How To Get Hired and Grow in Hospitality — Advice From Bellman-Turned-GM Andres Goeta

Andres Goeta: Within Hilton, I’ve been in several positions. I started about 16 and 17 years ago from being Bellman.

Started as a Bellman and grew all the way through the Front Desk and Back of House PBX. I did Concierge as well at some point. Supervisor, Manager, the list goes on and on and on.

Andres Goeta: I started in hospitality because of my father. My dad is a long-tenure hotelier. When I was a kid, I saw my dad working, and I remember clearly when he had to be the Hotel Manager on duty. We all had to stay in the hotel, and he was there during weekends. The experience struck me. The hospitality industry has become a little bit interesting since then, let’s just say that.

I saw how it was so important to see all the moving parts that have to come together for a guest to have a room, for someone to come to the hotel and have a nice clean room, to have a beautiful lobby and all these things. And it just, to me, was surprising.

It’s not just about coming in and “Here you go; here’s your room.” So many people have to come and work together in order for someone to be given a room. That was the part that I really enjoyed.

Other than that, it was the hospitality part, the service part and how you connect with people. And those little things got my first foot in the door of hospitality. So, I owe it to my dad.

Andres Goeta: I think it’s definitely one of the top three most important things to have in hospitality. Definitely, having a mentor will guide you through your career.

In my case, as I said, my first one was my dad. Because I knew him from that. But I’ve never worked directly with him. So, when you are at a property, there are certain Managers, there are certain leaders, there are certain people who would come your way.

This will always happen. It’s happened to me throughout my entire career where you connect with leaders, and leaders connect with you, and you make that connection.

And once you have that, all of a sudden, that person becomes your mentor, and there’s that person that you go to and ask, “Hey, I’m not too sure how to deal with this. Give me some light, give me your input or tell me what to do.”

In my case, I’ve had great mentors. I can definitely say that. And they are people who always had me thinking. What I’m trying to say is when I came up with an issue or an idea, they made me work for the answer. And that’s the same thing I do with the people who I mentor.

Most of the time, we know the answer. We just need that backup and say, “Hey, here you go. You can do it.” Or, that person that says, “Okay, perfect. I like the way that you think. Let’s try it this way.”

Or even, let’s say, “Even though you and I are not quite in the same boat on what to think or to take this approach. Let’s do it your way and see how it goes.” And that’s all about mentorship.

You know, having that person there with you and saying, “Whatever happens, I’m right here next to you.” I think that’s huge. And I’ve had, throughout my career, great mentors to help me grow in this sense.

Andres Goeta: I would say, first and foremost, your team. In any way or any situation, you could be a GM, Manager or  Supervisor. The people who are next to you, the people who are hand-by-hand next to you, are important.

You all have to be able to work in synergy along the same path, right? So, if there are people who are working day-to-day with you, [and] you’re not on the same page, unfortunately, whatever your goals are, you’re not going to meet them.

Let’s just go one by one. Also, I’m really not sure if I can put them [as] one, two and three. All these three are very, very important. So, first, I would say communication.

Communication is top. I always say to my team, “There’s no such thing as too little communication.”

I’d rather have people tell me or everybody to be on the same page on things that I’m like, “Okay, I might not have needed that information, but at least I have it,” than people who don’t, saying, “Should I tell this to Andres? Should he know about this?” You know, communication is so, so, so important.

From very little to things to those that are really important. So, communication, team and mentorship. Those things are my top three.

Andres Goeta: Let’s say this. I had at least four or five people whom I had to interview. And even though the others had great hospitality experience, I ended up going for the person with zero hospitality [experience]. And this was [for] an entry-level, Front Desk Agent position.

And I knew it was going to be “tough” to teach her all the Hilton ways and all the things that I had to go through, through the operating systems and whatnot.

There was definitely something that caught my attention. It’s the way that she portrayed herself to me. And I am really, really glad to say that I was not wrong in the decision that I made.

This person is currently a Supervisor, and we have given her more and more tasks. And she has come to love hospitality, even though she didn’t come from it.

