My Internship Experience at a Korean Bar
It has been four months now since the first day I landed into this Korean bar as an intern. I am glad that I decided to be part of the organization. On arrival, I knew that I was going to have one of my best amazing moments during my one-year internship. Getting out of the bus, feeling the cold sea breeze in my face, and seeing the glamorous compound, colored with different flower colors, and the warm welcome I received from the bar manager was an unforgettable experience. My work was officially starting on Wednesday, a day after my arrival. I was taken to the Human Resource by one of the assistant staffs to check that everything was okay for my entry; passport, gate pass, and also medical cover. I put everything for my next day task.
Facilities and Departments at the Korean Bar
The Korean Bar is well known for its quality services, proper management, demanding business, and leisure travelers, it is expected of the staff members to always put a smile on their faces when dealing with the visitors. The management ensures that visitors stay in a pleasurable and memorable environment. The bar offers its guests various facilities that cater to primary needs. The facilities include Lobby Bar, Swimming Pool, Business Center, SPA and Message Center, Casino, Meeting Rooms, and an Executive Floor. The bar has different departments which include Front Office, Business Center, Banqueting, Accounting, Food and Beverage, Rooms Division, Sales & Marketing, and more. All these departments offer internships. Luckily, I was offered a unique opportunity to train in most of these departments.
Internship in the Reception Department
On my reporting day, I received my work schedule. I felt that the experiences I will get will be the best preview as it reflects my career and future. I am exposed to new essential skills and learning out some new things I did not know about myself and the tough skin I will require being a hotel manager. Day one of work was a special day as I walked through the staff entrance. Everyone welcomed me on board which was a very unusual thing, though; I had heard such rumors from the other interns who had such an experience before. During my internship planning, some of the guys told me that the other staff members always treat new interns differently and see as if they are competing with them. On my case, it was different. My supervisors and my other colleagues were open and up-front since day one. They were willing to share and teach me all what they knew. I was privileged to meet the CEO of the organization and converse with him.
Specific Job Information
During my internship, I majored in three different departments; Reception, Hospitality, and Housekeeping. My task one during this period was in the reception. At the reception, my working hours were from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. There were eight reception employees and two supervisors. The head of the department was based on one principle, "minimal supervision, more work." His philosophy was to sit back and let employees tackle problems by themselves. The supervisors here were well trained such that, in case of a problem, they could work it out even in his absence. It was a fantastic experience as it was a beautiful place to apply the communication skills that I learned during my second year in campus. During this period in the reception, I learned different things such as assisting guests upon check-in and check-out, giving assistance, answering telephone calls, giving information about Korean bar, and also up-holding different spa messages and taxi services. This department was one of my best as I had an opportunity to interact differently with the visitors and trying to give my best. The employees in the reception are hired by going through applications and interviewing individuals. The reason for the low turnover at the helpdesk was because of the adequate training, and once you possess the computer, it was a relatively easy task. Employees, also, were trained by watching videos and learning how to maneuver through the computer by the supervisors. The Head of Department was in charge of all the purchasing and scheduling. Of all the departments, this was the most critical and district department that I was involved in the bar; this was because the reception is the first impression that the visitors will get about the bar. The department head took this with a lot of seriousness, so during training, he did not like when people made mistakes while handling visitors.
Internship in the Housekeeping Department
Housekeeping was the next department. The bar's housekeeping department employees were approximately 30 plus three executive housekeepers and one Head of Department. In this department, I had a set work schedule from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. from Monday to Thursday every week. In this department, the area which I was based on mostly was in the laundry facility. The department head was Brian, who had worked there for four years since the department began. Before coming to this department, he was in the Sales Department as the director. When it came to philosophy management, he believed in becoming friends with all the staff members and gain respect in that manner. He was from Spain, but he was bilingual. He could speak fluent Korean, and so he was able to communicate with most of the employees in the Housekeeping Department. The job description of the position I had was the laundry room work. Since I was an actual person on staff in the laundry room, I was involved in laundry and fold it as well as keeping it on carts for the use by the housekeepers. There was a lot of work in the laundry, so, the department was thinking of adding some few employees. At times, I had to work in the laundry by myself which was tiresome working the whole day. The housekeeping gets its employees through recommendations and people knowing people. Most people were relatives, home neighbors, or childhood friends. The turnover here was relatively low, and this was caused by the fact that most of the employees there were enjoying what they were doing as it was what they wanted to do. For one to be hired, no qualifications were required. During my time in this department, I did not feel much challenged since I had to fold laundry which was the primary thing to learn here. The most challenging periods were the times I was left alone in the laundry room the whole day.
