Hello, my name is Richard McMunn from the interview training company PassMyInterview.com.
And in this tutorial, I am going to teach you how to pass a Hotel Receptionist or Hotel
Front Desk Agent Interview. So it does not matter which hotel you are being interviewed
for, for this position, please do make sure you watch the tutorial from beginning to end.
Take notes because it is my sole aim to make sure you are the STANDOUT CANDIDATE at your
interview and you get that job! Now, before I get into the tips and the sample questions
and answers. A very warm welcome to this hotel receptionist / front desk interview tutorial.
My name is Richard McMunn. That's me there in the center. And I've been helping people
for about 20 years now to pass their interviews. We have 223,000 subscribers on this channel.
Many of you are passing your job interviews after using the top scoring answers that I
am providing. On that basis, please do SUBSCRIBE to the channel by clicking the button below
the video. Then you won't miss out on any of the weekly training videos I upload. And
I would also appreciate your support if you gave the video a LIKE (thanks!) That always
tells me that you enjoy the content and it motivates me to create more for you. Thank
you very much. Okay. Let's get into those Hotel Receptionist and Front Desk Interview
Questions and Answers. Now, the first interview question is going to be: tell me about yourself
why you want to be a hotel front desk receptionist? When you attend the interview, which is most
likely to be at the hotel itself, make sure you dress smart and you are also positive,
confident and smiley when you arrive at the venue. You will be assessed as soon as you
turn up, so it's very important. But in regard to the answer to this interview question,
two tips I want to give you before I give you a sample answer. The first one is, in
your response to this interview question, be totally customer-focused. Remember that
the customer or the guest must always come first! Have a high level of commercial awareness.
What I mean by that is, how you act within the role of hotel front desk receptionist,
will have an impact on the success or not of the hotel. And also, remember that the
needs of the hotel and the guests come above everything else, and we're going to mention
this within our response. Number two, if you can work additional or unsociable hours, this
will massively work in your favor. So, if your personal life is such that, yes, I will
be available at times to come in and help out when needed. That's a big tick for getting
this job! Here is my suggested answer to the interview question: Tell me about yourself
and why you want to be a hotel front receptionist desk agent? Here we go. “I am a hard-working,
customer focused and professional hotel front desk receptionist who fully appreciates how
important my actions within the role will impact on the success of your hotel. My personal
life is at the stage where I can fully commit to this role and work the necessary unsociable
hours needed to provide the excellent levels of customer service needed to help the hotel
grow and thrive within this tough industry. I believe I have the necessary customer service
skills, the organizational capabilities and the communication and interpersonal traits
to make sure all visitors to the hotel have a memorable and enjoyable experience which
will service to encourage them to revisit the hotel in the future.”
You can either write down that response or if you want to wait, I will tell you where
you can download my full set of 21 Hotel Front Desk Receptionist Interview Questions and
Answers. The second question of your interview that I would like you to prepare for is, what
are the most important skills and qualities needed to be a hotel receptionist / front
desk agent? A couple of tips for answering this positively. Read the job advert and then
recite the skills that are needed. Providing of course, they are a match for your own skills
and qualities. Have a quick look at the job advert before you go to the interview and
take a note of the important skills and qualities they are looking for. Also, have a set number
of skills and qualities to talk through in your answer, and a good number is 8! If they
ask you this question, you would say: “Yes, there are 8 important skills and qualities
that you need. I have those and these are…” and then explain what they are. The reason
why I want you to give a number is because most of the candidates will sit there at the
interview and they will look up into the air and think: “OK, you need good customer service.
You have to be polite. You have to be patient and calm, be able to deal with complaints.”
They will give a list off the top of their head. However, if you give a set number, it
shows that you really do know the skills and qualities needed. And you have already thought
about this before you come to the interview! Here is my suggested answer to the hotel receptionist
interview question: What are the most important skills and qualities needed in the role? “In
my experience, there are 8 very important skills and qualities needed to be a great
Hotel Front Desk Receptionist. You need, above all, exceptional genuine CUSTOMER SERVICE
SKILLS where you respond to the needs of hotel customers and visitors in a fast, professional
and timely manner. You also need a FLEXIBLE approach to your work, be ADAPTABLE & AVAILABLE
to work the hours needed, have a CALM and PATIENT approach to dealing with customer
queries, and also be able to competently DEAL WITH COMPLAINTS as and when they arise. Finally,
you have to have an awareness of hotel COMPLIANCE & SAFETY REGULATIONS, be able to MULTITASK
and also have a level of COMMERCIAL AWARENESS.” That means you fully appreciate that the operational
capabilities of the hotel must come first, above everything else. So, take out of those
8 really important skills and qualities needed to be a competent hotel front desk receptionist
and use them within your answer to that question. Next interview question we need to prepare
for: Why do you want to work for our hotel as the front desk receptionist? Pretty much
guaranteed to come up during your interview! A couple of tips to help you give a top-scoring
answer. Show the interviewer that you have carried out some research into the hotel.
