In with the Interns

Rafaela's Diary of an Internship
Wednesday 25th September 2024

Me and De’Andre went to the Radisson Hotel on Wednesday. We went there for an interview. For this interview, I had to dress smartly because the hotel has a high standard of expectation.

The Radisson Hotel is a five-star luxury hotel, and it is a beautiful building.

The hallway is big, and they have a champagne bar. The hotel has 263 rooms.

As well as this, on the outside, you can see the stunning suites featuring sweeping city views.

They also have a spa, and they also have a big pool.

They have meetings and events in the hotel, from smaller meetings and functions to large weddings and launch events.

The rooms feature floor-to-ceiling windows. This allows more light to come inside the room.

On Monday 30th of September, I went there for an induction day. We did health and safety.

I met the manager, waiter and chefs as well. I polished the cutlery, I folded napkins, and I also cleaned tables.

I had to be in the back and put out the teacups and polish the cutlery. I also had to help someone who had only just started today.

After I did that, I had to go and take the salt and pepper off the table. Then I had to wipe the table after I took off the things on the table. I went to set up the trays in the back.

On Wednesday 25th October, I went to college so that my teacher could take me to the interview. I felt nervous to go to the interview. The reason why I felt this way is because it was my first time going to an interview. When I got there, I felt good because I said to myself, “I am going to go there and do my best.”

I was happy that I was able to do it, even though I was feeling anxious and nervous. Another reason why I am happy is because I was able to gain confidence. I will always give it my best to stay happy at the work placement no matter what.

I feel a bit nervous, but at the same time, I feel excited. The reason why I feel a bit nervous is because I have never worked in a hotel, and I have never been to the Radisson Hotel before. The reason why I feel a bit excited is because it is a new experience for me.

Although I have done a work placement before, it wasn’t the same as the one I am going to do now. The other one that I did was in the Affleck’s place, which is behind Starbucks, and it had three floors. It was such a massive place and when I had to go give people their orders, it was the people who were working there, and I kept getting lost all the time. I was working on the third floor rising.

I have some skills from working in a café because that’s where I was working before. Another reason why I have some skills is because I did some baking for 2 years in college, which gave me a lot of skills. I also did baking in college. That gave me even more skills and a lot of experience.

In the work placement, I must polish the cutlery and then I must put out the teacups.

On Tuesday, I had to help in the restaurant. I had to remove all the things off the table, and I also had to speak to customers. One of the customers asked me for a cup of tea, so I went to the back and gave them a cup of tea. This was a good thing for me because this means that my confidence is growing every single time at the work placement.

Today at the work placement, there were a lot of people and there were also a lot of things that needed to be done. Such as, the teacups had to be set up and the tables needed to be laid out. Once that was all done, I had to go to the back and polish the cutlery. I also had to go to the library to get some white napkins, and then I had to do the sugar. After that was all done, I went to the 4th floor to put some trolleys there. Then I got to see where they do their big events, which is something I have never got to see before.

I feel a bit nervous to start the work placement. This is because I have a feeling that it will be packed, and when it is packed, it makes me feel overwhelmed—especially if there is a lot to do.

This year at the work placement, I want to learn new skills so that I can build up my confidence even more. This is my New Year's resolution for the work placement, but also for my classes. Another New Year's resolution is for me to fight through the anxiety when I am answering questions.

In 2024, when I first started my work placement at the Radisson Hotel, which was in October, I was shy and nervous because I didn’t know anyone there. But now I feel a bit more confident at the work placement. I think I am ready to go back there and give it my best until I finish college. Although my confidence still needs to improve, I will try to stay positive about it.

Today was my first day back to college after Christmas, and I had to go to my work placement. When I arrived at college, I had to go upstairs. The staff member who usually takes me wasn’t able to take me today, so I had to go on my own. I was able to get there without getting lost and I was able to get back to college without getting lost as well. This is a good thing because I can become more independent with getting to places, and it also helps me with my confidence in travelling.

At the work placement today, there were two new girls, and they didn’t know what they had to do. So I had to show them around and I also had to show them where the cutlery was kept and where the plates go after they have been polished.

Today at the work placement there were 300 people. It was super busy today, which means there was a lot to do. This morning at the work placement, I had to take all the dirty plates and wipe the table. After that, I had to reset the table. Once that was done, I went to the library to get the sugar pots. I had to do this until 10:00. When it hit ten, I started to remove everything off the back tables and wipe them.

After I had finished wiping them, I started to set up all the back tables on my own. I managed to do it all on my own. The things that we always put on every single table are: chopsticks, stones, forks, knives and napkins as well.

One thing that I really want to be able to do at the work placement is speak to the customers more, and I would like to have a go at serving them when they ask for something. This is because it would really help with my confidence.

