Susan D. Strayer, author of “The Right Job, Right Now,” is a seasoned HR professional, consultant and career coach, with expertise in hospitality. Angela Giroux Scheide, SmartBrief’s travel and hospitality editor, spoke with her recently about how the economic landscape is affecting the hospitality job market. Here is an edited transcript of their conversation.

ANGELA: Recent news stories have described hotels being deluged with hundreds of applicants when just a few jobs are posted. What strategies can employers take to narrow the pool of applicants to those who are best qualified for the positions?

SUSAN: In hospitality, experience is important. Look for applicants who have experience in service, which is a good indicator that they understand the needs of the guest or customer. Another good sign:  service awards. Almost all hospitality companies give service awards to employees of the month or the quarter. Those awards, often peer-nominated, are a strong indicator of good performance. In interviews, focus on the factors that are important to your location. For example, if your hotel primarily welcomes business travelers, look for experience in handling these types of guests and their specific needs.

Have a strong selection process in place, one that evaluates applicants’ ability to do the job and what their behaviors will be like on the job. This may include a rigorous use of selection tools, structured interviewing or performance-based tests. Tools like these should be developed, launched and managed by professionals with experience in selection and testing to ensure legal compliance.

Likewise, how can hospitality professionals looking for new opportunities make themselves stand out among the masses of applicants?

First, be clear that you can perform the tasks requested. Pay close attention to the job description and make sure your resume, application and interview answers demonstrate an ability to do the job. After that, emphasize service above all else. Hospitality companies survive and thrive based on their reputation for meeting and exceeding expectations, and they need employees who will help them achieve that mission. You should be able to provide specific examples of times you provided exceptional guest service, as well as times you managed a difficult customer or guest situation. For hourly applicants, flexibility is also important — being able to work nights and weekends, in addition to holidays, will strengthen your application.

Most forecasts indicate that the hospitality industry should begin to turn the corner towards recovery in 2010, yet many hotel professionals  working at struggling hotels face job uncertainty. What advice can you give them regarding when to stay and when to move on?

It’s all about communication. Employees should talk to their supervisors and managers regularly. Ask questions about the state of the company, about occupancy and about what they can do to help.

Employees should show they understand the state of the economy, as well as demonstrate that they are committed to helping the company and the property turn around. Employees should offer to reduce their schedules when possible and show they are willing to pitch in during this tough time. They should pay attention to factors that indicate how well the company and location are doing, like schedule changes and occupancy that may dictate performance.

Employees should also investigate options to move within a company. Unless you work for a hotel or property with only one location, you may have the opportunity to work for other locations within the company. Check with your HR professional to determine what the requirements are for transfer.

(Of course, union employees may have specific rules and requirements to follow and should be aware of their rights and responsibilities as it relates to hours, schedules and slumping business.)

Image credit, thelinke, via iStock

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After seemingly endless weeks of reruns, “The Office” finally came back with a new episode last night. I’m not counting the lame clip show they did two weeks ago as new. It was too pathetic to count.

The first new episode in ages has the gang at Dunder Mifflin’s Scranton branch facing a new life as “a division of Sabre,” a Florida-based office-technology company. Gabe Lewis, coordinating director for emerging regions, comes to greet everyone and help them to adjust to life under a new regime.

He starts out by playing a “Simpsons”-esque Troy McClure-style video starring Christian Slater.

“So you’ve just been bought by Sabre and you probably have a lot of questions,” Slater starts out before appearing in a montage of cheesy scenes while spouting a series of silly slogans, and everyone is left wondering what it was they just watched.

“So you’ve been shown a nonsensical video, and you’re probably wondering what’s going on,” says Jim. “Well, you’re not alone.”

With the video over, Gabe unleashes a slew of serious changes Sabre is bringing to the Scranton branch:

• They will no longer be paper salesmen, but “printer salesmen who also sell paper.”
• They will no longer have Internet access to “inappropriate sites” or “time-wasting sites like Twitter and YouTube.”
• They will no longer be able to use disposable cups to drink water, but instead will have to drink out of aluminum Sabre-branded water bottles.

No one — least of all Michael — is happy with the changes.

“All of these changes suck …” he says. “I miss the old Dunder Mifflin. Too much change is not a good thing. Ask the climate.”