And there's a couple of really easy things that you can do to demonstrate that you have
done what nobody else will, which is look into the hotel. Now, if you have previously
visited the hotel, or if you have friends that visited the hotel before, point out the
good bits about the hotel… don't point out any areas of improvement, but point out the
good bits. Remember to look at some of the positive TripAdvisor reviews and tell the
interviewer what has attracted you to this hotel within the role of hotel front desk
receptionist. So quickly go on TripAdvisor, look at the great reviews and see if there's
a common theme amongst the reviews. It might be that all the staff are attentive, or the
level of service is great. That would be an easy thing to do, is to have a look on TripAdvisor.
Remember, during the interview we don't really want to be talking about anything negative.
So if there are things that need to be improved. Well, you can say that if they do ask the
question, what would you look to change if you came and worked here as the front desk
receptionist? Here is my suggested answer to this question. “There are three good
reason why I want to work for your hotel. Top of my list is, having looked into your
hotel online, the levels of service you offer and also the reviews left by the customers
and visitors of the hotel, you clearly insist on only the highest standards. I too have
high standards, and I want to work for a hotel where I can put my skills and experience to
good use. The second reason is, because the hotel is local to where I live, it will be
easy for me to work the hours needed and to also come in to help out and work additional
hours when the hotel needs extra support during busy periods or staff sickness. Finally, everyone
I have come into contact during the interview and application process has been friendly
and welcoming. In addition to the hotel obviously being run extremely well, and the cleanliness
of the common areas to a high standard, I would love to work here with the rest of the
hotel reception team.” That shows that you have looked into the hotel, you've done your
research. And once again, I liked the fact you are stating at the start there's three
reasons why I want to come and work here. That tells me that you've considered this
carefully and you've already thought about the question before you come along. So you've
done your research! Next interview question for hotel receptionist / front desk agent:
Give me a few examples of good customer service? If you think now what good customer service
you have received in the past and write down a list of really good things. My advice is
to list some great examples of customer service you have either provided yourself in a previous
role, or where you have received it from someone else. Give examples of going above and beyond
what is expected in regard to customer service. So here is my suggested answer to this interview
question: Give me some examples of great customer service? Examples of good customer service
include going out of your way to help a customer instead of just doing the minimal amount.
This might be by taking your time to explain a product or service to them, or even by asking
them probing questions to really get to the bottom of their query or question so you can
meet their needs. Other good examples of customer service include responding to queries promptly
and doing what you say you're going to do. In my opinion, too many businesses and hotels
say they will get back to a customer or pass a message on to someone else only for it to
never happen. You should also think ahead and resolve complaints quickly and sincerely,
and make sure the issue doesn't happen again. Other examples of great customer service include
offering discounts or incentives for returning guests. Simple things such as greeting customers
with a smile and pleasant gestures that make them feel valued and welcome. Being attentive
and genuinely interested in the guests experience and following up with a request for hotel
feedback and then thanking customers and guests for taking the time to respond. In my experience,
it's the small gestures and the manner in which you communicate them that resonates
more positively with hotel guests and customers.” There are loads of examples of really good
customer service there. Now, what they might do is ask you a question. This one is very,
very common during hotel receptionist and hotel front desk agent interviews, and it
is: Describe a time when you went above and beyond what was required? And all hotel owners
want people to go above and beyond, because when you do go above and beyond, it serves
two purposes. The first one is that guests will come back to the hotel; but secondly,
they will go online and leave a really good review. The minute you do something poor at
a hotel as an employee, then people are quick to go on TripAdvisor or TrustPilot.com and
leave bad reviews! They are more likely to tell people about the negative experience.
So, if you go above and beyond, you are genuinely doing what most hotels don't do. Here is my
suggested answer. “I can remember working in a previous hotel receptionist role and
a guest entered the hotel absolutely drenched because it was raining outside. I immediately
asked my colleague to collect some warm blankets and towels for them and to also arrange complimentary
tea and biscuits to be sent to their room. This small gesture of being caring and considerate
went down positively with the guest and when they eventually left the hotel, they left
a glowing 5-star review on Trip Advisor. Sometimes, going above and beyond what is required simply
means doing small things that other hotels would not ever consider doing. It’s a great
way to show fantastic customer and to also make guest want to return to the hotel time
and time again.” Now, you might not have worked in a previous hotel receptionist role,
but you could say that you've, you know, seen a situation like that before. And this was
a great example of someone going above and beyond. Please do CLICK THE LINK at the top
right hand corner of the video. It will take you through to my website PassMyInterview.com.
There are 21 Hotel Receptionist and Front Desk Interview Questions and Answers that
I'd like you to use during your preparation, in addition to the 5 that I have just given
you. On this page, I've carried out the research for you. Those are the ones I recommend you
prepare for. They will come up. A lot of them will come up during your interview. If you
can prepare yourself for them, you will, you know, be increasing your chances of success
at this interview dramatically. I hope you've enjoyed that. My LinkedIn.com connection link
is in the description below the video. If you want to connect with me, please do. If
you have any questions, put them in the comments section below the video and I will come on
and answer them for you. Other than that, I hope you've enjoyed that? Please SUBSCRIBE.
Hit the LIKE button! Thank you very much for your support and I wish you all the best for
passing your hotel receptionist or front desk agent interview. Have a brilliant day! Thank
you.