Monthly Archives: August 2022

If you’re a contract worker seeking your next project, being prepared for your interview is vital, especially if it’s over the phone. Hotels are experiencing an unprecedented shortage of labor, and temporary hotel staffing positions are becoming a mainstay in the industry. Even amid short-staffing challenges, top-tier properties require talented contractors to meet customer expectations. When interviewing with a property for a potential assignment, preparation goes a long way. If you’d like to boost your chances of impressing during your conversation, as well as gleaning necessary information you need to make the right decision, peruse our tips for making a great impression over the phone: 

Do Your Homework 

Even as a seasoned professional in your field, it’s crucial to research the position you’re applying for, as well as the unique details about the property. When you work with Hospitality Taskforce, we’ll provide as many details as possible to help you put your best foot forward, but it’s important to familiarize yourself with the hotel, as well. While it will vary by position, important information to be aware of may include the number of rooms, amount of meeting space, and an overview of the hotel brand you hope to work for. 

Ask the Right Questions

You’ve probably heard that interviewers take note of candidates who ask thought-provoking questions, and we’ve found that this often holds true (plus, learning more information prepares you for life on the job). When your goal is to gain a clear picture of the job assignment, determine if it’s the best fit for you and the hotel and present yourself as the best candidate, we recommend thinking of a few questions that you’d genuinely like to know the answers to. In need of inspiration? Here are a few examples: 

• What challenges are being faced by the hotel right now? 
• What challenges might I expect in this role specifically? 
• What type of person or personality traits would excel in this position? 
• Will I be responsible for supervising anyone? 
• Can you please describe what a typical day or week at this property looks like for someone in this role? 

Depending upon the role you’re applying for, it may be beneficial to ask a few additional questions. If you’re applying for a sales and catering assignment, it’s helpful to determine how much (if any) soliciting, selling, and management you’ll be doing. During your phone interview, ask whether you’ll be seeking new business or fulfilling existing business. If the property is trying to find new business, be sure to find out which verticals or industries they hope to target. 

For executive chef, sous chef, or banquet chef positions, learning more about the current challenges the kitchen is facing (and also what’s working well) will help you come prepared on day one. If possible, determine whether the kitchen simply needs someone in a supportive role or an outside expert to make changes. Similarly, if you’re applying for a general manager position, it’s important to identify whether you’ll need to interact with guests or take more of a behind-the-scenes role. 

Be Mindful of the Circumstances

When you’re in the running for a short-term position, be mindful of interview strategies for the circumstances. Whether you’re stepping in for a leave of absence or to assist while the full-time position is filled, it’s wise to highlight your track record of adaptability and background with this type of role. 

As the need for temporary hotel staffing grows, so does the need for highly qualified and motivated individuals. Although interviewing for short-term positions can be tricky, the interview considerations mentioned here may help you shine during your first interaction with the hiring manager. If you’re a leader in your area of expertise and would like to find your next assignment, our team at Hospitality Taskforce would love to hear from you. We place elite contractors with top-tier properties and are always interested in forging new connections with experts in the hospitality industry. Ready to learn more about what’s available? Please contact us. 

Tony DiRaimondo, a member of our leadership team, founded Hospitality Taskforce, Inc., in 2003.  At the time, it was the only Taskforce company in the industry. He has extensive knowledge of the hospitality business, which is why we conducted a Q&A with him. Our hope is that this interview will be enlightening for others in the industry – those who are just embarking on their career path, as well as folks who are seasoned professionals. 

Why did you first start Hospitality Taskforce in 2003?  

About 20 years ago, I saw a need in our industry that wasn’t being met: the need for temporary replacements for medical and maternity leaves, as well as the gap between the time a position became vacant and the time that the replacement came on board.  At Interstate Hotels, they had a process in place to bring people in who could fill the roles in Sales and Catering.  I used that model to provide a service to hotels and resorts to fill the gaps for relatively short periods of time (1-3 months).

How did hotels respond to this concept and how did you where did you go to find people to fill the positions?  

Hotels liked the concept, but this was unheard of in the industry at the time.  No one had ever done this as a business.  We focused on management positions only, and, because I came from a Sales and Catering background, I offered the service in those disciplines exclusively.  

I got our initial contractors primarily from people who had recently retired and discovered that they didn’t really want to be retired; they wanted to work at their discretion.  There were plenty of good, solid sales and catering people who were eager to do Taskforce.  The other source of contractors was people who were between jobs.  That was a bit scary because I only wanted to present people who were 100% solid.  As much as you can ask all the right questions about a person’s background, you can never know with absolute certainty if the person you send is going to be a super-star.

How did the first few years go?  

It was tough, very tough.  There were times when we had no business and times when we had more requests for contractors and couldn’t get enough to satisfy the demand.  There were more times of no business than the latter.  I now call the early years (from 2003 to 2009) as the “dark days.”  I recall the day in 2005 when a dear friend called me to say that she needed a DOSM in Santa Barbara.  I told her that I had several DOSM contractors and would send her resumes to review.  But she threw me a curve.  She said: “No, I want you to take this assignment.”  I told her that I had a company to run and couldn’t possibly do that.  The compromise was that I would take the assignment for one month, two at the absolute most.  Well, the assignment lasted about 18 months (they loved me, I loved them) so I put the company “on hold.”  That almost ended the dream and the company because the next assignment took a similar path but that one lasted two years.  Fortunately, my burning desire to operate this company and not work for anyone else won out, and in 2009 we re-started and it’s been a success ever since.

