Gorgeous Glance: Immersion at Oakwood Manila

At first, to be honest, I was quite anxious with the department that I’m assigned to because my performance in our Housekeeping Lab subject was not satisfactory in terms of bed making. I realized how ironic it would be for me to work in that department because of the reason aforementioned and I was scared that I may not give the service that the hotel needs. But I told myself that I will overcome my fear and do my best. Surprisingly, not only I was able to apply the skills I’ve learned from our housekeeping subject but I was able to hone them. For example, I am now able to make king size beds, wash the dishes, clean the bathroom and vaccum and mop the whole room, which varies from studio executive rooms to three bedroom apartments. Actually, all the rooms in Oakwood have a kitchen which adds up to the workload especially if the guests maximize its use. Moreover, the quota given by Oakwood to the room attendants is equivalent to the rooms without kitchen of other hotels. This actually brought more pressure to the work. I also learned how to set up the room in the proper way. This experience also improved my communicating skills because I have always been timid and shy. But this broke my shell and made me comfortable in interacting with different people, especially with the guests and my co-workers. I was also exposed to unpleasant things which I never imagined myself to be touching or going anywhere near.

Aside from the rooms, I was also assigned in the Public Areas. At first, I’m quite nervous because I know that I will be interacting with the guests more often than usual. Furthermore, I would be working with cameras all over the place and to think that someone would be watching every move I make. But as my partner taught me what to do, I eventually appreciated my work in the public areas. I was able to clean the lobby, glass doors, corridors and restrooms. The task is quite light in the public areas and yet it still feels so tiring to check on the restrooms, lobby and corridors once in a while to make sure that they are all clean. Working in the public areas is not as easy as you think it would look like because you have to monitor the amenities and cleanliness of one place to another. Not only is maintaining the proper sanitation and orderliness of the public areas is your task, all the same should you assist the guests with directions and etc.

The employees from the housekeeping department are all funny and happy to be with. Regardless of the heavy and tiring work, you would always see them smiling and cracking up jokes. They made me feel welcome and that I am included in their “family.” It made everyday worthwhile and it made me look forward to another working day. I also find them very generous because they would always treat us whenever we go out as a group. They are passionate about their jobs and they would always exert their best in every task they do because I would see them always double-checking their work and they would even do more than their quota. I also admire how they would just accept and not complain about their assigned tasks despite the pressure from the Front Office. These working attitudes they showed me gave me the motivation to work harder and be passionate about it because without passion, you will never succeed in your chosen career.

My attitude towards my work was improved. I became more patient since I have encountered irate guests and hideous rooms. I am proud to say that despite of those things, still, I was able to do my job well. I also became more motivated with my work since that I have supportive people surrounding me in the hotel. They helped me develop my skills and taught me new things that I was not able to learn in school. Also, I never take my job as something embarrassing nor tiring because I love what I’m doing and I can say that I am very proud of it. After this memorable experience, somehow I’m thinking that I would want to work in a hotel already. It feels like I’m getting quite interested and eager to do hotel work each day. I know that I still have to learn so many things at school before I get into this big world, but well at least I could say that this experience helped me to get motivated and more confident at work. I am very happy that my immersion resulted to something positive. Through this, I felt so excited to work in the hotel already. Now, I’m looking forward to doing my second immersion for next term which is for Food and Beverage. I hope that this kind of attitude of mine towards work would continue to improve as I go on in the future.