Interview: Carika Schoeman from Shumbalala Game Lodge

Briefly introduce yourself, your age and educational background?
My name is Carika Schoeman.  I am 21 years old.  I matriculated from Merensky High School in 2006 and furthered my studies in the hospitality industry at Selati Hospitality Training Academy in 2007 and 2008.  The course I took was an international course from London called City & Guilds.

How long have you been in your current position and what were you doing before that?
I have been in my current position as Front of House/ Stand in Chef for the past 10 months.

What attracted you to the hospitality industry?
I’m a very social person and I love to work and interact with people.  I think the idea of me getting to meet many people from possibly all over the world attracted me to the industry.  I am very fortunate to work at Shumbalala, as we have a really good team working together, which makes it even better to work here.  It’s like having a second home.

Which languages can you speak?
I can only speak Afrikaans and English.

How do you deal with angry guests?
It is always important to remain as calm as possible towards the angry or upset guest.  I always have in the back of my mind, that “The guest is always right” unless they are really being unreasonable.  I try and read the guest to see how they are handling the situation and from there I try and think of a solution.  I always try to do more to rectify the problem than what the guest has expected.

How many hours a day is your shift and do you sometimes work overtime?
At the moment we at the lodge work long hours, although when we don’t have many guests we have more time to rest.  Currently I work from 07H30 – 16H00, have a 2 hour break while guests are on the game drive  and then I work again from 18H00 until the guests go to bed, which is anytime between 21H00-23H00. When we don’t have guests in camp we are able to go out or visit our families. So in general we do work long hours, but we do get sufficient time off.

Is there room for career growth within your department?
Yes definitely, but only once the current managers leave.  Unfortunately with our lodge being so small, we don’t have sub-departments like a F&B Manager, Housekeeping Manager etc.

What don’t you like about your work?
The aspect that I like least about my job is the long hours.

How has the use of technology impacted on your daily duties?
Technology definitely makes the work load a lot easier.  Everything is neat, tidy and in order.  Doing things manually, such as writing everything out just makes me feel old-fashioned.

Given an opportunity to speak to the hotel CEO about your welfare at work, what would you like him/her to address?
I would like to have air conditioning in my room and possibly DSTV.

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