Marriott to 're-invent recruitment' in digital era

The JW Marriott Marquis Dubai has announced plans to launch a new web portal that will host interactive content whilst seeking to attract talent from outside the industry.

Speaking at the 2012 Arabian Travel Market in Dubai, JW Marriott Marquis Dubai general manager Rupprecht Queitsch said the company wanted to capitalise on “current forces at work”.

“We are operating in an environment where ‘outside-the-box’ thinking is more important than ever, and where manytalented individuals are actively looking to transition career,” he asserted.

“This provides a game-changing opportunity for us. Who, for example, would be best-placed to develop a visionary restaurant? An F&B manager who has 10 years of experience in hospitality but only knows how to execute the same old hotel offering, or a businessman who is a passionate foodie and desperate to make his passion his livelihood? One brings tired, repetitive ideas to the table, while the other brings fresh thinking, insight and perspective based on their time as an avid consumer.”

Entitled ‘Transformation’, the initiative is offering individuals the opportunity to ‘transform’ their lives by offering them a unique window to join the hospitality industry.

In a further step to ensure the JW Marriott Marquis Dubai is genuinely ‘ground-breaking’, the hotel will create a series of new roles that have not been seen before in the industry.

“For example, an editor working in the declining newspaper industry may find salvation in the form of becoming the property’s ‘storyteller-in-residence’, communicating with guests through a variety of on- and off-line channels,” the company said.

“The web portal will focus on four ‘star roles’ which will specifically be aimed at those with non-hospitality experience and which won’t resemble ‘traditional’ hospitality jobs – a radically different approach compared to the hotel’s competitive set.”

From here, the application process will include animated questionnaires and tasks aimed at allowing the individual to showcase their full personality.

The applicant is also given the opportunity to share their experience with their Facebook ‘friends’, thus exposing the recruitment drive to a wider audience and encouraging further applications at “zero cost”.

“It is this radical thinking that underpins our approach to digital recruitment,” added Queitsch. “We are leveraging platforms that can give us unprecedented global reach, rather than being restricted to the circulation of the publication we are advertising in. We are connecting with individuals who can bring unique and radical thinking to our hotel and give us a competitive edge over the rest of the sector. Anyone who is interested in joining our team should go to Marriott.com/careers.”