Hospitality Crew - Big Indian, NY

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Slide Mt. Forest House

Summer Worker Expectations Outline

Please review this outline of what is expected of you while you are employed at Slide Mt. Forest House, 805 Oliverea Rd., Oliverea NY, 12410.  We are located in a beautiful valley in the Catskill Mts of NYS, about three hours north of NYC. There is plenty of fresh air, great food and the opportunity to earn a nice income while having the ability to visit places that interest you. This outline is a general guideline and in no way represents every situation or expectation that you will encounter while you are working here.  You will learn a lot about what is required to run a small hospitality business in the US. Upon completing your commitment, you will have gained valuable experience and appreciation of the behind the scenes requirements and demands of providing outstanding customer service. You will be rewarded with the satisfaction that your efforts, attention to detail and joy in providing great guest experience will be enjoyed by our clientele.  You will have the opportunity to have conversations with our guests, many of them will be as interested in learning about your region of the world as you are interested in learning about the U.S.A. After reading this outline, feel free to ask any questions.

 I would like to get started with you having a good understanding of what your responsibilities are. Your primary duties will be as server/wait staff and housekeeping. Secondary duties will include but are not limited to bartending, kitchen help with food preparation and clean up/dishes, laundry, pool cleaning, lawn and grounds maintenance, small repairs, painting, firewood, hiking trail and building maintenance.  In general, when you are not busy with guests needs you will be working on whatever needs to be done to keep our inn in good condition or on an enhancement project. My plan is to hire four J1 exchange students consisting of two J1 exchange couples from two diverse countries. Each student will have slightly different duties as diagramed in the chart below. 

As far as your personnel space is concerned, you are expected to keep your room neat and clean. You will be living in a two bedroom suite with a shared bathroom. The common bathroom areas must be cleaned weekly and this responsibility must be shared by all employees.  The garbage must be removed on a regular basis. Allowing garbage cans to overflow and having empty containers and other trash lying around your suite is not acceptable.  You are expected to manage your lights and conserve electricity use. Turn off lights when you leave a room and turn off your computer when you are not using it. You are expected to go to sleep at a reasonable hour so that you are well rested and come to work in the morning with energy and enthusiasm. There is absolutely no smoking indoors or within 20m of any building. You will have access to WIFI. Your quarters will be inspected for cleanliness. There is a microwave and mini refrigerator in your suite. Most of our amenities like the game room, TV room, pool, tennis court, basketball court and so on are open for your use as time and availability allows. If you prefer and have your own transportation you are welcome to find off premise housing.

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What you will need. Clothes to cover temperatures from -4C to 32C. For waiter work you will need white button down shirts/blouses, white tee shirts, black pants (not jeans)/skirt and comfortable black or brown shoes (a walker style shoe is ideal). Bring boots, sneakers and some clothes for work that you don't mind getting dirty or paint on them. Bring relaxing clothes, sports clothes and swimwear for your time off.

In regard to your meals.  You are entitled to three meals per day which are often shared with our family; these meals are included in your weekly accommodation fee of $90.00/person.  There will not usually be a choice of foods, you will be expected to share in eating our daily preparation.  You will have limited access to the kitchen to prepare meals during times that we are not busy with meal service or food preparations.  When the kitchen is busy you will be required to eat meals at the time they are offered to you. If you desire special foods/snacks or drinks for meals, between meals or at night, it will be your responsibility to purchase them for yourself.  You are expected to help with our family meal preparation and clean up.

You will be expected to work hard, pay attention and take interest in your work. Working here requires that you work at a reasonably fast pace and that you learn to work with efficiency and purpose. Earbuds/headphones are not allowed while working. There are many things that you will be expected learn and remember. It will take some time, you must be willing to study the products you are selling, learn the proper vocabulary, the tools and supplies you are using, and the procedures required to do your job well. There will be some 12hr workdays with a break on weekends.

For work you are expected to be on time. When you are given a time to start work it is expected that you will be ready to work no later than that start time. It is not acceptable to arrive to work late. One of my favorite sayings is “If you can’t be to work on time, be to work early.” For waiter and housekeeping work you are expected to be clean shaven, showered and using deodorant daily. We have a high standard of expectations for how tasks are completed.  We expect excellence in completing all work assigned to you. This requires that you pay attention to your work as you do it and that you review and double check your work.   Guests expect that everything is perfect. This means that you will need to give them proper table service and housekeeping.  When a room is prepared for a new guest it should show no signs of anyone having been in the room previously.  Every hair, dirt, stain and etc. must be removed and everything must be in working order. You will need to learn proper dining room table service.

You are expected to work at the least up to and including the day that we agreed on when you accepted this job.  Earlier start dates and later end dates are usually available.  Upon completion of your term you will be eligible for a bonus based on your performance and your ability to have a positive attitude and accept instructions and critics of your performance.  We learn from our mistakes and it is expected you will as well, so that we are not repeating the same instructions to you repeatedly. You are only here for a short time and it will be challenging for you to learn all there is to know about the tasks you will be required to complete. It is important that you work in a logical and methodical way.  You must be engaged in your work and think about what you are doing and how you are doing it. You must be able to use good judgment and decision making about how you are doing your job. You must have initiative to do what is right and what needs to be done. There is nothing more rewarding to me than an employee that can see what needs to be done next, what is missing or what needs to be repaired. Having said this you should also verify that what you are doing is correct, as there is nothing worse than spending time doing something incorrectly or doing something that doesn’t need to be done at all. When you are spoken to it is mandatory that you give a verbal response. This is how we verify that you have heard what was said to you. You should also expect a verbal response from me and other employees as well. Acknowledgement that communications have been heard and understood is extremely important.  This is especially important since we may be working across cultural differences and in a language in which you are not fluent.

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A strong command of the English language is required for this position. Understanding English is most important; do not under any circumstance make believe that you understand! If you do not understand what a guest wants, instructions or directions you must say you do not understand them. It is not productive if you go and do something wrong because you did not understand what you were told.  Practice your English in your spare time, review the instructions you have been given, read a book and watch TV in English.  Look up words that you do not know. You are expected to speak English while you are at work.

We try to arrange schedules so that you can do some mid week traveling if you wish. You will most likely not have any Fri., Sat. or Sun. off from work. Also, please be aware that we are located in a wilderness area with limited access to shopping, entertainment and social or cultural opportunities. There are local (UCAT) and regional (Pine Hill Trailways) buses available about 5km from our hotel. I offer to take you to and from the bus station when you want to travel on your day(s) off. Together with our neighbor, The Urban Cowboy Lodge, there will be opportunities to meet people from many walks of life. Additionally a local bus will give you access to local villages of Phoenicia(11mi.) and Woodstock(27mi.) as well as the nearest small city of Kingston (35mi.).  Kingston is where many of our students spend some of their days off to visit the malls and large stores, do banking, and maybe see a movie.  There is the opportunity to go on an overnight trip to NYC or some other destination on days off during the midweek.  Longer trips may be possible if you are arriving early or staying later through the fall season. I plan to hire 4 students for the summer. You will be guaranteed an average of 40hrs work/week. There will be opportunities to work some additional hours. Please visit our website to get a good idea of our Inn and the Catskill Mt region where we are located at.