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Maria Jose Velez Arango has just begun her hospitality career with Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts in Surfside, Florida as a Guest Experience Coordinator. A recent Master's Graduate from the FIU Chaplin School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, she is sharing her perspective in starting her career journey in a series of essays. Maria was recently promoted to Rooms Management Trainee. Here are her thoughts after her first month in her new role.
Have you ever realized that having a new title encompasses much more than the job description that comes with it? Like…
Taking on larger responsibilities
Setting an example for those around you
Tackling most of the tasks that someone you look up to was previously in charge of doing
Being asked your opinion when you least expect it
Realizing you are an inspiration to those you never thought you would impact,
Growing a thicker skin no matter how hard it seems
Realizing your voice and actions have more power than you ever thought possible
Understanding that more than ever you will throw yourself into solving every task that you used to pass on to someone above you
In a few short weeks, I’ve realized this is all part of growing as a professional.
In retrospect, you’ll notice that you are building your career as you have always envisioned it, and sometimes it seems as if everyone who supported you from the very beginning knew you were going to be standing here and the only one who had no clue was you.
Even though not much time has passed, I have come to understand that the more you grow, the more intense the "competition" gets, but only those who realize it was never meant to be one will reach real success.
As silly as it might sound, wearing your own clothes is a big part of growing into your new role but the whole attire will only look good on you once you understand that no matter how elegant, professional, or beautiful you look on the outside, the inside will always outshine.
People always say that being a good person will pay off in the end but I had never felt it would be as real as listening to an "I am so proud of you" when you are still trying to figure out how to work out what you are doing, or a "you are doing amazing" when you have every doubt of if what you are doing is working out, or a simple "do you know I love you?" in the middle of the day if anyone notices you are running around, but most importantly a genuine "let me show you how to do it" when you come across something you still don't know how to do.
The biggest challenge comes when trying to figure out how to be what your title says you are while at the same time being true to who you really are, but the beautiful thing is that you will soon realize that both can easily be done at once without changing who you are on the inside.