Hostess: who is this and what does a person in this profession do?

Surely many have heard that there is such a profession as hostesses. However, few people know what exactly it is. Let's find out together who the hostesses are, what is the range of their professional duties, what are the requirements for people in this profession, what are the career prospects in this area.

On employment portals, one can often find a job offer such as “hostess in a night club”, “hostess in a hotel”. Many young people wonder what hostesses do. From English, “hostess” is translated as “hostess,” although in Latin, where this concept appeared, it has a slightly different interpretation - “guest”. Based on this, the conclusion suggests itself - hostess means "welcoming guests", and we can talk about restaurants, night clubs, cafes, hookahs, hotels, exhibitions, as well as official events.

A hostess is, in fact, a business card of an institution, a person who is responsible for meeting visitors and accompanying them. Hostess is considered female profession, in the vast majority of cases hostesses are girls, but men can also engage in similar activities.

The hostess does not let guests of the establishment get bored during the event, it can additionally engage in the coordination of attendants and assume the role of administrator. Initially, hostesses were involved in passenger service during flights - they are more familiar to us as stewardesses. Their job descriptions included:

• meeting passengers at the entrance to the airliner;
• conducting to a place in the cabin;
• organization of briefing on safety rules during the flight;
• serving drinks and food;
• assistance to passengers.

Later, the profession significantly expanded the scope of its activities. Now hostesses are hosting guests not only in the air, but also on the ground. Workers in this specialty can be found:

• in large hotels, hotels, clubs;
• at presentations, seminars, as well as congresses, conferences and exhibitions;
• in the escort service as an accompanying client at those events where it is not customary to be alone.

At first glance, the work of hostesses seems simple, however, like any other, it has its own advantages and disadvantages.

The positive aspects include the following.

• Anyone can get a job practically "from the street" if he possesses the external data and personal qualities necessary for this profession. Of course, some elite establishments can set high requirements, but in the vast majority of cases a presentable appearance, competent speech and sociability are quite enough.
• No need for special education. The requirement of higher or secondary special education in the job description is extremely rare. Of course, the presence of administrative skills and knowledge of foreign languages ​​can be some advantage in the selection of a candidate for a position, but they do not become basic criteria.
• The prospect of good dating. The work of hostesses allows you to get acquainted with many people, including those from higher layers of society, financially prosperous. Such prospects attract young girls, there are cases when such relationships have developed into marriage. However, many acquaintances can be useful not so much in personal life as in further professional activities.
• Acquaintance with business. It is no secret that many famous restaurateurs began their career with the position of hostesses. Work experience and acquaintance “with the whole kitchen” becomes an invaluable advantage in further employment in the relevant field when starting your own business.
• Good tips. The salary of the hostesses is small, but most of the income is made by tips that satisfied customers leave for the service.

At the same time, the position has its drawbacks.

• Low official income. In the vast majority of cases, hostesses work informally, so their legal income is poor.
• The presence of additional responsibilities. In some institutions, especially in nightclubs, girls' functionality is not limited to meeting guests, they have to entertain visitors with communication and dancing.
• Low career prospects. Most often, such work is temporary. Of course, with a strong desire and a successful combination of circumstances, the hostess may eventually become the administrator of the institution, but, as practice shows, such cases are rare.
• Interaction with conflicting people. The hostess is much more likely than the waitresses to receive increased attention from male visitors and even sexual harassment. Moreover, in some institutions, such an attitude is even encouraged by management - this must be borne in mind when employing.
• Strict requirements for appearance. Very often it is appearance that becomes a fundamental aspect when hiring an employee for a hostess position, so girls and boys with visible defects about this area of ​​employment can not even think about it.

The responsibilities of hostesses in general can be described as “meeting guests and their accompaniment”. The most common types of employment are restaurants.. In this case, it largely depends on the actions of the employee whether the client will return to the institution again. The care of visitors is to offer them a good place in the hall, to take and entertain while preparing the ordered dish, and, of course, to offer an aperitif to minimize tedious waiting.

The responsibilities of the hostesses in the restaurant include:

• making a telephone reservation;
• meeting guests at the entrance, assistance in choosing a table, taking into account the personal wishes of the client and the workload of the waiters;
• consultation on the assortment of dishes and the wine list;
• informing visitors about ongoing promotions;
• open menu submission;
• if necessary - a taxi call, farewell;
• Announcement of interesting events in the restaurant.

Hostes must possess a range of professional characteristics and meet certain requirements.

A hostess girl should look attractive in any situation, but an abundance of cosmetics, elaborate clothes and hairstyles is not allowed. The appearance of this specialist should be impeccable. The perfect look is clean hair, restrained make-up, laconic manicure and a slight smile on your face. Of clothing, it is better to give preference an elegant suit or a closed dress, in most institutions a uniform is provided.

Not allowed sports style. Some believe that you can get a job as a hostess only with a model appearance. This is far from the case, a girl or a boy in this position should first of all be charming, inspire confidence and inspire absolute confidence that each particular guest is the most important and valuable within the walls of the institution.

