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References

Fennel, M. (2009) Overcoming low self-esteem and overcoming low self-esteem self-help course. Oxford Cognitive Therapy Centre, UK

Georgia International Convention Center (2000), Front & Center，Issue 17.

Gremler, D.D. and Brown, S.W. (1997). Service Loyalty: Its Nature, Importance, and Implications. Advancing Service Quality: A Global Perspective. University of Karlstad, Sweden, 1717-81.

Kandampully, J. and Suhartanto, D. (2000). Customer Loyalty in the Hotel Industry: The Role of Customer Satisfaction and Image. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 12, pg.346

Lipson, A (2009) how to have a really successful failure, In the College Year, Bureau

Pulizzi, J. (2012) the Ultimate Guide to Blogging, Content marketing Institute.

Sabuncuoglu, Z., & Tuz, M. (2001) Örgütsel Psikoloji, Ezgi Kitabevi: Bursa.

Skogland, I. and Siguaw, J.A. (2004). Are Your Satisfied Customers Loyal? Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly, 45, 221-34.

Martinelli, R., Rahschulte, T. & Waddell, J. (2010). Leading Global Project Teams: The New Leadership Challenge. Multi-Media Publications, Inc. ISBN: 9781554890644

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That is what I am thinking right now

Working in such a good environment for 10 months, it was really amazing and I believe it will deeply influence my future career. From the point of my view, it has some advantages and disadvantages of staying in one workplace for the whole years. Working in one department can know that department how to operate clearly. However, If possible, I would like to play different role like crossing to different department such as sales, food and beverage because I believe it should be more interesting and I can gain more experience in different department. And also I will not confuse about what I should do in my future career. Trying to play different probably can find out what you really like and what position you can handle it easier. In the modern society, experience holds a dominant position. Also experience can expand my horizon of seeing what is going on in different industries and a variable experience can guide me to choose my path easier.

All in all, it is really great and amazing experience and I am very happy to know so many people here where I have been in the past 10 months. From an introvert person becoming good at communication, fear to make mistake turn to brave to overcome difficult, and so on. I have developed the abilities of personally and professionally through having confident in myself. I believe I will find the right career position through my useful experience.

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Marriott Activities

During the internship, I realized that the hotel I worked was very incredible and hope I could catch the tail of time and beg it moving slower and slower. In this hotel, they had lots of activities every year like visiting residence for the elderly, this is really impressive me. Pictures are shown below

For providing a good chance to all the trainees who had no chance to gather together with their parents in the Spring Festival, the hotel held a party and issued the gifts for them to release their homesick. It is really considerate and sensitive. Pictures are shown below

What is more, our hotel provided the employees a welfare in the beginning of every month. They were going to hold a gourmet food festival and the topic is different as well – spicy, sweet, salty and so on.

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Worth to celebrate

You can shine no matter what you are made of. Congratulation myself reward the brilliant performance of “Host of The Month”. Pictures with my director of room and praising from my general manager. 

my director of room and one of my colleagues 

In addition, a letter of compliment from TripAdvisor by a guest. The good comment really helps me a lot that make me believe I am not always make mistake at least someone can see I make efforts.

picture is a guest comment from TripAdvisor

In SHAMC, the hotel will choose the best department and reward the whole group team every seasonal. Many guests mentioned our lounge is the best and we always served the best service during their stay through Guest Satisfaction Survey and the TripAdvisor. That illustrated that our lounge is good at team building and good team building is really essential.

the representative of our lounge team

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Growing up

With time elapsing, I have already worked in Shanghai Marriott Hotel City Centre (SHAMC) for ten months. In the beginning of my internship, I have to work from the basis foundation like how to make order (eggs, coffee or drinks in the morning, wine and cocktail in the evening), serve guest in an appropriate way, communicate with guests and so on.  After being familiar with the standard of service’s process, I asked to learn something else like Opera. It’s quite difficult for what I imaged and it almost took about a month to know how to check-out and check-in but only for something simple situation till well-mastered the system. Till now, I was the two new trainees’ tutor and the duty was to teach them what I had learnt from my supervisor and manager during my internship. I was very proud of myself of getting such huge achievement as well as my manager was proud of me.

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Nothing was going well all the time

Even though mastered the knowledge of Opera, I was still informed by the finance department to write the accident report because of careless. The truth is that I extra charge guest fee by mistake when did the check out, so I need to refund the extra fee I received from guest and the finance need the supporting of refund and required me to write an accident report compulsively. Actually, I still can learn from that mistake, Lipson (2009) said failure challenges and we have to learn from that. I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship – Louisa May Alcott. This accident admonished me always pay more attention on doing everything incessantly. Ones cannot be succeeding forever, sometimes failure is a good thing because it can encourage you to work hard more and pay more attention on it. When I got depress, my supervisor and manager always encourage and inspired me that mistakes can make you becoming more and more powerful. Really thanks to my lounge team that they provided many help and addressed lots of problems for me during my placement. A better team spirit can lead others increase their problem-solving skills and also improve the reputation of the hotel market as well (Martinelli et al., 2010) 

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Time to challenge

Eventually, I had the chance to learn Opera in November. I knew it is very hard but learning Opera is the aim of my placement. In the beginning, my manager took some lesson for me by paper way. Over the course of a couple weeks, I overview of Opera operation processed and my manager required me to help guest check out. I was nervous and forgot the following process. It is totally different between from knowing how to do it and just do it. I was working in this part for about three months, during this time, I made lots of mistake. For instance, I got a lower standard graded by our guests through Guest Satisfaction Survey. Comments from the customers claimed that seemed lacking knowledge of Opera and took a long time to help them check-out and check-in. After that, I was fear to make mistake and tried to escape the counter.