Change happens, but boy is it tough — especially in the workplace, where most of us spend much of our time. I’m one of those people who think major changes should be introduced more gradually, not dumped in workers’ laps all at once. In my experience and observations of the workplace, that has just always worked better for everyone.

What about you? How have you experienced change in the workplace? What have the change-makers you’ve witnessed done well? What have they done poorly?

Image credit, NBC

Naturally I always feel bad when I hear of yet another friend who has been laid off.  But there’s something especially stinging when that friend happens to be in HR. They just seem to have an especially rough time recovering.  While this is certainly no scientific study, I’ve just noticed many more months of treading water, volunteering for services such as special committees convened to help others re-enter the workplace, and a whole lot of lunches.

There’s a wonderful scene in the sitcom Frasier where he sternly tells the enthusiastically, uhm, social Roxanne (who is about to housesit for him) that, “I frown on overnight guests.”  Her response: “Well, then, you’re doing it wrong.”  If you’re in HR and you’ve been relying on job search methods that worked even just two years ago, it’s quite possible that you’re doing it wrong.  Here’s what could be holding you back in your job search if you’re in HR:

• A misplaced trust in the company sourcing process. You remember that recruiting system you worked so hard to put into place a few years ago? It’s certainly not working for you now — now that you’re on the outside straining to get back in.  It might not be working at all.  In fact it’s quite possible that downsizing companies downsized their recruitment division, and someone forgot to turn off the “careers” function of the corporate Web site.  Still, you’re loathe to circumvent the published pro formas because you remember how offended you were when an applicant tried to beat the system you put in while at your former job. Guess what: There’s probably no one left to be offended anymore, even in your target company. “Because HR people are often experts in recruiting and interviewing, they tend to think organizations will ‘do their job:’ post positions, have a clear recruiting and interviewing process,” says Duncan Mathison, an executive coach and my co-author  on “Unlock the Hidden Job Market.” “This is a mistake because companies have downsized this expertise.”

• Ineffectual networking habits. There are a lot of shy folks in HR, which is ironic for a function that supposedly attracts “people people.”  Go to any monthly SHRM chapter meeting and you’ll see the same happy, friendly faces, all of whom know each other.  And have known each other for years. Go to the next meeting of the same chapter, and you’ll see the same faces. The next month? Same thing.  Your only hope of meeting anyone new any time soon is to go to the SHRM chapter meeting a city or two away.   You’ll be greeted warmly, and you’re bound to hear a great program. And you’ll meet a lot of people who are looking for a new job. But will you hear of any new job openings?  Probably not. Not these days, at any rate.

When you’re in HR, you can feel busy networking.  There’s always plenty to do on a volunteer basis.  But does that mean you are busy successfully finding the next right job that’s perfect for you? Not necessarily. In fact, probably not.

How to do it right:

• Bust out of your comfort zone. Broaden your exposure beyond HR. Attend professional groups that serve industries that interest you — not just the HR profession itself.

• Circumvent the applicant tracking system. Don’t wait for a computer to discover you.  Get one-on-one meetings with people inside companies that interest you.  Remember, don’t worry about offending people who might be recruiters. There’s probably no one there.

• Make it convenient for people to meet with you. No one needs you to buy them lunch in exchange for job leads.  When you seek out an informational interview, offer to meet them at their office, so they don’t even have to stand up to meet with you.

• Be real about looking for a job. No point in lying in informational interviews, right?  At the same time, reassure your meeting partner that you aren’t looking for a job from that person. Use informational interviews to build out your network, contacts, insights about your targeted industries and companies, and ideas for new people to meet.

• Learn to talk about your accomplishments in terms that relate to business interests. For instance, it’s not about the HRIS system you installed in your last job. It’s not about the number of people you hired.  It’s not even about the number of people you laid off before you got the package yourself.  It’s about how you custom-built bench strength of just the right talent that helped your company redirect its own market position and achieve long-term objectives. Get the difference?

In the perfect world (well, my perfect world, at least), HR would be hired first.  Then you guys could design those great workplace cultures we all aspire to. And then you can get down to the business of hiring the rest of all that wonderful talent that’s out there.

So. Get cracking, and get landed!  We need you back on the job.