From Allied Hospitality to Foxconn

HI MY DEAREST READERS!

Sorry for not posting for such a long time! I've definitely been through A LOT in the past month. I had some very depressing time here by myself, wondering about my future and my life and all of that kind of stuffs. I couldn't figure out the purpose and motivation of my life, I didn't even know what I like. I'm still trying to figure out the work life balance, and still trying to get to know myself better. I've definitely seen some different sides of myself that I didnt know before, which is very interesting cause you would think that you know this person 100%, but it turned out that sometimes he/she could be one of the strangest strangers you've know.

But anyway. Like what you could probably see from my other blog, I AM GETTING A NEW JOB!

Here is the whole story. I always go to a Taiwanese restaurant for their great beef noodle soup. I met the owner a month ago and she was interested enough to have a conversation with me about what I was doing in Indy and everything. I told her I was here for my internship as an international student. At the end of our conversation, she asked me if I was interested in working at Foxconn, she could refer me to her friend there. I was like ya sure why not. She texted me her friend's email address later on and asked me to email him my resume.

I never did though. I was too busy with my new job in CCH that I didn't think about changing job back then. But everytime I went to her restaurant she would ask me about it, to a certain point that I felt sorry if I still hold my resume. So I finally did. Her friend replied me back 2 days later telling me that he has already forwarded it to the HR. All of these happened 3 weeks ago.

Two days later, I got an email from HR requesting a phone interview with me. During the phone interview, I didn't prepare enough for her behavior questions such as tell me a time that you were very stressful and how you overcame it, but she was still kind enough to pass the interview for me.  Also, she invited me for an onsite interview in the following week. This happened 2 weeks ago.

Last Wednesday, I went to the onsite interview. Before I did, I got a job description for the position that I was interviewing for, which was a Material Management Specialist position. I found someone on LinkedIn who graduated from UIUC last year and is currentlty working for Foxconn as an engineerer, so I got in contact with her. She told me that the MMS position is very basic, repetitive, and boring, but the worst is that it may bring negative influence for my career path as a finance graduate. In other words, I am over-qualified for it, which is the last thing I want from a job. But I decided to take a look anyway since I've already got invited for the interview.

So Wednesday morning, I went to the interview with my fancy looking resume and fancy looking outfit. I talked to two managers from the MM team for 30 minutes. I could feel that their offer didn't match my expectation. Like what I've heard already, the position was too basic for me. It would probably bore me in two months just like my current job. I am looking for a challenging position where I can continiously improve and learn. Two minutes after the managers left, they came back and told me that there was another position in Program Management team that she though I may be a great candidate for, she asked me if I wouold be interested in talking to their manager. I was like HELL YA! That's awesome I would love to! So I talked to the manager in Project Management Department for another 30 mins. He didn't really give me a specific job description except for telling me this position is very cross-functional, coordinating with different departments since it is project based, but he addressed some key words such as innovation, change, teamwork, and challenging. He talked like a business professor and that attitude and team environment are exactly what I've been looking for. 

After that, it was another two interviews with a team member in PM and the big boss. What we talked about doesn't really matter that much but I did find out that most of the managers have been working here for 8-12 years since it first moved here. I believe that shows everything. If none of its employees want to work for long term, such as CCH, then it is not a place for me to stay. In other words, if I didn't see someone who I want to be in 5 or 10 years in this organization, then this opportunity is not worth fighting for.

So, I got the new job this week. I negotiated my salary a little bit with Foxconn, wrote a letter to my current boss but still waiting for his response, looking forward to this major change of my career path that started not long ago. I was thinking I was very lucky. But then I realized it is not only because I was lucky. Sure, it was pure luck for me to find the Taiwanese place and had the chance to talk to the owner. However, if she didn't like my way of talking and behaving, she wouldn't want to refer me. Secondly, if the MM manager didn't think I was over qualified for MMS and qualified enough for this higher position based on my interview behaviors, she wouldn't has referred me to the PM team either. What I realized was, luck and opportunity are important and essential for one all the time. But it is always up to this person how he/she takes it. We have to be patient and wait for our luck, but at the same time, don't wait to improve ourselves to be able to catch the opportunity, and make the most out of it.

