Meet and Greet-That Vital First Step

After applying for a public relations position at The Crane Residential Resort a few months ago, I was given the opportunity to meet with Ms. Joanna Robinson to be interviewed for a social media position. Joanna, who is the Director of Marketing, made the transition from marketing in Wines and Spirits into the Hotel Industry. She explained to me that working at The Crane has been an entirely different experience; one that she truly enjoys, partly because of the friendly people she encounters on a daily basis.

When she questioned me about my interest in working with the Crane, I explained to her that it is one of Barbados’ highest ranked hotels/resorts in my mind. When I personally think of top-class hotels/resorts, I immediately think of The Crane. So when she questioned my motive for applying there, it was easy for me to tell her that I applied because it is an organisation whose class and quality I admire.

Despite my nervous feelings walking into the interview, Joanna helped to ease my nerves as she questioned me about my time spent living in England. She seemed extremely interested and equally impressed as I spoke about my cultural experiences, and even more so, my work experience placement. We spoke at length about the lack of importance placed on public relations and its practice here in Barbados in compared to its upsurge in England. This sparked her curiosity about some of my duties during my placement and led to some in-depth conversation about some of the projects I worked on.

Taking into the account the magnitude of The Crane as an organisation, I assumed that their marketing and public relations contingent was vast, and therefore had to question her about the need to fill such a post. She explained that although there were several persons working under the marketing umbrella, none of them could really give the amount of attention required to effectively manage the social media aspect. She also highlighted that although they do outsource some of their public relations staff and had public relations connections within the United States and Britain, there was still a void with regards to social media here in Barbados.

She went on to give me some background information on The Crane, where she identified them as being into development and property sales as opposed to simply renting out hotel rooms. The economical feasibility of purchasing Crane property was a major factor in my mind, as it can be used in the same way as a timeshare property but with ten times more benefits.

As she spoke about what would be required of a social media coordinator and about the advantages of owning Crane property, I began to feel even more compelled to work with such an organisation. And knowing how much I love a challenge, it made me realise that this would be the perfect position for me.