The Interview

Paula Veith is the Benefits Director at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Denver, CO. Her warm demeanor and incredible passion for improving the lives of refugees in the Denver community reveal her great insight into the world of hiring refugees.

What first interested you in the prospect of hiring refugees? What drew you to the opportunity?

For us, just the opportunity to give back and help these people because a lot of the time they are struggling just to get back on their feet. So to have the opportunity to give them the opportunity to do that through a job means a lot. And you know it’s more than just a paycheck because they get to learn English and adapt to our culture and to become self-sufficient. And we get workers that are very dedicated and very reliable with a just a great attitude. It enriches our culture here at the Hyatt to have people from all around the world.

Did you have any reservations or expectations when you first began hiring refugees?

I think the biggest concerns were from the managers. Well actually two concerns, one from human resources was checking work references. You know it’s difficult to call employers from, say, Bhutan, so we had to get creative. We had to rely on the caseworkers to know that a person is reliable and is dedicated to showing up on time and then just go with those opinions. And the managers were really concerned with the work culture, will the refugees adapt into the work culture, you know? And they do, they add a richness to the culture actually with different perspectives about the world. Another concern was communication. They come in with varying levels of English, and that gets really hard. So the biggest challenge was how can we train them.

How have those reservations and challenges been addressed in your work environment?

Any time the refugees come to orientation with little English skills … the community centers like the ACC would come and translate so that they could understand all the rules and policies- so that they know what to do to stay hired, like getting their uniform, where to check in, how to check in, how to get to places in the hotel etc. That way they could really start off on the right foot. And once we got enough people that could speak English, we were able to train the newer refugees that were coming in with the help of the older employees. And we also learned how to show the refugees how to do a task, which is more time-consuming and requires patience. But, you know, just because someone doesn’t understand English doesn’t mean they are less intelligent than you are, which is a common perception I think people have. People may talk really loudly or overly slow, which isn’t always necessary because people can obviously be very intelligent and not speak the same language you do. Overcoming these challenges and practicing patience really helps the refugees learn how to do the job. Another thing we do is use the Language Line, if someone comes in and they have a problem, or want to discuss something they can’t properly communicate, we can call and get on the phone on the Language Line so that it can be translated so we know what they are trying to get across.

What sort of advice could you give to future refugees or the African Community Center to make them more hirable in the hospitality industry?

I think one of the hardest things, and we’ve noticed this throughout the years, is something that is probably cultural. A lot of refugees are reluctant to smile or make eye contact during an interview and those are key things for us. Even if you are going to be washing dishes and rarely interact with customers, we still want to create a team culture that is friendly. And sometimes during interviews we see refugees come in with very canned answers, and I understand that everyone needs a certain level of coaching, but they do come in with predictable answers. You can anticipate one of the questions being, why do you want this job or why do you want to work at this hotel always being asked or being part of the interview. And rather than giving them a canned answer like it’s a big hotel and my friends live here, try to get down with that refugee and ask why they want to work in that hotel and coach them on an answer that’s personal to them. And then coaching them that it’s okay to smile during an interview. And that’s difficult especially in some cultures. It’s hard for them to somewhat adapt to this culture and I can only imagine how difficult it is, but eye contact is something necessary.

Hospitality is a fun place to be, but it’s hard work especially in a lot of the positions that the refugees are coming in to like housekeeping or dishwashing. And we do have a lot of great success stories where people have grown into supervisory roles, but it’s not easy cleaning 18 rooms a day or washing dishes. So one of the traits that really helps them succeed is their dedication, I think that if they see that a company is treating them well then they feel loyal and invested into the company and they tend to have a high work ethic. Hard work is not a foreign concept and it’s not hard for them to learn, they have a hunger to learn- to learn English and to learn how to navigate the bus system. So they have a desire to enrich their own lives, and this also helps us.

REFLECTION

Overall, my interview experience was incredibly helpful. Paula had keen insights that will be very helpful for employers; she listed key resources such as the language line (an international language translator via phone) and a specialized orientation program. She also noted that patience is a key trait both in company management staff and in the refugees who are applying for work. Most impressively, Paula recognized the difference between English proficiency and intelligence. She said that a proper work culture is created if all persons are treated equally, and equality only stems from maintaining a practice of approaching all refugee employees as adult human beings rather than children needing to be taught.