What do you feel differentiates HT from other Taskforce companies?

The fact is, Taskforce companies don’t really interface and talk with each other and tell each other how we do things, so I can’t say with certainty what makes us different from the others. However, I do believe we require a deeper level of experience than other firms. No one on our roster is junior, and the average HT contractor has 20+ years’ experience. We want to ensure the person can quickly and easily step into a temporary position without needing much guidance, so a minimum of 10 years is required for most positions. We know our clients have come to us because they are short-staffed, so they can’t afford to spend much time teaching someone. When you bring on contractors who have been doing this a long time, you know they can handle themselves in the best way possible to get the job done. 

I can also say that the contractors that we use tell us they prefer us over the others because we demonstrate our sincere commitment to them, their needs, and our promises: To pay them well, to pay them on time, to make sure they are treated well by the hotels/resorts we send them to, and to get the best possible assignments for them.  If we make a mistake, we make sure that the impact on our contractors is minimal.  We own the mistake; we eat the cost of fixing something that we screwed up on.  We treat our clients the same way.  Simply said:  we “do the right thing, always.”  I care that we do the right thing and that we honor our commitment to the people we are doing business with.  If you operate that way all the time, success happens.

How do you approach vetting Independent Contractors to ensure you get the best of the best? 

We vet them totally and completely. We do a deep dive into their past experiences, speak with several references – both personal and professional – to get a solid picture of the individual to determine if we will add them to our roster, as well as but also which assignments they could align well with. We do everything we can to bring in the very best people in the industry to be on our team.  We are NOTHING without contractors who satisfy the needs of our clients.

How has Taskforce changed over the last 20 years? 

 It went from: “Who are you and what are you selling?” to “This is what I need and I need it yesterday!!”  The hotel industry understands that “Temporary, short-term solutions” (what Taskforce represents) is the smarter way to go.  A vacancy in a critical position can be far more costly than the amount spent on the contractor.  As I used to say: “Can you imagine being in a group hotel and operating without a Conference Services Manager?”  What would you say to the customer who is checking in with 300 people for a 4-day meeting”?  “Oh. So sorry, our CSM is out on Maternity leave and we don’t have anyone to work your meeting?”  No, I don’t think so.  Now, the industry has Taskforce available to them. 

Another big change for us is the use of technology to help manage daily operations.  Also, we strategically leverage very targeted digital advertising and social media to drive new contractors and customers.  In earlier years, our only form of “advertising” was networking.  It’s still good, but it isn’t enough.

We remain “boutique” in our nature and size.  We never wanted to be the largest company in the Hotel Taskforce world.  But we’ve always worked to be the most desired company that contractors wanted to work with and that clients felt most comfortable calling before calling any other.  We are not shy about charging more than most others because we have the best (and very experienced) contractors. 

As a Sales & Marketing guy, how would you recommend hotels leverage Taskforce DOSM, DOS and SMs? 

As I intimated earlier, some positions are absolutely critical.  I think revenue-generating positions are one of them.  Think about your budget.  It’s based on generating a certain volume of business (and revenue) every week, every month.  If you don’t generate that revenue, that month is lost.  You can’t run 110% occupancy in a future month to make up for two months of being 5% off!  You have to keep the revenues coming in.  Keep the revenue generators working!!!  And be sure you have the best of the best in those positions.  The same is true in Catering and Conference/Convention Services.  And, don’t listen to anyone who tells you that a one month vacancy in the DOSM position will positively impact the bottom line.  That short term benefit will come back to bite you in the butt two, three, four times over when the revenues that weren’t generated by the actions of the vacant DOSM position are actualized 4, 6, 12 months later.

What predictions do you have for the next year?  

The industry will continue to come back and will get bigger than it was before.  People will still want to travel for business and pleasure.  Companies and associations will want to resume a “healthy” pace of business development.  In other words, there will still be a need for company meetings, as well as conventions and trade shows.  Will it be the very same as in pre-Covid days?  Probably not, and it may be a “new normal” that looks, feels, and operates a little differently than before.  People have always traveled and always will. 

The biggest change I see happening in the next 12-18 months is that there will be a tsunami of requests for Sales and Catering Managers and Directors. We are seeing a big need for Operations roles and know that Sales & Marketing is the next wave. 

Finally, what is your personal hotel management background?   

I started my Hotel career in 1975 with Fairmont Hotels as Sales Manager in New York City, then Chicago (both National Sales Offices), then at the Dallas Fairmont through 1980.  My first DOS position was at the Tropicana Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City.  In 1982, I was named pre-opening DOSM at the Vista International in Washington, D.C. where I stayed for three years.  I returned to Fairmont Hotels in 1985 as Regional Director of Sales in Los Angeles.  Between 1988 and 2003, I was DOSM at the Registry Hotel, Los Angeles, The Ritz Carlton, Marina del Rey, Fess Parker’s Resort in Santa Barbara, Interstate Hotels in Los Angeles and the Omni Hotel Los Angeles.