Internship in the Hospitality Department
Currently, I am based in the hospitality department, the department where I have majored in college. It is one of the most challenging departments. The facilities here include a catering service. My primary focus is getting orders from customers and serving them. Here, some of the customers are very stubborn, and this keeps me wondering if they will pay for the services and goods after they are done. It is too hard to deal with some old customers, who are the age of my dad. I cannot argue with them, so I listen to them and do whatever they want. For others, it is way too hard, and so the only person who can assist me is the bar manager. Sometimes the argument with the customer will not end, so, I call the manager and deal with the stubborn customer. Sometimes their case gets worse to the point of exchanging insults, and sometimes I think of becoming a mediator. But the challenge is, how can a 14-year-old innocent intern be a mediator of two 30-plus years’ men? If I was older enough, then I could handle such dispute. As an intern, in the hospitality department, one is supposed to work about 35 hours a week, while the other regular employees work for about 15-25 hours a week, depending on the workload of that particular week. Only six employees in the department were not interns; the others were interns. Of the six employees, two are the captains of the department. They are in charge of event management and make sure that everything goes well. The Head of Hospitality Department, Madam Sharon, has been running the department for the last three years, so she is conversant with all the running of the department. The people I work with most are the two captains of the department. In case of an event, these captains are responsible for bill preparation and make sure that, after the event, everything is paid. One of their tactics is to get their job done. They made sure that everything was running correctly and was in place a day before the event. I was trained how to serve the guests at the events inclusion of bringing their food as well as table clearing. After three weeks, I am supposed to captain one of the coming events. Before that, I am supposed to make sure that all the foods are well set. Most of the employees in this department are hired via a quick short interview. Compared to other departments, the turnover is extremely high, and I think it is since new people do not get proper training and they are always understaffed, so a wrong impression is what they receive.
Evaluation and Critique
One of the primary strengths of the organization was its beautiful facilities. Due to the different amenities it offers, the Korean Bar has a lot of potentials to be a very profit making facility. Another main strength of the firm was the employer-employee relationship. Since their relationship was excellent, then the workers did their best so that they could not tamper with the connection. On good days, employees were given tips for their work well done. Sometimes they are taken for a holiday vacation. It showed how their relationship with the employer and the firm at large was excellent. The primary challenge of the firm is recovering from new employees and three new CEOs since it was started. The switch means that there will be a significant shift in management and the bar's stability. The other major challenge is that some departments need adjustment in the number of employees; for example, the housekeeping department, laundry section, requires some more employees who will manage to assist in the bulk job.
Overall Internship Evaluation
So far so good. I would say that up to this point, the overall value of this internship is good. From those two departments I have managed to work with, I have learned a lot. Mostly, in the reception department. It helped me to relate to different kinds of people thus practicing my communication skills. I believe that in this department where I am currently, I will learn more. As I am passionate about being a Hotel Manager, here is where most of my skills will be based. Before I had never worked in a bar, so I did not get a chance to have an idea of how a full bar runs and the expectations while one is working there. I believe that the organization can do more beneficial things for preparation of interns in the future that I am not exposed to. One of the areas that can be improved is learning about leadership. Most of the tasks that I do are based on the employees, not the managers. The leadership role is crucial more so if someone wishes to be a leader in future. It will help tackle the challenges that the managers go through. If I am given a chance to change something, the internship forum would focus more on training management skills more than employee skills. For my future internship, I will look for a place where the employees are challenging the interns on management experience.
