Career Change

Onkel Neal · 04-20-12, 10:35 AM

Most of you know I worked in the chemical industry for many years, starting out as a lowly hourly operator and I worked my way up to Plant Control technician, where I ran a Caustic process plant. I moved to the Marine Dept and manual labor again to make more money (unlimted overtime). I did that for about 7 years, then went back to college and got a degree in accounting--then took a job in the Houston office.

At the 30 year mark, I left the chemical industry and went back to college to get a degree in hospitality management, based in part on my activities with the website and dealing with people. I thought a job as a hotel manager would be interesting and rewarding. I graduated in Dec 2010 and was fortunate to land a role as the Manager on Duty at the Crowne Plaze Hotel, under an excellent GM, a man I have a lot of respect for.

How different things can be in concept and reality! I found the job challenging but I was not prepared to fill in as a front desk agent for 10~12 hours a day. I could handle the guest issues and complaints, in fact, I think everyone thought I did that very well. I was getting excellent feedback from guests in the surveys. But 6 months after I started, the front office manager (who had a lot of pressure on him to work with reduced staff) quit. They asked me to fill in his role as well as mine. Which was fine, I would learn more and get some additional experience. Unfortunately, some of the people I had to work with were unusual, severe, and challenging. Can't say it was just me, the hotel as a body had issues with the other managers in question. I kept it to myself and did my best to elicit cooperation from my employees. Just as the previous FO manager, I was expected to do the FO manager job, MOD job, and work as a front desk agent, with reduced staff. What does reduced staff mean? It means you have 1 or 2 front desk agents, when you really need 3 or 4 to get to guests in a timely manner and not rush them. There were routine times when the airport would dump 40~60 guests on the hotel from a cancelled flight, in addition to the guest with reservations, and we would be working without pause, including constantly answering phones two or three calls at a time, for literally 6 hours without pause.

That was not what I signed up for.

I could not give my guests the star treatment we routinely promise them in our mission statement and PR. In addition to the grief the other managers were dealing out, I decided to try my luck either at another hotel, or another industry. I am pretty bad about having too many interests and not enough focus on one, so I knew this would be a task. What to do?

First I took a few weeks and spent time with my kids, who were at the point of telling me I looked a lot like their father. I also was happy to point my motorcycle in other directions that the 45 minute commute to north Houston every day.

After some serious thought, I have decided I want to teach. I have dreamed of this idea in the past--originally when I went to college for accounting, I was going to go for history and science so I could teach. But the Ms Stevens at the time screamed a fit when she realized my earning power would be greatly diminished as a teacher, so I went with accounting.

I have completed two of the biggest hurdles, 1. I have been accepted into a Teacher training program, and 2. I passed my Content exam in math, science, language, and social studies. Believe me, that was pretty daunting. This test was a killer, but I got my scores today and I did pretty well. The math and science refresher work will continue through the summer, though. Cannot be too prepared.

So, barring anything terrible, like not being able to find a job, I should be in the classroom this August, with the responsibilty of educating young students, helping them learn classroom procedures, and inspiring them to enjoy the process of learning and becoming educated. I suffer no illusions, the final outcome of this latest venture will be determined as time passes, but I am excited to finally get into a career where I can talk about the Battle of Gonzales and the Tokugawa isolationist policies now.

Tak, I know you're a teacher, any advice? Any other teachers out there?

04-20-12, 10:35 AM	#1
Onkel Neal Born to Run Silent Join Date: Jan 1997 Location: Cougar Trap, Texas Posts: 21,383 Downloads: 541 Uploads: 224	Career Change Most of you know I worked in the chemical industry for many years, starting out as a lowly hourly operator and I worked my way up to Plant Control technician, where I ran a Caustic process plant. I moved to the Marine Dept and manual labor again to make more money (unlimted overtime). I did that for about 7 years, then went back to college and got a degree in accounting--then took a job in the Houston office. At the 30 year mark, I left the chemical industry and went back to college to get a degree in hospitality management, based in part on my activities with the website and dealing with people. I thought a job as a hotel manager would be interesting and rewarding. I graduated in Dec 2010 and was fortunate to land a role as the Manager on Duty at the Crowne Plaze Hotel, under an excellent GM, a man I have a lot of respect for. How different things can be in concept and reality! I found the job challenging but I was not prepared to fill in as a front desk agent for 10~12 hours a day. I could handle the guest issues and complaints, in fact, I think everyone thought I did that very well. I was getting excellent feedback from guests in the surveys. But 6 months after I started, the front office manager (who had a lot of pressure on him to work with reduced staff) quit. They asked me to fill in his role as well as mine. Which was fine, I would learn more and get some additional experience. Unfortunately, some of the people I had to work with were unusual, severe, and challenging. Can't say it was just me, the hotel as a body had issues with the other managers in question. I kept it to myself and did my best to elicit cooperation from my employees. Just as the previous FO manager, I was expected to do the FO manager job, MOD job, and work as a front desk agent, with reduced staff. What does reduced staff mean? It means you have 1 or 2 front desk agents, when you really need 3 or 4 to get to guests in a timely manner and not rush them. There were routine times when the airport would dump 40~60 guests on the hotel from a cancelled flight, in addition to the guest with reservations, and we would be working without pause, including constantly answering phones two or three calls at a time, for literally 6 hours without pause. That was not what I signed up for. I could not give my guests the star treatment we routinely promise them in our mission statement and PR. In addition to the grief the other managers were dealing out, I decided to try my luck either at another hotel, or another industry. I am pretty bad about having too many interests and not enough focus on one, so I knew this would be a task. What to do? First I took a few weeks and spent time with my kids, who were at the point of telling me I looked a lot like their father. I also was happy to point my motorcycle in other directions that the 45 minute commute to north Houston every day. After some serious thought, I have decided I want to teach. I have dreamed of this idea in the past--originally when I went to college for accounting, I was going to go for history and science so I could teach. But the Ms Stevens at the time screamed a fit when she realized my earning power would be greatly diminished as a teacher, so I went with accounting. I have completed two of the biggest hurdles, 1. I have been accepted into a Teacher training program, and 2. I passed my Content exam in math, science, language, and social studies. Believe me, that was pretty daunting. This test was a killer, but I got my scores today and I did pretty well. The math and science refresher work will continue through the summer, though. Cannot be too prepared. So, barring anything terrible, like not being able to find a job, I should be in the classroom this August, with the responsibilty of educating young students, helping them learn classroom procedures, and inspiring them to enjoy the process of learning and becoming educated. I suffer no illusions, the final outcome of this latest venture will be determined as time passes, but I am excited to finally get into a career where I can talk about the Battle of Gonzales and the Tokugawa isolationist policies now. Tak, I know you're a teacher, any advice? Any other teachers out there?