UNLV William F. Harrah
College of Hotel Administration
International Advisory Board

Stand Out From the Crowd

Stan Bromley - Meadwood Napa Valley
Face, tone, and words. The entire world of technology and the use of technology and people growing up communicating by texting and voicemails. So when theyÕre sitting in the interview, they donÕt understand how to connect because they havenÕt connected because in their world, communication was typing and expressing was all caps and buzz words like LOL. I think itÕs important for students to understand that when you go out there, the curtain is up and you have to be able to perform in terms of selling yourself and getting people to like you.

Christopher Silva - St. Francis Winery & Vineyards
People who are self starters. People who communicate well. People who understand the company and are excited about what the company is doing. People who are asking, already in the interview process, what would I be doing here? What type of task would you have me do? Who will I be working with? Those are the kinds of things that tell me, wow, this person is a self starter. This person is someone whoÕs going to roll up his or her sleeves and get right into it on the first day.

Phil Harte - Harte Management Limited
What I always say is that if somebody comes to me for a job, I always put myself in their position. If IÕm going to win a piece of business. ItÕs the same type of thing. So if I go to AT&T, for example, itÕs the same as if IÕm going in and being interviewed for a job, because itÕs the same. IÕm being interviewed as a new client. So I want to get AT&TÕs business. So I never get a second chance to make a good first impression. If I donÕt walk into that room and I donÕt get them by the throat within the first five minutes, IÕll get up and walk out. I know IÕm not going to get them. If somebody comes in and wants to convince me that theyÕre good enough to work for me and represent my brand, they have to come to the table with what value can they add. What value can they bring to my organization?

Doug Fryett - Fryett Consulting Group
For my opinion there is one thing and one thing only and thatÕs their level of passion. Recent studies have shown what really makes a great job applicant is their level of passion to do a job, no matter what it is in this food service industry. If its being a waiter or waitress or its being a manager in a hotel, whatever it is, that individual has to show a very, very high degree of passion. Because that has shown over and over again to be the one single determinate factor whether an employee makes it or not. If you donÕt have a passion for doing something, then youÕre not going to like what you are doing. If youÕre not liking what you are doing, then your mindÕs not going to be on your job. If your mindÕs not going to be on your job, then basically youÕre going to be a short-termer. And employers are looking for that. They are looking for people that have passion. You canÕt train for passion. You can train for skills or for a lack of skills, but you canÕt train for passion. So the real shift today is employers are looking for people whohave a very, very high level of passion.