But it’s that, and she gets reviews all the time. I actually currently don’t work with her. She’s in another property, but we’re still in touch. You know, she calls me and asks me a few things, and she says, “Hey, what should I do in this case?”

That’s what it’s all about. Never hiring the paper. You hire the person. And always attitude over aptitude. That’s my advice.

Andres Goeta: Well, first and foremost, presentation is key. So, you have to be well put together and well dressed. That’s the first one, in my opinion, because everything comes right here through the eyes.

[Another] big no, let’s just say, for the person that is coming in, [is] not having any idea on what you’re [getting yourself into].

I’ve had people tell me, unfortunately, many times, like, “Oh, I didn’t know this was or I didn’t know this type of work…” You know, at least learn a little about where you’re going and applying.

That shows me that you did some homework on the hotel or the place you’re going to. So, just do a little research into that.

Also, [as decision-makers,] we’ve seen resumes all day long. We’ve seen resumes for many, many, many years. So, we know when a resume is too big.

And what I mean by this is when you try to make it too pretty, and when you have the interview, it doesn’t match. And we spot it right away.

So be as truthful as you can be because, at the end of the day, yes, that will get you a foot in the door. But the decisions are made when talking to the person, not in the resume.

Yeah, we go back to the same thing. We hire the person, not the paper. So, a better approach would be to be as truthful as you can on paper and then make the connection here.

And we will try to dig in a bit more into what’s written because we can put as much as possible there. And it might not mirror what we’re saying. That right there, it’s a no for us.

Andres Goeta: First, applications come through any of the platforms. It could come through Hilton; it could come through Indeed. Normally, those types of platforms are where it comes to.

When the hotel receives it, it is seen first by a Hiring Manager or a [person from] HR. They will do the first screening.

Although I said, “Attitude over aptitude,” if we’re looking for a very specific department, for example, a Director of Finance, I would definitely hope that they have some sort of finance background.

You know what I mean? It goes through that screening first, and then it will go to the direct Manager, for example, if it’s a front office, housekeeping, F&B, or so on and so forth.

Once we have those two in agreement, then it comes to me. I’ll make the final check. I normally like to have my leaders make the decision. If they tell me, “It’s a go for me,” it will be the last step that I will oversee.

And if I don’t see something too crazy, I would normally go with it. I like to give my leaders the say. I’ll give it that last look.

Any sort of things that I might give my leaders after that, give some feedback or maybe red flags, if you will, and that’s it. That’s how we make the decision.

Andres Goeta: I guess that’s what I said just now. [Poor] presentation, first. Second, [not] making your resume as truthful as you can, because we’re able to see it right away as soon as the person arrives [for the interview], and we [compare their performance] with their resume.

And then, [poor responses] to the questions that we’re asking because that’s what we’re trying to get to.

A lot of the time, when we, as leaders or as hiring personnel, ask questions about your experience and you completely sidetrack and go through something else, then at that point, you lose our attention.

And you might want to showcase and say all these things you’ve done, but it’s not what I asked. So sometimes, I’ve had to ask the same question again because it’s not the information I’m trying to get.

So, [a lack of] communication or listening comprehension skills, I would say.

Andres Goeta: That is such a great question because it never looks the same. I just know the time that I get in. From that point in time, I’m not sure how my day is going to go.

I would like to be very involved in the hotel’s operations. Obviously, I look at my emails; I look at my reports. I have reports from all my leaders, including F&B, finance and sales. I have all these reports that I have to check.

That’s what’s my day-to-day. But my day-to-day is also so much more than that. Sometimes, my day doesn’t start until 1:00, 2:00 or 3:00 p.m. because you get to the hotel, and we are here for our guests. That’s our main priority.

I read a book once by a great hospitality person, Will Guidara, called “Unreasonable Hospitality,” and I absolutely loved it. It said, “Take your job seriously without taking yourself too seriously.”

And what this means is I’m taking my job seriously, but just because I’m the GM, whatever name you want to call it, or Director of Finance, or the Director of Sales, or Director of Front Office, it doesn’t mean that I shouldn’t be on the floor with my team.

I found out that I’ve learned so much from what our guests need just by being on the floor, not by receiving my reports from my Director of Sales or answering emails.

