression is the ability to communicate clearly in a language, and keeping the audience level into consideration, adjust one’s tone and use of language to better convey the information
Questions
How would you explain your skill to comprehend and listen?
Listening is one of my greatest skills. I carefully pay attention to the instructions being given especially related to current tasks and projects, details about future tasks and even listen to how well my coworkers are performing their roles. My listening skills allow me to complete my tasks more efficiently as I do not need to be told anything twice. Listening to others also helps me motivate them effectively and advise them as necessary.
Can you recall a situation where you feel you should have communicated in a better way? How did you react and what corrective measures did you take?
Once during a presentation, I was faced with a situation where some of the managers could not attend the full presentation that I was giving and later returned to ask a few questions regarding it. I lightheartedly said “no more questions” that did not seem to go well with them. I apologized and offered them to feel free to ask any questions they may need to ask. I realized that the joke had not been well received, therefore I apologized again and told them about my tendency to become comfortable with people too quickly. The manager reminded me to always remain aware of my audience. Despite being able to resolve that situation well, I now take care to go by the advice I was given (JobJunction, 2013).
References
JobJunction. (2013). Behavioural Interview Questions & Sample responses . Retrieved March 21, 2018, from Job Junction: http://www.jobjunction.ca/wp-content/uploads/2013/docs/Behavioural%20Interview%20Sample%20questions%20and%20reponses.pdf
Last Name, F. M. (Year). Article Title. Journal Title, Pages From – To.
Last Name, F. M. (Year). Book Title. City Name: Publisher Name.
Martin. (2016, November 10). 102 Behavioral Interview Questions and Answers. Retrieved March 21, 2018, from Cleverism: https://www.cleverism.com/102-behavioral-interview-questions-including-answers/
TargetJobs. (n.d.). How do you manage your time and prioritize tasks?’ Tricky graduate interview question. Retrieved March 21, 2018, from Target Jobs: https://targetjobs.co.uk/careers-advice/interview-questions/320311-how-do-you-manage-your-time-and-prioritise-tasks-tricky-graduate-interview
Toffolo, K. (n.d.). 5 Templates That’ll Make Saying “I’m Sorry” So Much Easier. Retrieved March 21, 2018, from the Muse: https://www.themuse.com/advice/5-templates-thatll-make-saying-im-sorry-so-much-easier
