How to Prepare for Your Hotel Job Interview

When looking for your next position at a branded hotel, it can be easy to fall prey to the mindset that “it’s all about you.” What can your next employer do for you? How can they improve your earnings and help to advance your career?

While important questions to keep in mind, it’s also essential to remember that every job is a relationship between you and your employer. They are just as eager to know what you can bring to the table as you are to learn the same from them. So as much as your resume should be tailored to the position that you’re applying for, you should also be prepared to discuss specifics of the company during the interview in order to express your interest in both the job as well as in working for that particular organization.

So once you’re invited to meet with a potential employer, start doing your research and begin with the individual hotel and its brand’s websites, which are a wealth of information if you know where to look. Here are the most important things you should look up so that you’re prepared for your hotel job interview:

The hotel website: The website of any individual property within a brand will likely have details on the property and a little more. However, you’ll still want to familiarize yourself with specifics about services and amenities, promotions as well as the property’s location as an indicator of the type of guests that stay at the hotel and peak occupancy periods because a nearby convention center or shopping mall is likely to factor into the additional programs and packages available to guests.

The brand’s website: There’s lots of great information to be found on a hotel brand’s website, but most of it is often found through links buried at the very bottom of the page. So scroll all the way on the landing page to get to several of the site’s pages that you’ll want to visit, including:

The Careers Page: Acquaint yourself with the programs and perks offered to employees so you can ask about that in greater detail during the interview.
The ‘About’ Page: Here you should find a company history where you can read up on where and when it was founded, who founded it, and why and how it began to grow. Also, if any of the company leadership writes blog posts, you may find those here too. If there is any thought leadership content on the site, read some of the latest posts to find learn about current issues and trends that are important to the organization and why. These topics could potentially come up in the interview. This may also be where to find information on the brand’s current locations as well as new hotels. It’s there’s a recent spate of new hotels in a particular geographic region, you might ask what prompted it and if that growth also represents career growth for employees. The brand’s values are also likely to be housed in the ‘About’ section and although it may seem a generic statement promising exceptional service, it will also be the measure on which your past performances are judged so definitely make a point of reading this.
The Development Page: This may be included on the ‘About’ page or it may have its own separate page. Regardless, it could prove useful to those interviewing for revenue management or sales marketing positions as it can be a source of the brand’s best practice information as well as practice areas that are of particular importance to the brand. The information will be broad so as not to divulge too much to the competition, but it will offer enough for your own interview questions. So if revenue management tools include demand forecasting systems, you might ask for further information. Or if eCommerce is cited as one of the brand’s strong suits, you may want to find out more about the hotel’s eCommerce strategies. You may even find information on ‘Talent Acquisition’ on this page, offering you greater insight into the learning opportunities that the brand affords its employees.
The Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Page: Nearly every hotel brand today has a CSR program that will have its own dedicated section on its website. It is almost a given that it will come up at some point in a job interview and if not, you’ll want to ask about it in order to find out the programs that are in place at the hotel that are aligned with your interest, if they provide opportunities to develop new skills and what will be expected of you as a participating employee.
The Loyalty or Rewards Program: First find out if it’s a points or recognition-based program. Recognition programs are relatively new and do not require guests to accumulate or bank points; rewards are usually offered each time a guest checks in, although the nature of the perk can also vary each time. So if the company does offer a recognition program, it’s a good indication of innovation and a possible means of asking in the interview about other ways in which the company is evolving. Also, look for statistics on membership size as that’s something that most hotel brands are proud to share as it quantifies guest loyalty and should also help drive healthy occupancy levels.

Hcareers: When you’re searching for your next hospitality job on Hcareers, you’ll also find employer pages with high-level information about the employer and usually a description of their employment philosophy or professional development approach. Many of these pages also include helpful videos and links to other good company resources and social media channels.