Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Washington

When a new Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Washington, D.C., was preparing to open, recruiting to fill all of the positions was a major challenge for the hotel's Human Resource Director, Marie Minaich. Positions in housekeeping, front desk, banquet, security, maintenance, and guest services all had to be filled.

Both conventional and creative recruiting approaches were used to generate several thousand applicants. As the hotel was being built, signs were put on the building indicating the opening date and how to apply for jobs. As the opening got closer, some newspaper ads were placed, but no internet or radio ads were used.

Additionally, Ritz-Carlton managers and staff made it a point to hand out business cards and "service praise" cards to employees at other restaurants and hotels in the months and weeks before the peak hiring was to occur. Those individuals were encouraged to apply at Ritz-Carlton, and many of those receiving the cards showed up at a two-day job fair held by Ritz-Carlton.

The job fair was the major source for recruits, generating 2,300 applicants in two days. To generate more applicants at the job fair, Ritz-Carlton recruiters handed out job fair invitations at subway stations the mornings of the job fair. During the job fair, refreshments were served by employees of other Ritz-Carlton hotels in the area. To keep with the upscale theme of Ritz-Carlton, musicians played at the fair.

Once applicants arrived at the job fair, they completed application blanks and were asked several preliminary screening interview questions. Those who passed the screening interview questions. Those who passed the screening interview were then scheduled for more in-depth 1 ½-hour interviews consisting of 55 questions. More than 150 in-depth interviews were conducted at the job fair, and about 300 more were scheduled when the applicants schedules allowed. The result of all of these efforts was that Minarich and the HR staff filled the needed positions for the opening of the hotel.