Over the semester, I have been working on gaining experience and improving my hard and soft skills. When first starting my internship at Pebble Beach, I also committed to three main outcomes that I wanted to focus on:

 

1. Be able to successfully complete all tasks with excellence.
2. Learn how to interact with guests from all over the world.
3. Learn more in depth of operations within the hospitality industry.

 

Now that I am getting closer to the end of the semester and of my internship, I can look over the different outcomes and analyze where I stand.

1. Be able to successfully complete all tasks with excellence.

I have met this outcome by receiving support for my coworkers, gaining practice, and persevering through tough times. At first, the industry, the environment, and the systems were all new to me. Over time, I got to learn and interact with my coworkers, who would then guide me and train me along the way. I gained practice by showing up to work every shift, which gave me exposure and practice. This repetition would then help me get better and faster at my internship. Finally, my success came through my perseverance. I pushed myself every shift to get out of my comfort zone and be a better intern than the one I was today. All of these factors played in favor of a positive outcome. Some coursework that is relevant for this outcome was the courses of Accounting, Business Communications, Finance, and Operations Management. These courses helped me prepare for the internship that I currently have. My internship requires accounting knowledge and haven taken accounting courses really come in handy. Business Communication gave me the tools to learn how to write professionally, which I practice every day. Currently, my level of satisfaction stands strong and positive. I am satisfied because I have accomplished a successful path with my coworker support and determination. Working at Pebble Beach requires excellent customer service and work ethic. I believed I have gained the experience required to be at a successful stage in my internship. Throughout my time working at this internship, I discovered different things that I had no idea of. It was my first time working in the hospitality industry and I had the opportunity to learn a lot from it. I was also able to learn about the SMS Host system that we use at the resort. Gaining experience has allowed me to grow as an intern and as a student.

2.Learn how to interact with guests from all over the world.

I believe that I have met this second outcome successfully by the experience and practice that I have gained throughout my experience. Some ways that I come to this conclusion have to do with my improvement in performance, determination and confidence, and the exposure that I have received per shift. This outcome was a bit different in that the other two focus on hard skills. I wanted to have the opportunity to learn and improve my soft skills. The world is huge, and it is full with different cultures, people, languages, and more other customs. By showing up to work, that would give me the exposure needed to learn and interact with guests and visitors from all over the world. Working at the Pebble Beach Company gives me that access, and I needed to take advantage of that. Although the courses taken did not really provide me with much help for this objective, I do think that the social aspect of them was helpful. It was important for me to learn about students from other parts of the state, as well as from other countries in some instances. Now working for Pebble Beach, it is even more as I get to interact with people across the country and overseas. I am happy to say that I feel satisfied with my level of my outcome is. My exposure has allowed me to learn from other people. By working and speaking to people, I began to identify different accents and where they were from. I was also able to have patient for some people because not everyone has the ability to understand English well. I enjoy meeting new people and learning from them, even if that only means chatting with them for a couple of minutes. Something that I learned about this outcome that was unexpected were the different people that I got to meet people from celebrities, to professional sports players, to even some important business executives. I never thought I would have the opportunity to meet the people. As a business student, it was important to me to know how to behave and speak around them, as I would be doing that in my professional future.

3.Learn more in depth of operations within the hospitality industry.

I think that I met this outcome successfully with the different skills I learned, practices I went through, and the time I invested in learning about the resort. Before being an intern there, I had to prior experience nor knowledge of the hospitality industry. I would only know of the basics, and I honestly did not have much interest in the industry. When coming on board, I realize how much there is to the industry, especially in operations. As a world-class resort, there are many events and operating parts that are important for staff and guests to know. I was able to learn more about the operations by the training I received and by the different scenarios that presented to me every day. Most of them required me to do some research, where I was able to learn that way. Meeting other employees also helped me learn more about other departments by talking to them and asking them questions. Some classes that were relevant to this outcome are Accounting, Business Communications, Finance, and Operations Management. Similar to the first outcome, these courses helped me prepare for the internship that I currently have. My internship requires accounting knowledge and haven taken accounting courses really come in handy. Business Communication gave me the tools to learn how to write professionally, which I practice every day. I currently feel satisfied with this outcome because I think I have learned an extensive amount to the point that I can be happy with my progression and success so far. In comparison to when I first started, I not only have a better knowledge of operations at the resort, but I can now answer questions that guests may have without having to depend from coworkers helping me out. There were many things that I was not aware about that I learned unexpectedly. From handling guests’ credit card authorizations, to booking spa appointments and tee times, to learning what room service and other restaurants have in common. It all came with commitment, patience, and exposure. I learned to lose my comfortability a bit and realize that there is something new to be learned every day.

 

Along my attempt to meet these three objectives, I have been able to present some evidence about the success of those outcomes.

1.Be able to successfully complete all tasks with excellence.

Although it has been difficult, I have worked on meeting the company’s expectations, as well as my outcomes. The image below demonstrates the improvements in my work and how I have been successful over my time there. The image was written by my manager for my quarter review.

2.Learn how to interact with guests from all over the world.

With the experience I gained by interacting with guests and customers, my work was reflected on the comment cards that the resort collects at the end of a guest stay. The image above is an example of the success that I have reached with the guests that come in. It was the guest’s first time staying with us, and I welcomed them by explaining some features about the resort and answering any questions they had. They were happy as they left.

3.Learn more in depth of operations within the hospitality industry.

At first, I would struggle trying to improve my knowledge of the operations around the resort and with the different departments. As a new intern, it was rough at first because I was new to the area, environment, and to the employees. Little by little, I had the opportunity to get better and learn more by repetition. From department extensions, daily events, resort accounting, top executives, special event planning, group and corporate resume building, and much more. I was scared at first because there was a lot for me to learn in a short period of time. Working at the front of the house at a world-class resort like Pebble Beach is complex and demanding. But with over time, I was able to capture and learn more and more every shift.