Interview: Abbigail Julius, Receptionist at Sandton Sun Hotel

Briefly introduce yourself, your age and educational background?
My name is Abbigail Julius, I’m 22 years of age. I matriculated at Mondeor High School in 2005 and then started my studies in Hospitality Management at the University of Johannesburg.  The Hospitality Management Diploma is duration of 3 years and I graduated October 2009.

How long have you been in your current position and what were you doing before that?
I am currently a receptionist at the Sandton Sun Hotel, where my daily routine in the Business Suite consists of checking in and out all our Director and President frequent guest card holders, as well as all our VIP guests.  We have 3 fully equipped bathrooms available to guests who have to wait for their rooms or require changing facilities as well as 3 meeting rooms for all in house guests.  I also assist in the daily managing of these facilities.  I started in this position in July 2009. Before this I spent 6 months at the hotel training in various departments e.g. housekeeping, accounts and kitchen as part of my 3rd year practical experience.

What attracted you to the hospitality industry?
It has an awe of beauty and elegance to it along with client satisfaction. It’s working hard and seeing the rewards as well as being proud of yourself that makes everything worthwhile.

Which languages can you speak?
English and Afrikaans, keen to do another.

How do you deal with angry guests?
I feel that all you need to do is listen. Remember, at the end of the day the guest is always right and you need to be sensitive to what the guest is feeling, whether they are right or wrong. It’s solving the problem that matters.

Being impatient and not listening is not going to help the situation, it will just frustrate the guest more and might cause them to never return. They will also in return make sure that everyone they speak to are aware of their bad experience.

You need to put yourself in the guests’ shoes… If you are really angry and upset, it’s an apology that you want to hear, and the problem solved. A complimentary bottle of wine or flowers in the room will be the cherry on top when they return.

How many hours a day is your shift and do you sometimes work overtime?
My shifts are 8 hours and yes, I do work overtime, but this is to my benefit and my own choice. It will either be because a guest needs my assistance, or a guest has entrusted me to sort something out and I need to ensure that it gets done before I go home. I also only complete all my administration work e.g. banking, after my shift has finished.

Is there room for career growth within your department?
I definitely do think so, as I get exposed to so many areas within my department and are learning so many new things on a daily basis. I believe there’s always space for career growth no matter where you are.  I firmly believe that it’s all up to the individual, you should always want to learn and gain new knowledge as well as have a positive attitude.  I always say that success and growth can be achieved if you are fat. F=  you need to be FAITHFULL;  A= make yourself AVAILABLE; T=  and you need to be TEACHABLE.

What don’t you like about your work?
I love what I’m doing at the moment, I really am enjoying it. Interacting with the guests and learning so much at the same time. For me it is a stepping stone. I can’t say that there’s something that I don’t like about my work, because I believe if there’s something you don’t like then change it!

How has the use of technology impacted on your daily duties?
I think technology is absolutely fantastic, when I look at the Opera (PMS) system that we are using in the hotel, I realise how dependant we are on technology. What a great communication medium between Rooms Division and other departments in the hotel. It also assists in the control we have over our guests’ accounts.

However, I also feel that technology can be quite intimidating if you are not trained to use it properly. And then again it can also be aggravating when you have a power failure, or it doesn’t work properly or freezes all the time. But well managed, it opens up a new world.

Given an opportunity to speak to the hotel CEO about your welfare at work, what would you like him/her to address?
To ensure one has the tools to complete your work and informed feedback on what is needed to execute your job timeously. You don’t always need book knowledge and I am sure he can teach me a few tricks of the trade.

To ensure firstly that I have a good remunerated package, to be proud of my work and to know that what I think matters, matters to the CEO.

Also in today’s life, security structure and presence in the work place is paramount. I guess I am just complimenting what we already have.

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