Introduction
My experience as an intern at the Marriott County Hall has been unique and educational. This was my first internship so I had no idea what to expect. I did not know what a finance internship would entail and I definitely didn’t know what it would be like working in a British office. I tried to keep my expectations as low as possible to avoid being let down if the internship wasn’t as interesting as I was hoping. Luckily, my experience at the Marriott County Hall has been an overall positive experience.
Expectations and Experience
On my first day of work, I really had no idea what to expect. I had seen the outside of the County Hall building on a walking tour and it was so beautiful. I was hoping the inside would be just as pretty. I was able to explore the building on my first day of work because I got there about an hour early. The inside of the Marriott Hotel is stunning and has so much British charm. Unfortunately, my office was the total opposite. I work in a bare, white room with five desks and not a single window. Luckily, the kind workers make up for the lack of sunlight.
I also expected the workers at my internship site to be from London and have British accents. Surprisingly, not a single one spoke English as their first language. My site visitor is from Hungary, the revenue control worker is from Italy, the accounts payable worker is from Germany, and the accounts receivable worker is from Bulgaria. It is very cool to be working with such a diverse team even though we sometimes have trouble understanding one another.
Experience
I have learned so much at my internship so far. Before I started my first day at Marriott, I was slightly nervous because I had no experience working in finance. My one “Intro to Finance” class I had taken last semester left me feeling less than prepared for a finance internship. I was very worried that the company would expect me to know how to do things I didn’t understand. Luckily, I am working with such kind and helpful people. The woman who trained me slowly walked me through everything I needed to do for the first few days. She always gives me time to write everything and ask questions. This eased all of my nerves and made me feel comfortable to ask questions when I need help.
I work from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm Monday through Friday. This schedule works well for me because it evenly spreads out the work I need to get done every week. At work, I do three specific tasks every day to help out with revenue control in the finance department at the Marriott County Hall. I do management checks, count covers, and organize the night audit. The first thing I do every morning is collect paperwork and receipts from three offices around the hotel. I use the receipts to evaluate, verify, and organize management checks. This process is important because I enter in data in an excel spreadsheet explaining why checks from the restaurant are not paid by guests and are paid by the hotel. For example, the hotel guests do not pay for their food if the wait time is over forty minutes. I have to make sure the company isn’t paying out money for no reason. Secondly, I work on counting covers. For this tedious process, I look through every check on a computer system called Opera and try to guess how many guests were at the table. For example, a check with four entrees and two sides most likely has four guests. This is a very subjective process, so I don’t need to worry too much about making a small mistake, but it is important to see how many guests are dining each day. I divide the total hotel restaurant and bar revenue by the estimated number of guests to see it the revenue per guests makes sense. Finally, I organize the hotel’s night audit. The night audit is a huge stack of paperwork containing info such as “In House Room Upgrades” or “Paid Outs.” I organize these papers into four sections to make it easier for others to go through it and quickly find the information they need.
Company Culture
Marriott seems like a good company to work for. They are a hotel company that cares about its guests and employees. Interning at the company gives me a look inside what the company culture is like. Some things I like about the company culture in the finance department is that the employees are kind. Although I have witnessed office drama, they are all normally kind and helping one another. I also like that they are able to take so many holidays. The worker that trained me just left on a three-week holiday and all of the other workers will be taking a holiday during the time of my internship as well. Additionally, I think it is really cool that the employees get free lunch at the canteen as well as free access to the gym. During my time as an intern, I even got to attend a 20th birthday celebration for the hotel. I would like to work for a company one day that has company pride similar to Marriott.
Conclusion
My experience as a finance intern for the Marriott County Hall has been a one of a kind experience. I have not only learned about areas of finance such as revenue control, but I have also learned about the hospitality industry. I had no idea all of the hard work that goes behind the scenes of a hotel, specifically in the finance department. I will carry this internship experience with me to future internships and jobs I have. I am thankful CAPA placed me at the Marriott because I have learned so much about company culture. The advice I would give to another student getting ready to intern abroad is to not be afraid to ask your co-workers questions about their jobs. While interning, I’ve learned about various positions in finance and what people like and dislike about their jobs just by asking questions. Learn as much as you can during your six weeks!