So, my day looks a lot like — yes, I do this part, I look at P&Ls, I look at all of these big fancy things, but I’m outside also. I listen to my guests. I like to talk to guests and clients. I bus tables and see if I need to be present for breakfast on a busy morning. I help my front desk team to check in a guest.

You still get to learn so much from guests when you listen to them, you know? So basically, that’s how my day as a Hotel General Manager looks. It just completely varies from one day to the other.

Andres Goeta: Communication and multitasking. I’m not sure because I’ve never worked in another type of industry, but in hospitality, you have to multitask. There are so many things that get thrown at us on a day-to-day basis. And with this, I don’t mean doing all of them at the same time.

You also have to be very organized. So, put it on an agenda if you’re the type of person who needs to write.

Some people use their phones to write their agenda. I don’t like to use my phone, however, because, for some reason, I just don’t go back to it. [Instead,] I always carry [my notebook] with me. This goes with me everywhere. I write on it. And then I know what I have done and what I have pending.

And so, I need to be organized in order to tackle every single one. So, organization, communication and multitasking.

What is one mistake you made, or you’ve seen a lot of people in the industry make, and how can anyone avoid them?

Look, mistakes are always going to happen. I’m not perfect. Nobody is.

But more than thinking about the mistake that you’ve made is knowing why you did or whatever the mistake was, and then moving forward and saying, “Okay, this is a clean slate. Let me start over.” And not going back to it.

So, a smart person learns from their mistakes; a wise person learns from other people’s mistakes. So, mistakes that happen…. I mean, in hospitality, many things can happen, from a wrong check-in to all that. These are the types of things that are very systematic.

Now, one mistake that no hotelier should make, and people who are in the hospitality business still make, is “one size fits all.”

This goes back again to that Will Guidara book. It just was such a resounding thing to me when I read it because it has happened to me. “One size fits all.” We hear this a lot.

Hospitality is so different than that. And we cannot assume that the same thing that you’re going to like, I will like, or another guest will like.

So, if we standardize our hospitality, we’re not going to go far. We have to make sure that we make that connection with that specific guest instead of just saying, “Did the front desk check you into the wrong room? Here’s free breakfast.”

What I can present to you, or I can make it right for you whenever we make a mistake — that’s the best approach. Listen to your guest and have that understanding. To go back to that, never assume that one size fits all.

Andres Goeta: So, obviously, it’s during the high season. The high season is always going to be the time when we tend to look for a little bit more help. It could happen at any point in time because of limitations, somebody getting a better job or whatever the case might be.

But the high season is definitely when we’re like, “Okay, we need a lot more hands on deck.” We also hire more before the high season because we tend to know when the high season is coming.

We tend to know that, for example, if we know here in Florida, it’s going to be our winter season. Now, for the North, since I also worked in the Northeast, it’s the other way around. Summertime is when it’s the high season.

So, it depends on where you’re at. Right before high season starts, maybe a couple of weeks, three weeks before or maybe a month before, we start heavily investing ourselves into hiring.

[For the jobs in demand,] it depends on the hotel. Because there are hotels that focus more on one thing than others. Obviously, your typical Front Desk Agent, Housekeeper and similar positions are going to be open more.

I remember back then, even though Bellman was not my go-to or was not my goal, it was my foot in the door. So, with this comes a little bit of a tip for people who are coming into hotels and want to get their foot in.

Don’t get too caught up when you’re looking for a job. If you’re looking for a front desk position or a Front Desk Supervisor position and you see that there’s a “lower-level role,” go for it.

And once you’re in and you have that foot in, trust me. We like to promote from within. And a lot can happen in three, four, five or six months. I promise you that. At least, that’s how I’ve done it. And I know many of my leaders who have done it.

In the hospitality [industry], if, let’s say, you apply for a place and say, “Hey, look, I’m not really looking to be a Supervisor. I really want to be a Manager.” But that’s what you have right at the time. Go in and showcase what you can really do.

And I promise you, the good leaders in the property who see that drive will do anything in their power to get you to that point.