Letter of Resignation

Letter of Resignation

Dear Mr.Hsu,

I am very honored to be working for Caribbean Cove Hotel and have learned so much in the past two and half months. However, it is much sadness to inform you that after serious consideration from the perspective of my career path, this is my formal resignation from my post.

First of all, I want to thank you with all my heart for giving me this great opportunity. You trusted me and offer me this opportunity when I needed it the most this summer. I started as a trainee, which I got to take a look in every department in Clock Tower, from Front Desk to Housekeeping. Then I was fortunate enough to become a manager in Accounting Department in Caribbean Cove, where I saw how real business works in real world, such as negotiating with vendors, being responsible for property financial status, and also seeing how employees struggling with their pay checks, which I’ve never seen before. It was my enlightener for real life after I graduated from school. As someone who’s never had any working experience before, I couldn’t possibly ask for more from my first job.

I’ve met some wonderful people in CCH who diligently work for the best of the property, such as my co-worker Jacob L, I have to say he is working under a great pressure on a daily basis yet he keeps everything in a professional level and is doing a great job to take financial responsibility for the property. Tiffany C, along with her staffs, Tiffany H, Gabrielle P, and Haley D, constantly have to deal with angry guests and phone calls but at the same time, are delivering the best customer services I could imagine. Also, we have a great team in maintenance and sales department, where everybody works as a team and takes the responsibility whenever it’s needed without any complaints. In addition, James and Nicole have built up good relations with me during their stays and I know that they have been trying their best to help the companies as well... I can give you an endless list of employees that I believe are great workers and actually care about their jobs instead of the pay checks.

I got this new opportunity through a connection of mine earlier this month. It is a program management position, for which I have studied for during the past three years in business school. I wouldn’t say that it is my dream job because I’m still struggling with what my real passion is in career. But I would like to take this opportunity since it is more related with my academic background.

This decision has not been easy, but I have decided that it will be in the best interests for my career advancement and future development. Please let me know if there is anything I can do for the best of the Accounting department and Caribbean Cove Hotel at this point. Also, I would love to keep the connections with you as my mentor and everybody else in Caribbean Cove. Again, I couldn’t possibly let you know how much I truly appreciate your help, guidance, and trust in the past months. I will remember it forever and I would love to give help whenever it’s needed. I wish you and Caribbean Cove many more success in the near future!

ONE MONTH!!!

So hey everybody!!

I cant believe it was ONE MONTH ago when I first started this internship! I got my FIRST pay check EVER last week and I felt pretty good about it. It was not a lot of course but it felt different. It's like after 23 years of  being a student my whole life, I finally turned the page into a new stage of my life. And that is absolutely AMAZING!!

So, I have been at this resort for only a week and surprisingly, I'm an Accounting Manager already! Well, there are only three people in accounting department in this resort, and I still know very few about my job, but I'm glad about the opportunity it brings to me. And the most importantly, I appreciate the trust that my boss gave to me. Since I was refered to him through one of his friends, I guess he feels like I am trust worthy automatically. I believe that's the main reason that he promoted me so fast, since he has no one else that he could trust.

我一直听说美国人不擅长办公室战争，但是这两天感觉办公室战争还是硝烟四起。我之前的Accounting Manager，一个白人胖子Sarah，大老板很不喜欢，一直想要把她辞掉。听说她和以前的general manager想要合伙把老板架空，by putting her friends into different departments，而且很多营业信息不跟老板汇报，还琢磨着把二老板挤出公司。但是由于她对各个系统以及业务都了如指掌，所以二老板说在这种人手缺乏的情况下，我们还是把她留下来。但是为了把她调离出酒店的核心部门，他们决定任命她去新开的酒店附属餐厅做general manager。表面上是提拔她，但是实际是把她跟酒店业务完全分离。如果她做的好也就罢了，做不好的话随便一个理由就可以把她辞掉。这两天二老板跟我说Sarah回来以后一定看我不爽，让我还没有见她就已经对她没有好印象。

我除了做accounting以外还做payroll，大概之后还会要接触human resource。其实这个地方起点挺低，同事听说我有master都不明白我为什么会来这里，我也不愿意解释H1B之类的破事儿，但是他们这种反应让我听了挺不舒服。不过转念一想，如果是没有refer进去的大公司，我又要在最底层自己的一个小岗位干多少年才能出头？平台小了，升职之类确实是次要，主要在于反而有了接触更多知识的机会。

