First of all I had a phone interview, which I've dealt with before when I applied for my old job at Next. However, having never worked in hospitality I did have to completely blag my way through it, as well as be honest that I'd never worked in hospitality before so didn't really have a clue what to expect! My interviewer seemed to like me though, as he said that despite my lack of experience he still wanted to give me a proper interview as I sounded as though I knew what I was talking about!
Therefore, last Thursday I had my interview at Manchester United. Having never been to the stadium before it's safe to say I was very overwhelmed when I arrived - it's absolutely massive! Despite the fact it was a Thursday, and not a match day, it was absolutely heaving with people going to look round the shop and museum, it's a massive enterprise! When I'd eventually found out where I was supposed to be going, and eventually found my way there, I had to fill in a ridiculous amount of paperwork, but then you seem to have to with the majority of jobs these days. Then it was finally time to have my interview. I hadn't actually been that nervous beforehand, but when I got into the lift to go up to my interview room I found myself feeling very nervous about it! Although I've had face to face interviews before, they've never been for a job, so I didn't really know what to expect from it! Thankfully though it was very straightforward, and my interviewer was really friendly and put me at ease. I was asked ten questions to do with how I would deal with different situations, what I thought was needed in a good team, and what skills I would be able to bring to the team that I thought would benefit them. Each question was scored out of 10, and the higher you scored the more likely you were to get a job! Thankfully, my answers seemed to be good enough and I was offered the job there and then!
This Thursday saw me have my training. It's ridiculous how much there is to learn in order to be a waitress! However, Manchester United do train us to a much higher standard due to the number of stars that walk through their doors - so we have to make sure we do everything to perfection first time round! We were shown several presentations about what we should expect from Manchester United, and what they should expect from us, as well as lots of information on our uniform and presentation. Then we were split into our job groups and trained. My default suite is the 1999 suite, where members pay £3000 per season for their seat at one of the tables! Therefore we have to ensure that their service is immaculate. We were shown how to properly polish glasses and set the tables, as well as how to take food orders, serve wine and food, open champagne and keep on top of four or five tables all at once. It was a lot to take in, and annoyingly it's one of those jobs where you can't properly learn it until you're doing it, so I'm going to be feeling under a lot of pressure when it comes round to my first match day! Hopefully things will run smoothly though, I hate embarrassing myself, especially in such a formal atmosphere!
After being told I wouldn't be working the match yesterday because I can't work the Boxing Day Match, I got a text to say I'd been booked! Safe to say I was absolutely shitting it as I hadn't been expecting my first shift to come round so quickly! The match was between Liverpool and Manchester United - so it definitely wasn't a small match to have on your first shift! Kick off was at 1:30pm, so I had to be there at 9:30am to go and log in, get my lunch, and go and set up my tables ready for the doors to open at 10:30am. Once I'd eventually found my way to the 1999 suite, I got told I'd be a runner for the day as I had no experience in hospitality and it was such a big match. However, I was called to my floor manager after an hour of beginning to set up the food, and told that I was being moved to a floor that didn't have enough staff. There I was thinking I was being moved to another suite, but it turned out I was being moved to a box! Not just a fan's box either, Michael Carrick's box... I was petrified. My first ever shift in hospitality and I was serving a footballer's family who was playing that match. No pressure! I spent the whole shift running around getting them more food and clearing away plates and dishes before replacing them with new ones and making sure the fridge stayed stocked up - my feet were ready to fall off by the time it got to 5:30!
Despite the major pressure of serving Michael Carrick's family, I had a really enjoyable day and I'm looking forward to my next shift! Everyone was lovely and made me feel really welcome, plus they kept an eye on me and made sure I did everything I needed to and did it correctly. It was an incredibly tiring day but it was well worth it, and having served a footballer's family I think I can take on 5 fan tables in a suite next time!
This Thursday saw me have my training. It's ridiculous how much there is to learn in order to be a waitress! However, Manchester United do train us to a much higher standard due to the number of stars that walk through their doors - so we have to make sure we do everything to perfection first time round! We were shown several presentations about what we should expect from Manchester United, and what they should expect from us, as well as lots of information on our uniform and presentation. Then we were split into our job groups and trained. My default suite is the 1999 suite, where members pay £3000 per season for their seat at one of the tables! Therefore we have to ensure that their service is immaculate. We were shown how to properly polish glasses and set the tables, as well as how to take food orders, serve wine and food, open champagne and keep on top of four or five tables all at once. It was a lot to take in, and annoyingly it's one of those jobs where you can't properly learn it until you're doing it, so I'm going to be feeling under a lot of pressure when it comes round to my first match day! Hopefully things will run smoothly though, I hate embarrassing myself, especially in such a formal atmosphere!
After being told I wouldn't be working the match yesterday because I can't work the Boxing Day Match, I got a text to say I'd been booked! Safe to say I was absolutely shitting it as I hadn't been expecting my first shift to come round so quickly! The match was between Liverpool and Manchester United - so it definitely wasn't a small match to have on your first shift! Kick off was at 1:30pm, so I had to be there at 9:30am to go and log in, get my lunch, and go and set up my tables ready for the doors to open at 10:30am. Once I'd eventually found my way to the 1999 suite, I got told I'd be a runner for the day as I had no experience in hospitality and it was such a big match. However, I was called to my floor manager after an hour of beginning to set up the food, and told that I was being moved to a floor that didn't have enough staff. There I was thinking I was being moved to another suite, but it turned out I was being moved to a box! Not just a fan's box either, Michael Carrick's box... I was petrified. My first ever shift in hospitality and I was serving a footballer's family who was playing that match. No pressure! I spent the whole shift running around getting them more food and clearing away plates and dishes before replacing them with new ones and making sure the fridge stayed stocked up - my feet were ready to fall off by the time it got to 5:30!
Despite the major pressure of serving Michael Carrick's family, I had a really enjoyable day and I'm looking forward to my next shift! Everyone was lovely and made me feel really welcome, plus they kept an eye on me and made sure I did everything I needed to and did it correctly. It was an incredibly tiring day but it was well worth it, and having served a footballer's family I think I can take on 5 fan tables in a suite next time!
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