At the work placement today, I served customers, and I also had to remove their plates from the table. Today, as I was setting the table, a customer came up to me and asked me for a coffee, so I had to find one of the staff so that I could give the customer their coffee. Another person asked me for an iced coffee, so I went to my manager and told him. I think today I have really built up my confidence.

Today, I had to go to my work placement without a staff member again. This is the second week that I have been going to the hotel on my own. At the work placement today, there weren’t a lot of people. I had to take the things off the table and relay the table with all the breakfast things. Once that was all done, everyone had to take everything off the tables. This was because the cleaners were going to clean the lights.

As they started to get the things that they needed, I went to the main kitchen to get the cutlery and chopsticks so that I could set up the tables on the floor. I had to set up all the tables on the floor on my own, but then someone saw me doing it, so they came to help me.

I think I have been doing well at this work placement, and I think I have been giving it my best, and I want to continue doing my best and giving it my all.

Today at the work placement, I had to remove everything off the table and then I had to bring it to the back. After that, I went to the back and gave it to one of the staff who works in the kitchen. Lots of customers today asked me for coffee and tea, so I had to go and get one of the staff so that I could show them which table it was that they had to go and give it to. I asked them if I could go and serve a customer, and they let me do it. I feel like my confidence has gone up ten times more, which is a good thing.

When I got to the work placement, I had to go to the main restaurant to help with taking the dirty plates away. I had to wipe the table and make sure that everything was put in the right place. Today, a customer called me to their table and asked me for some eggs. I had to go to one of the staff and I told them that a customer had ordered something. So they went to the customer and asked them. Then I went to the back kitchen with the staff, and they got the eggs the customer had asked for. The staff asked me to take it to them, so I did. This was the first time I had to serve a customer with the food they asked for, and today I got to serve two people tea and coffee.

Yesterday, I didn’t go to the work placement because the manager wasn’t in, so he told me to go to college instead. The manager also said to go to the work placement on the following Thursday.

I feel like I have been doing well at the work placement. The reason why I feel this is because ever since I started this work placement, I have been giving it my best, making sure that I do everything all the staff ask me to do. I also make sure that I always ask for other jobs to do.

Tomorrow, when I go back to the work placement, I will be giving it my best and I will also stay focused on what I need to do. Although I already stay focused, I am going to put effort into it even more than what I do now.

Today at the work placement, there weren’t many people, but there was still quite a lot to do. I had to go to the restaurant and help with relaying the tables, and I also had to wipe them. Lots of customers today asked me for a coffee, so I had to go to one of the staff that works there and tell them that a customer wanted a coffee. Once I had done that, I had to remove all the milk jars off the tables. I started from table 1, up to table 27. I needed to take all the teacups off the tables. I had to set the back tables all on my own.

At the work placement, I had to go into the restaurant part. I had to take all the dirty things off all the tables, and I had to relay them. Today was so packed at the restaurant, and there was a lot to do. There was a new girl today, and when it was time to take all the things off the tables, I had to take off all the peppers and salt. I also had to take the sugars off the tables. The new girl was asked to take all the milks off the tables, and I had to show her where to put the milk jars.

Today, I had to fold a lot of napkins so that I could fill the cupboards. Station 1 is the most important one to all the staff and waitresses. This is because in Station 1, it is where we keep most of the things, especially the black towels that we use to clean the tables after the customer leaves and once all the dirty plates and cups have been removed.

Today was super busy at the work placement. I had to put out the teacups. After that, I went to the restaurant to help take the dirty things off tables. I also had to speak to customers. One of them asked me for a coffee, and another customer asked me for a fork and spoon. Because I was about to go past that customer’s table, I gave them what they had asked for. After that was all done, I went to the back kitchen to put down the tray I was holding, and then I went back to the restaurant. One of the customers called me to their table and they started to say nice things to me.

This week on Tuesday and Thursday it has been super quiet, but there has been a lot to do. Such as, the teacups needed to be put out and the trays had to be done and ready for the evening. Me and the new girl today had to do the pastry trays. We had to clean them and then we had to fold the white napkins to put on trays ready for tomorrow. I also had to remove everything off the back tables and I had to clean them and then I needed to set it up. I was also helping with polishing the cutlery.

For the past few weeks, I have been going to the work placement without a staff member. This has been a good thing for me because I am becoming even more independent with going to places on my own and my confidence with travelling has been growing a lot. I am so happy with how much I have achieved and done at the work placement this year.

On Wednesday at the work placement, it was busy and there was a lot to do. I had to remove all the dirty things. After that, I had to put out the teacups and the plates. I had to help set up the tables. I did some chopsticks and polished all the cutlery, and I also put the plates in the hot box. I also filled the sugar pot. I also had to do the pastry trays.

De’Andre had to set up the tables for dinner and he also set up the trays. He had to do the cutlery.