Walk-In Wednedays at The Omni Homestead

As more and more Americans get vaccinated and travel and leisure restrictions are rolled back, the tourism industry is ramping up for a busy vacation season. One of the obstacles hotels, restaurants and tourist attractions are facing is staffing. The Omni Homestead, in Hot Springs is working to solve this problem with weekly job fairs that are less formal than your traditional job interview. 

To get a better understanding of this program I talked to Michael Bosch. He is the Interim Director of Human Resources at the resort. 

Q: How are you doing this morning Michael? 

A: I’m doing great!

Q: Walk-In Wednesdays have been going on for a couple weeks now would you care to talk to our listeners about the walk-in Wednesdays?

A: I appreciate your time.  Walk-In Wednesdays are a chance for us to interview applicants on the spot, they don’t even need to apply;  just walk in. We will interview them and help them through the application process. We will give them a human resource interview right on the spot and if that goes well, we can move them on to the interview with the department head if they’re available. 

Q: Can you give us a timetable for events? 

A: Our office will be open from  9 am to 5 pm, so people can come and visit us; we will help them through every step of the process. 

Q: The press release mentioned the Associate Services Offices. Where is that exactly located?

A: If you’re coming from Covington on rt. 220 you will see the entrance to the Homestead on the right. You’ll pass that and see a circular road with two little white huts. Those are our security watch boxes. It’s also where shipping and receiving is. What you would do is stop there and they can give you directions, or you can go to the front desk of the hotel and let them know you’re here for Walk-In Wednesday and they will give associate services a call and we will come up and get you. 

Q: Can you give a rundown of the positions you’re hiring for?

A:  Almost every department at our resort is looking for help. Everything from culinary, which can be quite a challenge all around the country, through service staff: such as housekeeper laundry or dishwasher, massage therapists and loss prevention. We are also featuring what we call Omni Cares. This is an internship for college graduates. It is a pretty cool way to get into our leadership program. Throughout the summer we’ll try to get them to experience everything around the resort and hook them into our culture and get them to stay here. 

For high school students, we hire pool attendants and lifeguards. That tends to be a challenge. The decline of kids in our schools has made it harder to find these entry-level positions in what we call our activities. It’s really a fun place to work. 

Q: Is the calendar picking up for the travel season? 

A: It is. Especially with the governor lifting restrictions coming up in June. We are expecting a pickup in our total room nights. People are getting out; they’re coming up into the mountains for fresh air.

The next Walk-In Wednesday will be May 12th, they start at 9am and run until 5pm.

The Omni Homestead is a business supporter of Allegheny Mountain Radio.