While late nights generally don’t make busy check-in times, “graveyard” shifts in hotels can still prove active and busy. Lobbies, continental breakfast areas, conference rooms and other areas must be ready to receive guests and participants. While the late hours could foster potential threats to the safety of guests, the night porter ensures that guests have safe and convenient accommodations, breakfast, newspapers and enjoyable experience. The following night porter job description explains the skills this professional needs in order to contribute to an accommodating stay for guests.
What Does a Night Porter Professional Do?
Night porters in hotels function as greeters, escorts for guests to their rooms, keeper of the lobby, patrol person, and preparer for the incoming day crew and guests. Moreover, along with the variety of tasks for the night porter comes the array of skills needed to perform. As people do check-in around midnight and later, these porters also help get the guests settled.
Night Porter Job Description for Resume – Responsibilities
- Welcome arriving lodges and guests, as well as escort guests to rooms.
- Carry luggage, baggage and other items for guests to rooms.
- Inform guests of amenities, laundry and snack areas and surrounding attractions or restaurants.
- Patrol and secure hallways, common areas, entrances and other locations on grounds or in the hotel.
- Report malfunctioning equipment, irregular or unusual events, accidents, criminal incidents and damage to supervisors or maintenance as appropriate.
- Assist with any necessary evacuation of rooms or areas.
- Deliver morning newspapers to guests.
- Prepare conference and meeting rooms for use also.
- Respond to problems experienced and to any requests for assistance from guests.
- Answer telephones as needed.
Night Porter Essential Skills
Customer Service Skills. The night porter job description includes skills in customer service. This involves assisting guests with luggage, answering questions and making snacks, beverages, and newspapers available consistent with requests. Also, night porters should exercise politeness and timely service to guests.
Alertness Skills. Given the late night and predawn shifts, night porters must remain alert during periods of minimal activity. This necessitates being well-rested during daytime hours or prior to reporting for work. Night porters must be observant for doors left ajar, individuals in unauthorized areas, possibly illegal or dangerous conduct and other potential hazards or security issues. Night porters must demonstrate physical and mental acumen.
Driving Skills. At some establishments, the night porter job description involves needing to drive guests to and from bus terminals, train stations, and airports or other destinations. Porters may also operate golf carts or other vehicles to drive around the resort to respond to guests, emergencies or incidents. Some vehicles may have manual transmissions and equipment. Safe and careful driving serves as an important skill for night porters.
Physical Skills. Night porters spend their shifts standing and walking from the lobby area to rooms and around various areas of the hotel. Along with stamina, they need strength to push carts and lift and carry luggage, baggage, supplies and other items and clean. Even where guest check-ins may be less during the night than daytime hours, night porters may exert physical energy to clean equipment, floors, counters, lobbies, and other areas.
How to Become a Night Porter Professional
To become a night porter generally does not require formal study or training. Most night porters develop their abilities to work through company training and experience in hospitality or other relevant settings. Experience in other establishments where they had to may transport guests to or from airports, bus terminals, and train stations, as well as different responsibilities like cleaning utensils, equipment, storage or other areas and stocking supply areas, is very useful.
Education & Training Requirements
According to O*NET, approximately 48 percent of porters have a high school diploma. Three out of ten have not completed high school, while 14 percent have attended college but not earned a degree. While a high school diploma doesn’t appear to be a widespread qualification, it may afford skills porters need to write reports and read directions.
Night porters usually receive training and orientation from the employer. This consists of hotel or resort policies, amenities, offers and contact numbers for front desks and emergency or law enforcement agencies. Trainers explain to porters the functions of various departments and the standards of the company.
Night porters who work in restaurants or kitchens in the hotel may need food handling certificates. Training for these certifications covers topics such as sanitation and food safety regulations and techniques for safe food handling. For a similar position, you can also look at the doorman job description.
Work Experience
Applicants for night porter jobs may need prior experience in settings or positions that show the ability to perform the porter duties. Relevant employers include hotels, motels, resorts, restaurants and theme parks or attractions. In these places, applicants for night porter positions can build a resume of customer service, cleaning and food handling.
Prior customer service work may include guiding hotel or park guests to restaurants, snack areas, rides, restrooms, pools or other attractions. Also, jobs as housekeepers, dishwashers, restaurant servers and security guards can also aid seekers of night porter jobs.
Candidates with previous employment in the hospitality industry can bring their knowledge of the operation and different departments of hotels. Like the guest relations officer or hotel front desk agent.
Work Schedules
People with the night porter job description take late night and predawn shifts. Depending on the employer, work hours can run from 11 pm to 7 am. With hotels operating year-round, night porters can expect weekends and holidays as part of their work schedule. Shifts can increase in peak or busy periods, which can turn on the location of the resort or hotel.
For instance, ski resorts see their busiest seasons in winter or other cold weather periods. Night porters in mountain destinations may have strong demand in ski or Fall color season. While Spring breaks or Summer months draw large crowds in beach communities.
Career Prospects
According to the U.S. Government, the “accommodations” portion of the hospitality industry in the United States generated or contributed to 1.4 million jobs in 2016. While travelers spent $293 million in 2016 on hotels, motels, and other accommodations. This affords an idea of the strength of the hospitality sector.
Such health should sustain demand for night porters. O*NET reports a projected rise of five to nine percent in the employment of “Baggage Porters and Bellhops” through 2026. Porters willing to take these very late shifts should find ample opportunities and perhaps less competition for these positions.
Finally, a porter working in the USA makes $10.57 per hour, while the median yearly salary stays at $25,268. Night porters can advance to roles as night supervisors, front-end supervisors and perhaps hotel manager, especially where the porter stays at the same company and undergoes additional training.
Conclusion
Night shifts make attractive opportunities for porters seeking to gain work experience in general or within the hospitality industry. The late shifts might decrease the pool of applicants and enhance the chances of employment. The night porter job description shows that overnight duty is full of activities and tasks, they must assist incoming and already present guests. As well as always remain vigilant against safety and security breaches all for the comfortability and safety of guests.
