Emma Boltos

By working voluntarily and paid as well at several event on the Dome floor, working at the Palace Hotel and now at the Food and Beverage Department of the Gleneagles Hotel I have encountered very different standards, styles and techniques of service. With every occasion I have improved and learned far more that what I can include in this final statement. In the followings I will attempt to highlight the major skills I developed and reflect on how they might help me in the future.

 

During this academic year I have learnt many things - from serving styles to organising stock and saving space. It is essential to improve every skills to be effective and quick. I had to realise that there is always some kind of issue. Service recovery is not only about dealing with customer related issues (for example complaints or drunk guests) but also with difficult situations due for example the lack of staff or ingredients. At a major event on the Dome floor there were three supervisors missing. The organisers had to rely on members of staff who have been working at events before.

At another event with buffet style service there were no enough seating due to removal of two tables when setting up since the space was too crowded. Some of the guests had to be seated on benches.

 

Outside of work I had engaged with different services to gain experience from the guests prospective. This made me realise how broad this industry is (from cafés with cats as the main attraction, through food markets and airline catering, to the most luxurious services) and this ensures me that I will always be able to find a suitable job. Some individual establishments (for example Gleneagles) are so vast themselves that they can offer hundreds of different, unrelated jobs.

 

Attending the hospitality conference at the end of the year thought me about the luxurious industry, about how big role empathy plays in performing well at job interviews and about how important networking is. Building connections is essential in the hospitality industry since the managers will give the best jobs to people they have heard of and they can trust. For example I have had the opportunity to apply for my summer internship at the Strathearn Restaurant because the university has established a good relationship with the Gleneagles Hotel and because I have been serving dinner on Employers Day and managed to make a good impression on the hotels delegate. For that reason I am very happy to have Mr. Federico Ciampi, the general manager of the Trafalgar square Hilton Hotel as my industrial mentor since this is one of my most valuable connections that will give me a great advantage in the future.

 

On our residential trip to London we have visited the most inspiring event, Hotelympia which showed me that in the hospitality industry the sky is the limit. We also had the opportunity to experience first class fine dining and meet the suppliers at food markets.

 

To broaden my horizon, I wave worked at events unrelated to catering, for example at the International Day representing my country, Hungary.

 

I also took part in the shooting of an advertisement for our campus in my free time, acting as flambéing crepes suzette for our guests in the Dome Restaurant.

 

I believe that I have worked and studied with great passion and for that I have won the Best Newcomer Award in Hospitality Management at the End of the Year Awards Party.

 

In a summary, during this academic year I have gained a significant amount of experience, having the opportunity to put the theoretical knowledge I obtained at classes into practice at practical classes and work. I managed to transform from a shy girl, who is trying to hide from guests in the kitchen, into a confident waitress, who is able to adapt to new and unpredictable situations and is eager to further improve.