No special professional skills are required for this job.Nevertheless, a good advantage in employment will be the knowledge of the basics of work in the restaurant or hotel business. In addition, the bonus can bring fluency in one or more foreign languages. The hostess should have a competent speech and have a broad outlook in order to maintain a conversation with clients, if necessary.

The most important requirements for hostess candidates in the part which relates to personal characteristics are:

• pleasant appearance;
• soft voice;
• smile
• personal charm and charm;
• delivered diction;
• sociability;
• friendliness.

It is very important that the hostess be resourceful and could quickly "resolve" the force majeure situations that arose, find the right solution to pay off the emerging conflict. Well and of course this person should be stress-resistant, it is important for him to be able to emotionally mobilize - even if troubles happen in his life, he should always radiate friendliness and smile.

In accordance with the job description of the hostess, his duties imply the following.

• Meeting of customers / visitors, holding in the room, at a table or in the hall, if it is a conference.
• Advice on the services provided by the institution.
• Monitoring the work of accompanying personnel.
• Help guests in case of difficulty.
• Timely resolution of conflicts.
• Entertainment guests.
• At the end of the meeting / visit, the hostess must necessarily conduct visitors, take an interest in their assessment of the institution and convey all the wishes and comments to the administration of the institution.

Depending on the scope of work, the responsibilities of hostesses can vary slightly, be specified and supplemented.

This type of activity is widespread in restaurants as well as nightclubs. Hostesses girls sit down at the clients table, entertain them with conversation and if the client likes communication, he can order food or a drink for the lady - usually for this the employees get their small percentage. The main task of hostess consumation is to force the visitor to place an additional order in an unobtrusive way, thereby increasing the company's revenue.

Consumation can be non-alcoholic and alcoholic, as well as active and passive. Active involves independent choice of a client by a girl. In this case, she joins the man herself and starts a conversation with him, and when he makes an order, she stays at his table. With passive consumerization, the hostess does not walk around the hall, she sits at the bar or dances, attracting the attention of a man, in a word, tries in every possible way to make the visitor invite her to his table and treat him.

There is an opinion that consummation is directly related to the provision of services of an intimate nature. However, it is not - no one can force hostesses to do this kind of service against her will. Moreover, reputation is important for most reputable institutions; they very strictly monitor the moral appearance of their employees.

This profession is most prevalent in hotels. Most hotels have bars located close to the reception. It is in them that the lobby hostesses work. The main task of these girls is to invite guests to relax after the trip, take them to the lobby bar and help make a small order.

In recent years, hostesses often also include reception staff at a hotel. Moreover, in this area, employees can establish more stringent requirements in terms of knowledge of foreign languages. The candidate for the position must at least speak English. In addition, the responsibilities of a hotel hostess may also include room administration and accounting of consumables. These employees are often responsible for the coordination of the maids and thereby receive wider career prospects than in all other types of establishments.

This employee does not just accompany guests to their table or room, it’s rather a full-fledged hostess of the institution, which communicates with clients, directs the activities of the staff and makes decisions about entertaining visitors if they are bored or find themselves dissatisfied with something.

The average salary of a hostess is usually in the range of 12-15 thousand rubles, but it can vary depending on the region and the class of the institution. So, in Moscow, it can be 25-30 thousand. If an employee is fluent in foreign languages, then this will become a very noticeable increase in salary.

Usually, payment is made twice a month, or for each shift. Weekend hostesses usually receive money at the rate of 150 rubles an hour. The main income of representatives of this profession, as we already mentioned, is tip, as well as the commission for an additional order made by the client.

Usually students without higher or secondary education go to work in hostesses. However, they do not need it, since they receive all the necessary skills during training already at the workplace - as a rule, it takes no more than 10-14 days. The most important thing is to know the menu, the wine list and other services provided by the institution, as well as be able to maintain a conversation with customers.

However, the profession will welcome girls and boys who have received education in the specialty "restaurant business" or "socio-cultural tourism." The big bonus may be the availability of psychological training, this will allow the employee to show cordiality and restraint in emerging conflict situations. Hostesses usually take people with a competent, well-delivered speech and conversational English, so the language training of the applicant will be useful.

Working in the specialty, the hostess always has the opportunity to study in detail the features of this area and subsequently become a competent specialist, and not just a seller, a maid or a waiter. If you wish, with experience hostesses you can always try yourself in the hotel or restaurant business, take steps in trade, tourism or socio-cultural service. Important business qualities are formed in the work, the ability to work in a critical situation, in multitasking conditions, is trained. A bonus to this can be useful connections and acquaintances that can be acquired during the course of work.

Overseas, the prospects for hostesses are quite good, but, unfortunately, in our country the realities are such that girls from modeling agencies are mainly involved in this work. They do not have the necessary skills to represent the company, especially this problem is acute when it comes to industry exhibitions and conferences. It is impossible to meet a full-fledged "mistress of the hall" in most cases.

Models are brought, dressed in beautiful clothes and sent to the hall to "smile" to visitors. Lack of proper attention to their preparation strikes at the reputation of the event organizer and the companies participating in it. therefore if a girl or boy really sees hostesses as the first step in a career, and not just as an opportunity for a part-time job, then they should meticulously choose an employer.