I always considered myself lazy and lack of self control, but not until now had I realized how dedicated and hard working I am, comparing to the others. Every manager was assigned some rooms to inspect every week. They do their job but with the least amount of energy they could possibly put into it. I don't believe that INSPECTING simply means you go walk in and take a look and walk out, I believe we should check with the housekeepers first, and then fix any probelm with them, together. Also, some managers from sales/front desk think that it is only housekeeping's job to clean the rooms and they are the only ones that are hired for doing so. I dont believe in it either. I think whenever there is a need, a full-house, or any emergency happends, everyone should work together as a team to help housekeeping. I helped housekeeping cleaned five rooms yesterday and I felt great about it. The housekeeper girl I was helping with couldnt understand what I wanted to do it. I didn't really want to explain much to her since she would never understand. It is teamwork spirit, leadership skilld, self motivation, and everything else you could possibly think about. Right now, I feel like I understand this saying more than any time, and I would like to share with everybody: leadership skill is not all about how well you can lead, but about whether you can step forward to take the responsibility whenever there is a need to lead.

Rockford to Indianapolis

Rockford to Indianapolis

Okay. So here is the deal. I’m moving to Indianapolis tomorrow!

Yesterday, I asked for training with housekeeping today just so I could have a better idea about what guests are complaining about and also so I could better help with decorating the show rooms. I actually had a lot of fun inspecting the rooms with housekeeping managers this morning, even though that I barely did anything besides for observing. But I did get something I wanted, such as they only have 4 ladies working full time for housekeeping now. Something which is so important but no one of management team knows/cares enough to listen.

Anyway. At around 12pm, I got a call from my general manager asking me to leave housekeeping and go back to accounting. I was a little bit upset since I was having so much fun then, but I understood why she wouldn’t approve it. She said she wanted me to get enough training with accounting because she wanted me to go to corporate in Texas next week!

I was so happy about the news. So I went back to accounting and started training on posting invoices with the accounting manager. By the time I came back from lunch, I got another call from the general manager, telling me that she wanted me to go to another property in Indianapolis, tomorrow.

For whatever reason, staffs in the other property are apparently not doing well, that’s the main reason that my general manager has been there for two weeks already. It sounds like she desperately needs help immediately. She also kept telling me that people in the other property are not friendly. I was wondering how bad it must be that she had to keep telling me for at least four times already.

Another thing I’ve been thinking about is that how I’m supposed to deal with change in life. I could get a call today being asked to move to Texas next week, but I could also get a call asking me to move to Indiana tomorrow. That’s what I have to do and deal with in a professional manner. No matter what I do in the future, I will have to deal with changes in my life, with or without preparation. There are certainly so many difficulties for me at this point, such as packing and driving, but I’m more excited than worried. I’ve been craving for challenges and pressures for too long, and now there is finally a chance.  

Front Desk to Back Office

From Front Desk to Back Office

So, after being at the front desk for two weeks working for day shifts and night audit, I was officially moved to the back office, which includes sales, marketing, and accounting departments, and the management offices.

I was so glad that I didn’t have to be at the front desk anymore because honestly, I still don’t fell 100% comfortable with it. I found it super difficult to work at the front desk because there is too much information that I need to know to be able to take the shift myself, but two weeks of training is certainly not enough. Also, since we only have one person per shift normally, it is extremely stressful when we have to assist walk-in customer while there are calls ringing constantly. However, I did realize that how important this front desk experience is for me to work at the back office. It is so useful that I am actually considering taking one day each week to work at front desk, just so to better understand customer needs.

For example, the first thing I did on Monday at marketing department was updating new map. The map we had been giving out to our guests is black and white, blurry and hard to see. I have never been told that we have other version of this map. But surprisingly, I found that they actually have a colored version of the same map, which is so much more clear and fancier. I was shocked to find out that the marketing manager knew nothing about the disgusting black/white map we had been using and the front desk staffs knew that they have colored map at the back office but never asked for it. Here comes a gap of communication. Its not about unable to communicate, but not willing to. All front desk staffs need to do is ask for more colored version, but they didn’t, even though they were aware of it. Again, it goes back to the lack of motivation and initiative.

