Mariah Mikel

Major: Hospitality Management
Company/Organization: Hilton Newark Airport
Destination: Newark, New Jersey
Timeframe: Summer
Advisor/Coordinator Email: celbert@iastate.edu

Responsibilities

I am a Hilton Property Intern with a focus in front desk at the Hilton Newark Airport in Newark, New Jersey. During this internship, my responsibilities have been to understand the organization of the front office team and see how it contributes to Hilton’s vision. Through this, I am learning the significance of exceptional guest service and loyalty. I am also working towards gaining proficiency in Hilton’s property management system called OnQ. Additionally, I am to shadow all departments to see how property operations work as a whole.

Accomplishments

My greatest accomplishment would definitely be me really coming out of my shell to become a great front desk agent. I am a pretty shy person but have always wanted to work in hospitality because I love helping people. At the start of this internship, I was pretty nervous to talk to the guests. Now, while I am almost finished with my internship, I have really grown in my customer service skills. I am always interacting with the guests and am no longer nervous to talk to them. My second greatest accomplishment was that I mastered Hilton’s property management system, OnQ. When I first started I had to go through a few days of training for OnQ and I felt like I understood it pretty well. Then when I went to actually use it, it was super complicated. I am now super confident in using it and have no issues. There is so much to learn so I am very proud that I mastered it in my short time here!

What advice would you give?

If you are looking into working in a hotel in the future, you should definitely apply to this internship! Hilton is a great company to work with and this internship program is designed for you to learn about all the departments and help you decide what direction you want to take in the future.

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