To be honest, the system of Opera is really tough and arduous for me and sometime I really want to quit but I insisted on keeping learning and forcing me to overcome myself. This is from my sell-esteem but sometime it is an opportunity to reflect the real you (Fennell, 2009) and get the chance to overcome it on time.

Ultimately, I well mastered the check-out procedure and then turn to the next section and learn more deep knowledge of Opera system. I felt easier to learn the following section because of fully experienced. Do not afraid to make mistake is the main lesson I got from learning the Opera system.

A small step to go.

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Tutor visiting in SHAMC

Louisa is our tutor and she came to our hotel to visit us and care about us everything is ok in here. Very warm and kindly concerned!!! Really thanks for everything!!!

Four of us with my executive manager and one executive agent who from the same university but different branch in Singapore

Only three of us and my tutor

Executive lounge team took by my tutor, she is a really good photographer 

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In the first day of my placement, the human resource guides all new trainees to look around every department and gave us some lesson about the hotel and local knowledge. Actually it is an entrance training course, we call it “In The Beginning”. After finishing that course, I finally went to my working department—executive lounge. Entered the lounge’s door, what an outstanding view appear in front of me. So I think it is the place where I got the right choice to take my placement on.

Getting start

In the beginning of my internship, my supervisor become my personal tutor who in charge of teaching and helping me to address the problem I met during the placement year. I was working in the food and beverage this filed in the first four months. As a waiter, I spent four months in helping guest to take order, run order, clean the table when the guest left and so on. From that, I know everything should be word in order.

From a newer waiter who has never ever worked before becoming a full of experienced waiter. During this period of being a waiter, I always tried to find a change to do it better but it seemed quite hard because I was fear to communicate with my guests. Sabuncuoglu & Tuz (2001) claimed that the communication can make people easy to know and understand each other and also it is an easy way to solve problem.

Thus, I tried to talk with my colleagues who were been here as a trainee for half year. After that, I found out that if I wanted to challenge all of the difficult, I have to enjoy my time on placement and I have to know every guests better and know their preference and hobbits that we can have same topics and communicate with each other relaxed and enjoyable. It can build great loyalty with guest if you well know the guest’s preference. Skogland & Siguaw (2004) stated that customer satisfaction is considered to be one of the most important objectives and outcomes in hotel-oriented marketplace. To increase guest satisfaction so as to improve guest loyalty. Many studies illustrated that without the satisfaction from guest, there is no loyalty from guest as well (Kandampully et al., 2000; Gremler a Brown, 1997). Finally, I was familiar with my jobs and well-known working procedure.

That is my sentiment and reflections of working in SHAMC in the first four months. It is quite hard for me and sometimes I will feel like quitting but I have to learn from everything in good and bad. As you know, it is the first job for me as well and I think it’s natural to feel anxious about a new job and totally different environment, but it’s really a fantastic hotel for me to work – and I believe I will have a successful year. From that, I knew confident and communication skill is much more important in hospitality industry.

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Why Marriott?

Why choosing Marriott? According to Erika Alexander, who is Marriott’s Atlanta-based Regional Vice President, he noted that Marriott is a world-class facility that deserves world-class hotels (Georgia International Convention Center, 2000). Working in a very well-known brand definitely can learn more and that are more professional as well.

Why in Shanghai?

There is no doubt that Shanghai is an international metropolis and there are more and more foreign-capital enterprise would like to start their business in such a wonderful full of challenging environment to work. The first internship to start with in Shanghai should be a right choice for me and it is an opportunity for me to face with different kind of people’s situation from all over the world and how to deal with these problems in an appropriate way. The meticulous attention of the location of the hotel makes the guest easy to go everywhere. It only one block away to access the pedestrian walk way and shopping as well as the subway station. What is more, 25 minutes walk along the pedestrian walkway gets you to the river and dining venues in the Bund district. That really attract lots of people stay with and I can encounter many people from different area. That is why I choose to start my internship in Shanghai Marriott Hotel City centre. The following pictures are all about SHAMC and executive lounge.

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About me:

Hello there, I am currently studying International Hospitality Management and I am a 3rd year of my degree. I am so happy and lucky enough to have a chance to undertake a full year internship at Shanghai Marriott Hotel City Central in my home country, China. I started my placement on 1st, July, and was working in Executive Lounge, Front Office department. During my time in Executive Lounge I was exposed to undertake the types of internship experiences like teamwork activities, social, cultural and learning skills and most of all work related and I was extremely enjoying my time here. According to Pulizzi (2012), a blog is an easy way to present your ideas and thinking on the web, also it might be images, video, text and links and so on. So I start my blog and my blog is to record the things happened and the skills I gained during my internship.