How should I prepare for a hotel management trainee interview?

Hotel's Management Trainee (MT) is one of the greatest positions in a hotel. A MT

will undergo training in all the core departments in the hotel for about 18 months
and depending on the performance, interest and knowledge gained by the MT, the MT
is promoted to Assistant Manager or equivalent position (like CDP/Jr. Sous Chef) in
the department he/she desires. I don't mean to discourage you, however, in order to
become a MT one should have thorough knowledge about complete functioning of a
hotel. Becoming a MT is not a fortnight thing so I suggest you to start preparing
for the interview when you start your OJT in your second/third year. Make a note of
everything you learn in your OJT and remember it. Don't stop giving interviews in
various hotels. Make a habit of attending more and more interviews even if you get
selected, the choice to joining the hotel and accepting the job will be yours. I
suggest you to give as many interviews as possible before even thinking of MT. The
more interview you attend the more confidence you will gain. Because it is one of
the most difficult interviews in hotel industry. It's an interview where the
interviewee will be asked questions about anything from first year to third/forth
year. So I think going for the MT interview in the beginning is not a good idea,
you might lose the chance of becoming a MT if failed in the interview and some
hotels have a cut off time like 6 months to attend another interview.

First and foremost thing is English language. As the interview is in English

language, one must have good skills while communicating in English. Those who are
poor in spoken English need to join English classes to polish their language
skills. Being able to speak in any other international language (like French,
Spanish, German, Portuguese, Italian etc. ) is an additional advantage. I advice
you to take advantage of your multi language skills and mention the same in you
resume to have more weightage.

The interviewer can ask any thing from any of the 4 core departments in hotel
management. For example, in F&B service about wines, cheeses, 17 course menu, types
of alcoholic beverages, different proofs of alcohol (%), table setup and what are
the contents of a cover? Placement of different types of spoons, forks, glasses
etc. And when it comes to cooking they might ask about types of vegetable cuts,
meat cuts, basic mother sauces, recipes of sauces, soups, concassee, cooking
methods with examples, English vegetables, topical fruits, leafy vegetables,
tubers, herbs etc. For accommodation operations they might ask anything related to
housekeeping, bed making, types of upholstery, furnitures, different types of rooms
available in the hotel, amenities in different rooms, procedure of making a room,
hierarchy of all the departments. About Front Office, you will be asked about
classification of hotels, types of rooms, procedure for booking a room and
welcoming the guest and allotting a room against reservation, how to calculate
house count, total occupancy, revenue generation, upselling, convincing the guests,
taking complaints and resolving them instantly, follow up etc.

There are many other things to consider like dressing sense, body language, smile,
eye contact while speaking, comprehending skills, prompt responses, and don't
forget to give examples when answering or saying something about your
traits/qualities.

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