I understand that [you might have] some financial [considerations], but I’m talking to the people who really want to be in the hospitality business and can take a little “pay cut” but want to be in a specific property or in a specific brand or anything like that.

Don’t get too caught up and be like, “Hey, if it’s not Director of Front Office or a Director of Housekeeping, I’m not going to take it.” Hey, if you see that there’s an Assistant Director or Senior Manager position, go for it.

We will see it as leaders inside of the property. And obviously, make it known to us. Say, “Hey, I made this decision, but my goal is to get there.” We, as leaders, love that because we know that we have people there who we can trust.

After that, we’ll move you to that position. As a GM, I know a lot of other GMs, not only in the vicinity and not only in the Aventura region. We know a lot of people. I’m the type of leader who, if I see that there’s something good for you, even though it’s not with me, will put you into the hands of another great leader as well.

Andres Goeta: I, personally, do without it. It’s just the way that I’ve [always done it]. I don’t have one in mind. I have never really seen [a lot of pictures on] of a leader type of resume. I don’t mind it, but that’s not going to make or break it.

[A picture is] not going to make any difference to me. I will see the person in person, and then I will make my decision because it’s not about how you look, is it?

I mean, it comes in all different shapes, sizes, colors and forms. I don’t see it. And I’m not really sure if you’re going to have any Vice President of HR or Director of HR who will make a decision based on a picture on a resume. I don’t even have one on my resume.

Andres Goeta: So, let’s say you are a Supervisor. Start thinking or start getting knowledge from your Manager. Ask about what you can do to start thinking like a Manager. Once you’re a Manager, start thinking like a Director. That’s going to make it so much easier.

Again, this is where leadership comes in handy, and this is when mentorship comes in handy. Having good mentors is always a huge plus because when you tell your mentor what you want to do, they’ll give you specific tasks that will get you there.

As I was growing in my career, I always asked the person above me — my Manager, my Supervisor, “Hey, what else can I do? What else can I learn to get into such a position?” Because it made it so much easier for me.

In my personal experience, [when I was] a Supervisor, [I learned things] to be a Manager because I already knew what the Manager was doing. When I was a Manager, I started learning things as a Director. So, I’d already know what to do when I got to that point.

Or, even in this case, this is my first time being a GM. I mean, I’ve been here for two years, but this is my first time as a GM. However, for many years before these past two years, with all my GMs, I had one-on-one meetings, and I’ve been eager to ask them questions like:

• What is a P&L, and how do I look at a P&L?
• How do I look at this sales spreadsheet?
• What do you know? What is Delphi? How do I look into that?”

And so, when I got here to this position, I had a very strong idea, let’s just say that, on how to do this job. So, every time you are on a certain level, start thinking about the next one and get as much knowledge as you can so that when you’re there, you already know how to perform.

Andres Goeta: Yes. It’s not my favorite question, but it’s a question that I always ask, and probably everybody does. However, I pay very close attention to it. It’s when I ask that last question, “Do you have any questions for me?”

If your first question is, “Yeah, how much do you pay?” So, are you really interested in being hospitable? Are you really interested in the job or the place, or do you just want to get a paycheck and be out?

Some people would also ask a question you can answer for yourself with just some research. If you ask me very simple or vague questions, like what the hotel is all about, you should have done your own research. Everything is public.

I like to listen to their responses to that question. Actually, a lot of really good conversations come out of that, too.

Andres Goeta: Again, we’re looking for specific roles here, right? We’re looking for either a Server or a person in finance or a Finance Clerk. But a really good answer to that would be:

Look, I understand that you have this position available, but what do you really need from me? Is there anything else that I can help you out with? Are there any specific skills you need from me to do this?

And that just tells me that you’re not only here just for your 9 to 5 — you’re not just clocking in, clocking out. Your 7 to 3, or your 3 to 11. When we have you here on the property, we have your 100%.

Because everybody who’s here, obviously, we’re humans, but we’re here giving our 100%. That goes back again to communication. And we are here and so in tune with our synergy and goals that it doesn’t matter what area you are in.

[A good response is about] saying, “Look, I know that I’m here to be a Finance Clerk, but should you need me for anything else, I’ll be more than happy to help.”