SonicJobs

I get it’s tricky living in shared accommodation right now, and with 4.5 million shared households in England, you definitely won’t be the only one with this concern!

You probably already have different schedules and habits to juggle as it is, let alone the added complication of corona, right?

Let’s go through a few simple ways you can make sure you and your housemates are aligned and taking the proper precautions:

🏡 Create a kitchen / bathroom rota – for your common areas, establish a rota for when each of you can use these spaces in a way that suits your schedules.

🏡 Use your own hand towels – keep your hand towel in your bedroom and take it with you each time you use the bathroom.

🏡 Have a bottle of hand-sanitiser by the front door – this’ll prevent any germs from outdoor contact spreading around the house.

🏡 Have a cleaning rota – who’s washing the tea towels? Who’s mopping the kitchen? Who’s cleaning the bathroom? Who’s wiping down the door handles? Create a chores list and rotate each week!

🏡 Create a house kitty – this’ll come in handy when buying cleaning products for the house.

🏡 Print any rotas and rules – pin these up on bathroom doors and in the kitchen to make sure everyone’s on the same page.

🏡 Create a house WhatsApp group – use this to share the expectations, updates, changes to rotas, and also government guidance.

And last but not least…
🏡 Support one another – simply asking ‘how are you?’ can make a huge difference to your housemates’ lockdown experience.

The great thing about the hospitality industry is that it’s one in which you can progress your career into management quite quickly if you apply yourself.

Let’s start by looking at some different areas of hospitality:

🍝 Restaurants & Pubs

🍸 Bars & Clubs

💃 Catering / Events

🏨 Hotellerie

Within each of these areas, you can, of course, progress through the ranks. Let’s check out the different levels:

Hotel Receptionist 👉 £8.77 avg wage per hour

You’re the first point of contact for guests and will also take enquiries over phone and email. 🔑 Key Characteristics ✒ good telephone manner, friendly, organised, computer-literate

Barista / Bartender / Restaurant serve  r👉 £8.89 – £9.35 avg wage per hour

You’ll be working under busy conditions keeping your composure to serve food and drinks to the highest standard, taking care not to fluff up anyone’s order! 🔑 Key Characteristics ✒ outgoing, customer service, multi-tasking, work well under pressure, attention to detail

Restaurant Supervisor / Head Server 👉 £11.77 avg wage per hour

You’ll be the eyes and ears for the restaurant manager. You’ll oversee the team and ensure everything from stock to staff runs smoothly during each shift. 🔑 Key Characteristics ✒ organised, confident, assertive, customer service, people skills, responsible

Restaurant/Hotel Manager 👉 £27,942 – £35,624 avg salary

You’re the glue that holds the restaurant/hotel together. You oversee the overall operation and make changes where you see inefficiencies. You’ll be knowledgeable on H&S procedures as well as training & development. 🔑 Key Characteristics ✒ forward thinking, self-motivated, initiative, leadership, maintaining high standards, people skills

On average, 4-6 people will make it to the interview stage but only 1 will get hired… so you can never be too prepared when it comes to interviews. 

Employers love to throw in tough interview questions to really put you to the test…

Will you crumble… or will you fly?! 😰

Let’s take a look at 4 tough interview questions and how to prepare for them💪

📌 Tell me about a time when you failed.

Whether you view it as failure or not, employers want to hear when something didn’t go as planned. The key is to explain what went wrong and how you’d do it differently to show that you have good self-awareness and that you grew from your mistakes.

📌 What are your weak areas?

Don’t be generic and say ‘I’m a perfectionist’. Get real and honest about your weaknesses and how you overcame them! For example, maybe you’re forgetful and unorganised, but to rectify this you use checklists religiously and update your to-do list 3 times a day.

📌 How’ve you shown initiative in the workplace?

Employers want to know you don’t need to be spoon fed every last detail. Can you think of a time when you decided to do something on your own accord because it was for the greater good of the business?

📌 Why are you leaving your current role?

Don’t bad-mouth your old boss in an interview. Instead, focus on the professional benefits that this new employer can offer. Are there better career prospects? More training? Perhaps the work is more varied?

Remember💡 prep for your interview by thinking of example-based answers. If you haven’t prepared for a particular question, it’s perfectly reasonable to take a moment to THINK before answering.

Hey, it’s Julie 🙋‍♀️ Do you feel like you’ve put your long-term career aspirations on hold until all this ‘blows over’?

Well, we’re now almost a year into the global crisis and it’s fair to say that, instead of waiting for it to pass, the world is learning how to live with it.

So what does that mean for you and your career?

It means that you should still keep aiming high and going after your goals.

Today, I’m going to talk to you about the importance of networking in achieving your goals.

👉What is networking?

Networking is the process of building relationships with other professionals.

👉What are the benefits of networking?

As a professional, you should always be networking and building connections throughout your career. Successful networking often opens new doors of opportunity for you and you never know when a new opportunity is going to come knocking. 

But networking doesn’t just mean benefiting yourself… It’s also about spotting opportunities to help other professionals too. 

👉How can you network during the pandemic?

🌐Attend webinars

🌐Make new connections on LinkedIn

🌐Interact with others’ posts on LinkedIn

🌐Join professional groups on LinkedIn and Facebook and participate in discussions

🌐Introduce yourself to companies over email with meaningful feedback on their products or services

🌐Form a relationship with recruiters

🌐Share articles with others

🌐Refer a job to a friend / acquaintance

Progressing your career isn’t just about gaining a promotion or applying for a new job. It’s also about the connections and knowledge that you gain and share along the way!

Happy networking!

Julie 💜
Psst.. need help building your CV? Head over to ‘Profile’ and we’ll build one for you in minutes!📲