The second thing I did was creating a TV channel list. There were so many guests called or came to front desk ask for TV channel list because they didn’t have one at the rooms. Marketing manager knew nothing about it, but the TV channel list we had been handing out to our guests, again, is a crappy-looking copied version piece of paper that it couldn’t be shabbier. I made a new one and also laminated the copies so it not only look fancy, but also can last forever. It is smalls things after all that make a big difference.  

 

Anyway. I did find myself enjoy the back office so much better because I could make difference and create progress of this resort. It feels like seeing a child growing up, improve one step at a time, and finally becomes professional for good.  

2nd Week

I can't believe that time went by this fast. I finished my second week already! I can't say I'm well trained for the front desk because I still don't feel comfortable about being by myself and there are still many things/regulations about front desk that I'm not aware of, but I would say that I'm getting so much better than the first day. I've done first (7am-3pm) and second (3-11pm) shift, and last week I also did the night shift, which is from 11pm-7am.

I was not happy about being asked to do night shift since I don't like the idea of staying up over night. But the night shift is about audit. Because there is not much going on during the night, so night shift is when the front desk staffs take care of audit of Tilted Kilt and the whole hotel. I never liked accounting and I still don't. I can do it because its very easy and repetitive, but it's boring and I don't particularly enjoy it.

It's interesting to see some data though. For example, the average occupancy rate during the week days is approx. 20%, it's relatively low but I think it also shows how much potential we have here; the average week day daily income is around $3,500, which is not bad in my mind; some guests won't show up after they made reservations and in order to prevent us charging them no-show fee, they will call the bank and ask the bank to freeze their credit card, etc.

I think I will be moved to accounting or sales department starts from tomorrow, which is good. I thought this place was too small for my potential, but actually there are so many things that I need to learn, especially HOW to work with Americans, instead of WHAT to do. I am completely exposed to this American environment now that I don't even remember when was the last time I saw an Asian. It makes me realize that I still have language obstacle. I remember my mom told me the period that one needs to get used to a completely different environment is age/6, which means I still have another six months to go. I'm not particularly excited about my current internship, but I still look forward to seeing what I could become and achieve soon.

Weekend :)

I had a day off today so I did some grocery shopping and watched twilight on TV. I still remember that I was touched by Bella and Edward’s forever love when I first watched the movie maybe two years ago. However, when I was watching it again this afternoon I just felt that it’s too silly and childish. I find it hard to believe that there is any guy in the world want to give unconditionally love to any girl at this age. At least I haven’t seen one so far.

When I was gonna go get my printer from my car, I ran into Patrick at the hallway. Patrick is a maintenance guy works for the hotel who is at his 50s. He is always nice and friendly and helpful. He was gonna go fix some broken toilet so we stopped and talked for a little bit. I found out that Patrick is 56 years old, with no family or kids. I suddenly felt so bad for him. I asked him why didn’t he get married, he laughed and said ‘look at me. Who wants to marry me? I’ve got no enough money and I’m too old for that.’ I almost broke into tears when I saw him smile. It was not a smile but full of bitterness and helplessness. It got even worse when he told me that all of his siblings are died. He has absolutely no family at all.

Recently I have been feeling strong about my family. As an emotional person, I’ve always found myself have an extremely strong attachment to people, either family or friends. Right now, I am living here all alone by myself, and that made me confused every day trying to find a purpose/reason to keep my life like this. When I had a boyfriend of course things were easier for me, but now my purpose is fully about my brother. I feel like I always need someone else to be my purpose for working/living at a hard condition because I just don’t have enough motivation to keep pushing myself. That’s actually the main reason why I broke up with Josh, because he is too self-centered. He told me that I shouldn’t do things for the purpose of my brother but of myself. I was terrified by his thoughts. I couldn’t and still can’t believe how can someone has such a cold heart that he never wants to make any sacrifices for anyone else, even his family, but himself. For me, I enjoy the feeling of doing things for my brother, but Josh could never understand. He is so selfish that I was afraid that if one day I get sick, he would just leave me without any hesitation. I don’t think he is a bad person, but honestly I think someone like him deserves to be alone forever.

Talking to Patrick made me so upset because I couldn’t bare the thoughts of myself living that life. Family means everything for me. I love my parents, brother, grandparents, and uncles. I still dream of taking them to travel with me all the time. And being together with my whole family is and always be my primary purpose. If I would ever end up being alone, then life means nothing to me since there is no purpose for me anymore.